Bullying incidents in New York schools are rising and have surpassed pre-pandemic levels, according to a report released last February by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli. The report examined seven years of data from the New York State Education Department’s School Safety and Educational Climate Report.
Nearly 30,000 bullying incidents and over 4,300 cyberbullying incidents were reported statewide between 2023 and 2024. Excluding schools that reported no incidents, the rates were 18.2 bullying incidents per 1,000 students and 4.4 cyberbullying incidents per 1,000 students.
Bullying and cyberbullying rates in downstate schools remain lower than those in upstate New York and New York City, with 9.3 bullying incidents per 1,000 students and 3.4 cyberbullying incidents per 1,000 students.
“We need to do everything we can to make sure students and teachers feel safe, and this data shows there is more to do inside and outside our schools to meet these goals,” DiNapoli said.
The Hewlett-Woodmere School District has a multilayered approach to bullying, outlined in the district’s Student Bullying Harassment Intervention and Prevention Policy. Under New York State legislation that combats bullying, harassment and discrimination in public schools—the Dignity for All Students Act—each district building employs a Dignity Act Coordinator. Known as DACs, these employees handle bullying incidents both on and off school property.
“Our DACs and building principals report to me regularly,” District Superintendent Dina Anzalone wrote in a statement. “Every complaint we receive, whether it comes in verbally or in writing, whether a parent calls the main office or a student fills out our formal complaint form, is documented, tracked, and investigated.”
Outside of coordinator reports, Anzalone wrote that school counselors and psychologists are the district’s “early warning system,” noting they often prevent formal bullying incidents when warning signs appear.
Each building in the district utilizes its own intentional supervision plan during transitions between classes, lunch, recess, and before and after school. Teachers, monitors, teacher assistants and aides all serve as hallway monitors. The provision is meant to ensure that adults are visible and attentive.
“Consistent, engaged adult presence changes behavior before anything escalates,” Anzalone wrote. “It shifts the culture.”
Within the past two years, the district has had incidents reported that met the district’s definition of bullying. These incidents have ranged from verbal harassment, social exclusion and cyberbullying that originated outside of school—a trend that has become a new norm across the country.
In classrooms across Hewlett-Woodmere, respect between students is built into the curriculum they learn every day. The district does not have an automatic consequence for bullying, but Anzalone wrote that reports are taken seriously and addressed with a wide range of responses.
District officials say the goal is to address bullying early and reinforce a culture of respect before incidents escalate.
“There is no distinction in our minds between cruelty that happens in a hallway and cruelty that happens on a screen at 11 o’clock at night,” she wrote. “Every student is an individual, and their safety is not something we treat as a box to be checked.”
