School employees who bully students now face a crime

In Tennessee, a child bullied by a teacher, aide or other school employee is no longer dealing only with a school discipline issue. The new law makes intentional bullying or cyberbullying by certain school employees a criminal offense, and it says teachers or school employees found to have committed harassment, intimidation, bullying or cyberbullying can be suspended or dismissed.

That matters because the harm comes from the person with authority in the room. A complaint that might once have stayed inside the building now carries consequences that reach beyond the campus and into an employee’s job.

A policy every school has to write

Each participating school must adopt a policy prohibiting harassment, intimidation, bullying or cyberbullying, and that policy has to meet the same requirements as a school district’s anti-bullying policy under Tennessee law.

Private schools that enroll recipients are pulled into the same rulebook. They, too, must adopt a policy banning the same conduct, using the district standard as the benchmark.

The adults students are supposed to trust

The law is aimed at adult conduct, not just student-on-student cruelty. It draws a sharper line around the people who are supposed to model safe behavior inside the school building.

For families, that changes the response when the person accused is the one who controls the classroom, the hallway or the bus ride. It gives schools a clearer way to respond when a staff member turns the power imbalance against a student.