School counselors are often the first adults students turn to when something goes wrong online. Knowing what your state requires shouldn’t take hours of reading statutes. This page explains where the map’s information comes from, how I summarize it, and its limits.
Where the information comes from
- State bullying laws: StopBullying.gov, the federal government’s review of each state’s anti-bullying laws and regulations. It records whether each law includes 13 key elements and whether it reaches off-campus behavior, and it lists every statute and regulation. Each state profile shows the date the federal review was last updated.
- Cyberbullying coverage: the Cyberbullying Research Center‘s state-by-state summary by Drs. Justin Patchin and Sameer Hinduja.
- School phone rules: Ballotpedia’s tracker of statewide laws and policies on student cellphone use.
- Online safety and social media laws for minors: the Orrick Online Safety Law Tracker, including laws that courts have blocked.
- School districts: the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) school district boundaries for the 2024–25 school year and its Common Core of Data for enrollment, grades, and contact details. ZIP codes are matched to districts using the center point of each ZIP code.
How the overall rating works
Each state gets one point for each of the 13 elements in its bullying law, plus one point if the law reaches off-campus behavior, for a total of 14. States with 13 or 14 are labeled Comprehensive, 11 or 12 Strong, 8 to 10 Moderate, and 7 or fewer Limited.
This is a count of what the law includes. It is not a judgment of how well schools carry it out, and a state with a shorter law can still have strong district policies and caring educators.
Plain language first, legal detail on request
Every state profile leads with a short summary and what it means for counselors. Legal citations are tucked into sections you can open, and I spell out abbreviations such as “N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. tit. 8” as “New York Codes, Rules and Regulations, Title 8,” with a note on whether each item is a law passed by the legislature or a rule from a state agency.
Accessibility
The map is built to work with a keyboard and screen readers. Every state can be reached with the Tab key and opened with Enter, search results are announced, and colors are always paired with text labels. Everything on the map is also available in the table on the main page and on each state’s own page, so nobody has to use the map to get the information. If something does not work for you, please let me know.
Limits and updates
- Laws change, especially after spring legislative sessions. I plan to review the data twice a year, and each profile shows when its sources were last updated.
- ZIP codes can cross district lines. Always confirm your district with your school.
- District policies can go further than state law. Each district card links to a search for that district’s own bullying policy.
- This map is educational information, not legal advice.
Using and citing the map
You are welcome to share the map and use the downloadable data in trainings and coursework. Please cite it as: Karkhanis Rath, S. (2026). Cyberbullying law and policy map. https://www.saileekrath.com/tools-for-counselors/cyberbullying-laws/