In 2019, a student with disabilities at Mountain Pointe High School in Ahwatukee was filmed using the restroom and speaking in class. Classmates posted the video to Snapchat. <\/p>\n
The school issued suspensions, but the student\u2019s mother pushed Phoenix Police to investigate and pursue harassment charges, spotlighting how unprepared schools can be when digital harassment crosses personal boundaries.<\/p>\n
In Maricopa, a special\u2011needs student endured months of escalating bullying during rides home from the Arizona Center for Exceptional Students. What began as teasing turned violent \u2014 one student suffered a broken nose. The school bus driver wasn\u2019t fired until a DPS trooper intervened after video surfaced of the student being punched and kicked.<\/p>\n
\u201cKids don’t know enough to understand the damage that they are doing,\u201d said Chris Phillis, Pinal County public defender and cofounder of Speak Up, Stand Up, Save a Life.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The bullying students face today often begins off campus \u2014 filmed behind the scenes or created from AI, uploaded for ridicule then shared in group chats before anyone, including the victim, realizes what\u2019s happening.<\/p>\n
“There was a time when you might be bullied in school, but you were safe at home,\u201d said Gina Godbehere, bureau chief of the Northwest Valley Bureau Attorney\u2019s Office and co-founder of Speak Up, Stand Up, Save a Life. \u201cNow you\u2019re not safe\u202f24\/7. Digital bullying and extortion \u2014 kids sending inappropriate photos and being blackmailed are the new front lines.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are very cognizant about digital bullying,\u201d Phillis confirmed. \u201cThe problem we see now is extortion. Kids sending inappropriate photos and being extorted.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arizona\u2019s laws on bullying<\/strong><\/p>\n Arizona law requires schools to define bullying, provide reporting procedures, notify parents and specify disciplinary consequences. But those protections only apply to school property or events, and there\u2019s no requirement for staff training, anti-bullying curricula, victim counseling or safety planning. Off-campus cyberbullying is not covered.<\/p>\n Well-funded districts offer a structured approach to anti-bullying \u2014 complete with policy, resources and preventive strategies. Rural schools, by contrast, face systemic limitations in funding, staffing, community reach and training, which can blunt the impact of well-intentioned policies.<\/p>\n “Sometimes bullying reaches horrific abuse that leads to beatings or even suicide. Our education systems must address bullying behaviors that seem minor so that they do not escalate to abuse,” said state Sen. Mitzi Epstein, D-Tempe. “Young bullies learn to worsen their tactics with every hateful action they do \u2014 if their peers give them praise and adults do not seem to do anything to stop it.”\u00a0<\/p>\n Arizona law does not require districts to train staff in prevention strategies or address cyberbullying off campus, notes StopBullying.gov. While schools must notify victims and guardians, there is no mandate for follow-up mental health support or centralized oversight.<\/p>\n “Our education systems need policies that provide appropriate consequences for all levels of bullying,” Epstein said. “School districts, charter and private schools should all be places where children can learn in a safe environment. To protect all children, we need state laws that apply to all schools that receive any state funding.”\u00a0<\/p>\n Grassroots groups offer lifesaving support<\/strong><\/p>\n This statewide nonprofit centers on one truth: students often recognize trouble before adults do. <\/p>\n Speak Up, Stand Up, Save a Life<\/a> equips young people to notice warning signs \u2014 from bullying to abuse to suicidal ideation \u2014 and connect peers with trusted adults. The program supplies the tools; the students save each other.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you notice someone being bullied online, say something,\u201d said Phillis. \u201cSupport the victim. If you see bullying online, speak up. You could be saving someone’s life.\u201d<\/p>\n Last year\u2019s conference at Grand Canyon University included more than 1,700 students, educators, law-enforcement officers and mental-health professionals gathered for workshops on spotting crisis behaviors, forming peer support teams and countering digital harassment.<\/p>\n \u201cThis isn\u2019t about tattling,\u201d said Godbehere. \u201cIt\u2019s about protecting one another.\u201d<\/p>\n \n \u201cI feel like lives were saved,\u201d said Grace Martinez, a student ambassador in 2024. \u201cI was bullied from kindergarten through eighth grade. These tools give people real hope.\u201d<\/p>\n Participating schools are encouraged to form action teams \u2014 hosting awareness weeks, running peer-to-peer campaigns and connecting classmates with support.<\/p>\n Experts say prevention programs should aim for connection, not just discipline. Research shows bullying stops in under 10 seconds when teens intervene.\u00a0<\/p>\n Peer-mentoring groups and other anti-bullying initiatives are moving students from being passive bystanders \u2014 watching bullying happen but doing nothing \u2014 to \u201cactive upstanders\u201d who speak up, intervene safely or connect the victim to an adult.<\/p>\n Across Arizona, \u201cupstander\u201d training is quietly reshaping school culture.<\/p>\n \u201cHelping others felt amazing,\u201d said Josiah Growe, a volunteer at last year’s Speak Up conference. \u201cPeer care changes everything.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSince attending the Speak Up conference in 2024, our school has seen a drastic change and positive shift in how students address bullying on campus,\u201d said Julie Parker, middle school teacher at Vulture Peak Middle School in Wickenburg. \u201cWe created a leadership group called the students who care. These students have been equipped to speak up for themselves as well as others on campus. They are taking a proactive role in creating an inclusive environment. We have created a club called Safe Place where all are welcome. The conference has empowered both students and staff to address concerns quickly, encourage open communication and help cultivate an environment where everyone feels safe and validated.\u201d<\/p>\n Gaps still remain. Arizona has no centralized reporting system to track bullying complaints across districts. Schools vary widely in how they define bullying and what support they offer students who report it. That inconsistency makes community partnerships essential. Grassroot groups are helping to bridge the divide \u2014 by turning student courage into a statewide movement.<\/p>\n As the new school year begins, education leaders say prevention must be as much about relationships as rules.\u00a0<\/p>\n Editor\u2019s note: A grant from the Arizona Local News Foundation<\/a> made this story possible. The foundation awarded 15 newsrooms to pay for solutions-focused education reporters for two years. Please send your comments to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In 2019, a student with disabilities at Mountain Pointe High School in Ahwatukee was filmed using the restroom…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":161727,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5131],"tags":[5229,5643,1587,407,171,14154,50,5622,1589,62,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-173096","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-phoenix","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-arizona","10":"tag-az","11":"tag-education","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-fountain-hills-arizona","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-opinions","16":"tag-phoenix","17":"tag-sports","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-united-states-of-america","20":"tag-unitedstates","21":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","22":"tag-us","23":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115086789392640174","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173096","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173096"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173096\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/161727"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}