Publication Title:
Injury Epidemiology
Publication Date:
Tuesday, June 7, 2016
This study measures the effectiveness of Iowa’s anti-bullying law, which went into effect in 2007, in preventing bullying and improving teacher response to bullying – two key indicators of an anti-bullying law's effectiveness.
The researchers find that the odds of being bullied increased one year following the passage of the law, and then decreased from one year to three years post-law, but not below 2005 pre-law levels. The study also finds that the odds of teacher intervention decreased 11 percent from 2005 (pre-law) to 2010 (post-law).
The study conclude that reductions in bullying occurred as the law matured, but that teacher response did not improve after the passage of the law.