TxSSC
Texas Bullying Laws
Video Length | 10:10
Description
During the 85th Texas Legislature, SB 179 - "David’s Law" was passed and signed into law effective September 1, 2017. The newly enacted law relates to harassment, bullying and cyberbullying of a public school student, a charter school student or a minor and encouraging certain mental health programs for public school students; increasing a criminal penalty, and providing a civil remedy.
The bill text and supporting information from David’s Legacy Foundation can be accessed below.
Intended Audience
- School Administrators
- School Based Law Enforcement
- School Staff
- Teachers
Additional Resources
This video references other tools and resources offered by the Texas School Safety Center that may be helpful when defining and addressing bullying in a school. To view these additional resources online please follow the links presented below.
Updated Bullying Checklist
The Texas School Safety Center has developed a bullying checklist for schools to assist in determining if an action or actions constitute bullying (or cyberbullying) under Texas Education Code. The checklist facilitates a step-by-step decision process that is mapped to the various components of the law. The checklist can be downloaded below.
Applying the Bullying Checklist for Schools
The Texas School Safety Center has developed a series of hypothetical scenarios as a resource to provide further guidance, and act as an example, when using the Bullying Checklist for Schools. Each of the scenarios provides a hypothetical scenario and then applies each component of the checklist to the situation, ultimately determining if the action or actions meets the legal definition of bullying according to the Texas Education Code.