Fidelity of Implementation of a State Anti-Bullying Policy: Equal Protection for All?

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Bullying is a pervasive social problem that can negatively affect the physical, social, emotional, and educational well-being of youth.  Approximately 20% of youth reported being bullied at school, and victims of bullying are more likely to report depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, psychosomatic problems, loneliness, suicidal ideation and behavior, oppositional behavior, lower academic achievement, missing school, and dropping out of school.  In addition, certain population groups are more likely to be targeted for and suffer the consequences of bullying: youth who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer (LGBTQ), youth with disabilities or special health needs, youth who are overweight or obese, youth from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, youth who are immigrants or the children of immigrants, and youth who are members of certain racial/ethnic groups.  A number of interventions have been developed to reduce bullying, including policies.  Currently, 49 states have enacted anti-bullying laws, which apply to approximately 98,000 K-12 public schools with the goal of protecting over 50 million students from involvement in bullying.  Despite the widespread adoption of anti-bullying policies, research on the implementation and effectiveness of these interventions is limited.  In order for a policy intervention to accomplish its intended effects and protect students from bullying, it must first be implemented with a high degree of fidelity.  This paper examines the extent to which the North Carolina School Violence Prevention Act of 2009 (SVPA) has been implemented as intended.  The SVPA is comprised of a number of components typically included in bullying policies and an enumerated statement of protected social classes, which included race, national origin, gender, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical appearance, and disability.

 

METHODS: An online survey was completed by 634 educators across the state about the implementation of the SVPA.  Most items assessed implementation across the social classes protected from bullying in the SVPA (i.e., race, national origin, gender, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical appearance, and disability).

 

RESULTS: Most (63%) educators had not received training on the SVPA, and 25% did not always know whom to report bullying incidents to in their schools.  Local anti-bullying policies more often included race as a protected class and sexual orientation and gender identity were least likely to be included.  Significantly more educators had been trained on bullying based on race than any other social class.  Students were more often informed that bullying based on race was prohibited and were least often informed about prohibitions regarding sexual orientation and gender identity.  Reporting, investigating, and remediating bullying behavior was highest for bullying based on race, followed by bullying based on disability, and was lowest for bullying based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

 

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: The SVPA has not been implemented with a high degree of fidelity.  Implementation actions by policymakers and personnel at the district and school levels show differential implementation across the protected social classes, with a trend of higher levels of implementation fidelity regarding racial bullying and lower fidelity regarding bullying related to sexual orientation and gender identity.