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Watch our Video workshops that offer tips, strategies and information about best practices in bullying prevention. These videos outline ways in which educators and administrators, health and safety professionals, mental health professionals, law enforcement and justice officials and those who work with youth organizations can implement new, or improve existing, prevention programs in their communities.

Parents have a right to know who did what to their child and what steps, if any, the school took to prevent a repetition of it. Anything less is viewed as a cover-up and opens school up to the appearance of a policy of “doing nothing” to protect children from bullies.

Increasingly, neuroscientists, psychologists and educators believe that bullying and other kinds of violence can indeed be reduced by encouraging empathy at an early age. Over the past decade, research in empathy — the ability to put ourselves in another person's shoes — has suggested that it is key, if not the key, to all human social interaction and morality.

At first, the word “bullying” conjures up images of a tough, wise-cracking kid verbally taunting and embarrassing another, pushing, punching, poking, tripping, threatening, taking his possessions, ripping his clothes, defacing his property… all behaviors that are clearly inappropriate and that demand immediate adult intervention. But what about the child who because of her small stature and difficulties with expressive language, is rejected by peers when she tries to sit next to them on the school bus and taunted when she tries to join in a conversation? Or the student who is fearful of walking through the hallways in school because of the dozens of times (by any number of peers) he has been shoved, face first, into a locker or had his backpack yanked off his body causing him to fall backwards (sometimes on the staircase!) resulting in his being late for class, not to mention the physical and emotional pain he’s had to endure.

Today, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) released a new video where Department staff share personal stories and identify tools that support students experiencing bullying. In response to students suffering bullying in schools, ED has redoubled efforts to give parents, educators, and students the tools they need to stop harassment, including through the website Stopbullying.gov and civil rights enforcement.

Two students with Asperger syndrome—an autism spectrum disorder that can make it tough to interact in social sitatuations—are featured heavily in "Bully," the new education shock-you-mentary, opening in wide release Friday.

The U.S. Department of Education has released a free, two-part training toolkit designed to reduce incidents of bullying, for use by classroom teachers and educators. The toolkit was developed by the Safe and Supportive Schools Technical Assistance Center, supported by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Safe and Healthy Students, in collaboration with the NEA and the American Federation of Teachers.

Kids who get bullied and snubbed by peers may be more likely to have problems in other parts of their lives, past studies have shown. And now researchers have found at least three factors in a child's behavior that can lead to social rejection.

It's not okay to dismiss bullying by saying "children are cruel." And losing the fight against it can be tragic.

For the coming months, Pat's parents will live in separate states so that he can attend a school where he won't be bullied and mocked.

State Representative Martha Walz, the bill’s primary author, said the mandates will deter bullying and prevent it from reaching dangerous proportions.“When this passes, it will the strongest antibullying legislation in the country,’’ said Walz, a Boston Democrat and House chairwoman of the Joint Committee on Education. “Without mandatory reporting, things can spiral out of control.’’

Schools that have clear policies, procedures and activities designed to prevent bullying and have supportive staff and student organizations can be effective in reducing verbal and physical harassment. These kinds of positive school climates are associated with reduced suicide risk and better mental health among LGBT students [5,6].  For youth to thrive in their schools and communities, they need to feel socially, emotionally, and physically safe. Schools, communities, parents, and youth have a role to play in building positive, supportive, and healthy environments for youth. Such environments promote acceptance and respect and help youth feel valued [7].

StopBullying.gov provides information from various government agencies on how kids, teens, young adults, parents, educators and others in the community can prevent or stop bullying.

STRYVE is a national initiative, led by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which takes a public health approach to preventing youth violence before it starts. To support this effort, STRYVE Online provides communities with the knowledge and resources to be successful in preventing youth violence.

Welcoming Schools is an LGBT-inclusive approach to addressing family diversity, gender stereotyping and bullying and name-calling in K-5 learning environments. Welcoming Schools provides administrators, educators and parents/guardians with the resources necessary to create learning environments in which all learners are welcomed and respected.

At age two, Thomas Ledbetter was diagnosed with Autism and was not expected to be able to speak; however, thanks to a great support system and an incredible amount of work on his part, he managed to overcome many of the obstacles in his life. Thomas experienced bullying throughout elementary and middle school and decided to channel these negative experiences and feelings into positive graphic design.

Four years ago the Helena School District received a $5.3 million grant for the Safe Schools Healthy Student Initiative. Since the grant is in its last year, Youth Connections in Helena wants to get the word out to the community about all the programs the grant has allowed them to establish.

1.  If your child is exhibiting new behavioral problems that are interfering with their ability to access the curriculum; your school may need to implement a Behavior Support Plan to extinguish the negative or off task behavior. 2.  If your child is struggling academically in the first semester, don’t wait until second semester to address the problem.  If you have to request new assessments; keep in mind the timeline from the day you authorized the assessments.  The school has 60 days* in which to conduct the assessments and hold an IEP, so if you wait until second semester, the school year might be coming to an end; basically, your child has lost the entire year.  * Some States have different timelines so please check the timelines in your State. 3.  If your child will be attending Kindergarten, Middle School or High School the following year; you need to know all the areas of strengths and weaknesses to help them transition into the next phase of their education. 4.  If your child has been bullied in school, you need to make sure there is a safety plan implemented to protect your child from harm.  In addition, your child should know the name of the school personnel they can approach if the situation arises again; providing a safe place in the school environment. 5.  If your child’s placement is no longer working, do not wait to address this problem; otherwise, your child may lose an entire year of academics. 6.  If your child has been suspended repeatedly for behavioral problems, do not wait until the school is about to expel your child from the district.  Call an IEP to discuss changes in the Behavior Support Plan or ask for additional assessments immediately such as a Functional Behavior Assessment. 7.  If your child has been assigned an Aide that is not experienced enough to prevent your child from eloping, you need to call an IEP as soon as possible to request a BCBA (Board Certified Behavior Analyst) or additionally training for the Aide.  Remember, every time your child leaves the classroom they are not being educated! 8.  If your child is experiencing depression, lack of self-worth, anxiety…etc.  You should call an IEP and request a Social/Emotional Assessment for in-school counseling.  If your child already has in-school counseling and that’s not working then you need to request an Educationally Related Mental Health Assessment to address these issues before they escalate into more serious behavior. 9.  If the services you agreed to at your child’s last IEP meeting are not working, you need to call an IEP to ask your school to increase the amount of services, or file for Due Process if you feel it’s necessary to take the matter directly to the school district. 10. If the School has not been following your child’s IEP; therefore, is out of compliance, call an IEP right away to allow the school to remedy the situation.  If they are not willing to rectify the situation then you need to either file for Due Process or file a complaint with the State Department of Education.