Identifying Bullying: Know Your Legal Rights in NY

Brian Magnosi | Abuse Awareness | August 1, 2025

Bullying can trigger long-term health and psychological issues on top of the immediate injuries a victim sustains. Bullying elevates stress levels, and stress contributes to chronic conditions like cardiovascular problems. Stress caused by bullying can also lead to chronic anxiety and depression. Recalling and reliving the events can cause post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The pervasive fear and isolation that result from being targeted ruins childhood and adolescence and can persist into adulthood, affecting personal relationships and quality of life.

Bullying takes different forms, from verbal abuse, physical attacks, and spreading rumors, to online cyberbullying. Bullying is defined as repeated “aggressive behavior intended to harm or control someone less powerful.” It involves a power imbalance where an aggressor targets a victim. Unlike ordinary conflict, which is reciprocal and may resolve naturally, bullying is one-sided and creates an atmosphere of fear.

Physical Bullying: Involves direct harm through hitting, kicking, or other bodily contact.

Verbal Bullying: Uses language – insults, threats, and derogatory remarks – to demean.

Social (Relational) Bullying: Excludes individuals from peer groups and spreads malicious rumors.

Cyberbullying: Uses digital means such as social media and messaging to harass, often broadly and anonymously.

Perpetrators of physical, verbal, and social bullying are more easily identifiable than perpetrators engaged in cyberbullying. Cyberbullying’s key features include anonymity, persistence, and a wide audience, and digital footprint left behind makes cyberbullying especially challenging to stop. Because of its widespread appeal, cyberbullying extends far outside the confines of a school. It follows a student home and persists on phones and computers well after school hours.

New York and Anti-Bullying Laws

Cyberbullies can only be prosecuted if they are identified. In New York State, there is no criminal statute devoted to cyberbullying. Rather it is prosecuted as harassment or stalking, or if it is discriminatory, it can be prosecuted under anti-discrimination law.

Anti-bullying laws in New York state that “no student shall be subjected to harassment or bullying by employees or students on school property or at a school function.” New York recognizes that peer aggression compromises a student’s ability to learn and the school’s ability to educate its students. When under the scrutiny and pressure of such harmful behavior, many students are unable to meet academic standards, and it is the policy of the state that public schools should be an environment free of discrimination and harassment.

Schools are expected to maintain a safe and supportive learning environment free from harassment, intimidation, sexual misconduct, and discrimination. While some schools address reports of bullying seriously, many unfortunately do not. A family may attempt to engage with the school directly, only to be ignored. Schools may also be held accountable, the teachers, principal, or other faculty if their negligence led to the injury of one of their students.

School Responsibility

In New York, school districts must establish and implement policies, procedures, and guidelines to create a school that is free from harassment, bullying, and discrimination. These include:

• Designating a school employee to be responsible for receiving reports of inappropriate or harmful behavior.
• Requiring the school to take prompt action reasonably calculated to stop the misconduct.
• Mandating notification of law enforcement for any incident that may constitute criminal conduct
  

If the school fails to meet these requirements, it can be held responsible.

Identifying Bullying

Oftentimes, bullying is hard to see clearly. It could be happening away from the eyes of school faculty or parents. These are some signs that your child may be getting bullied:

Behavioral changes: Withdrawal, increased anxiety, or depression.

Social Changes: Avoidance of interactions and reluctance to attend school or events.

Physical Signs: Unexplained bruises or frequent complaints of pain.

Subtle Cues: Reduced eye contact, lowered self-esteem, and defensiveness.

The Dangers of Bullying and the Lasting Effects

The lasting effects of bullying can be severe: anxiety disorders, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and withdrawal from friends and family. Chronic fear and stress degrade self-esteem and can lead to suicidal thoughts. Stress from bullying manifests as headaches, gastrointestinal issues, sleep disturbances, and long-term cardiovascular effects. The fear and distraction caused by bullying can impair concentration, memory, and academic performance. Victims often display decreased attendance and engagement.

At Mirman, Markovits & Landau, P.C., you do not have to carry this burden alone. If your child has been the victim of bullying, whether suffering from physical injury, mental distress, interruptions in everyday healthy lifestyle, if your child needed surgery or therapy, legal options may be available and your child may be entitled to compensation. Whether the abuse happened years ago or more recently, your voice matters, and you deserve to be heard. Call us at 212-227-4000 to schedule a free and confidential consultation.