Rhode Island Ranked 2nd in List of States with Best Anti-Bullying Laws, Policies

If you saw a child being bullied - in school, on the street, in a park - would you intervene? Most people would like to think they would, but the terrible truth is that only four out of 100 adults step in when they see a kid being bullied.

And a kid is bullied in the United States every seven minutes, according to the National Voices for Equality Education and Enlightenment (NVEEE).

But children in Rhode Island have it a little easier, thanks in part to anti-bullying laws and policies, a new study from WalletHub reports.

Rhode Island was ranked 2nd in a list of states with the least amount of bullies and bullied children.

States were ranked based on many factors, including: percentage of students who missed school for fear of being bullied, percentage of high school students involved in a physical fight, percentage of high school students who attempted suicide and state anti-bullying laws and policies.

Rhode Island ranked number four for smallest amount of high school students bullied on school property. Rhode Island also ranked third overall in for bullying prevalence and 10th for bullying environment and impact.

Our neighbors to the North also ranked well, with Massachusetts claiming the number one spot. But New Hampshire and Connecticut could do better, ranking at numbers 31 and 32 respectively.

WalletHub consulted social work experts who say children with poor social skills and few friends are at risk for being bullied. Also, children with minority identities such as race, sexual orientation or disability.

Bullying can take forms from simple name calling to the more complicated, and prevalent in recent years, cyber bullying.

While parents may not be able to protect their children from being bullied online, there are steps you can take to help them if in case they are cyber bullied.

“If a child is cyberbullied in school, parents might … discuss with school officials about provisions for dealing with and disciplining students who engage in cyberbullying,” Jun Sung Hong, assistant professor of social work at Wayne State University, said to WalletHub.

Other steps include encouraging children to document instances of cyber bullying and not punishing children for online activity that leads to cyber bullying.

Image via Wikimedia: Eddie~S