When The School Calls It Bullying
Fla. Stat. 1006.147 — immediate notice to both sets of parents, and a policy reviewed every 3 years
Florida does not leave bullying to each school's sense of it. The statute requires a policy and says what the policy has to contain, which turns a vague complaint into a specific one: not whether the school cares, but whether it is doing what its own required policy says.
The definition. Bullying, including cyberbullying, means systematically and chronically inflicting physical hurt or psychological distress on one or more students, and may involve teasing, social exclusion, threat, intimidation, stalking, physical violence, theft, sexual, religious or racial harassment, humiliation or destruction of property.
- A procedure for receiving reports, including anonymous reports, though formal discipline cannot rest on an anonymous report alone.
- A procedure for prompt investigation, which includes incidents on the way to school aboard a school bus or at a bus stop.
- Immediate notification to the parents of the victim and of the perpetrator, and to local agencies where criminal charges may be pursued.
- Referral of victims and perpetrators for counseling.
- Consequences for bullying, and for wrongfully and intentionally accusing someone of it.
Where it reaches. During any public school program or activity, on a school bus, through school computer systems, and off campus where the bullying substantially interferes with the victim's ability to take part in school or substantially disrupts it. Each district adopts and reviews its policy at least every 3 years, in substantial conformity with the state model policy.
Discipline itself, suspension and expulsion procedure, federal civil rights law on harassment based on a protected characteristic, and criminal charges for conduct that is also a crime are outside this page. Whether a district followed its own policy in a particular case, and what can be done if it did not, are questions for a licensed Florida attorney.
Sources for this section (1)
- Fla. Stat. 1006.147 — Bullying and harassment prohibited
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Florida attorney.