Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

School-Based Bullying And Teen Dating Violence Prevention Laws: Overlapping Or Distinct?, Michele Cascardi, Christopher King, Daniel Rector, Jill Delpozzo

Department of Psychology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

The most recent legislative attempts to curb violence in schools have been school-based dating violence prevention laws. In the previous decade, there was an increase in legislation designed to prevent bullying in schools; these laws now exist in 50 states. However, most anti-bullying laws provide an expansive definition of bullying that includes any type of peer aggression, harassment, or teen dating violence (TDV). Having several different state and federal laws aimed at curtailing multiple forms of aggression may produce confusion about appropriate intervention and disciplinary responses, requiring school districts to develop parallel sets of policies, educational curricula, intervention approaches, and …