A plain-English guide to Illinois’s bullying and cyberbullying law, written for school counselors and other school staff. Start with the summary, then open any section below for the legal details.
Bottom line for counselors: Illinois requires every school district to have a written bullying policy. The law covers cyberbullying, including off-campus behavior that affects school. Follow your district's reporting and investigation steps and keep careful notes.
Illinois's bullying law includes 13 of 14 key elements, which Lantern rates comprehensive. Cyberbullying can also be a crime under Illinois law. State law lets schools discipline students for cyberbullying. School phones: statewide ban (SB 2427, July 28, 2026). Illinois also has an online-safety law for minors: Children’s Online Social Media Safety Act, HB 5511, Public Act 104-0664.
Sources last checked: StopBullying.gov summary reviewed April 28, 2026 · school phone rules checked November 11, 2026 · online-safety tracker updated August 18, 2026.
Lantern · State profile
Comprehensive state protections · 13 of 14 key elements
- Covers cyberbullying Yes
- Reaches off-campus behavior Yes
- District policy required Yes
- Reporting & investigation rules Yes
- Staff training No
- Support for students involved Yes
- School phone rules Statewide phone restriction
- Online safety laws for minors 1 on the books
What this means for counselors
- Your district is required to have a written bullying policy. Find it, and learn who in your building receives reports.
- State law sets expectations for reporting and investigating bullying. Follow your district's steps and timelines, and keep careful notes.
- Cyberbullying that happens off campus can be addressed when it affects school. Record how the online behavior reached or disrupted school.
- The law calls for support for students who are involved. That is core counseling work, for the student targeted and for the student who bullied.
- State law does not require staff training, so counselors can lead that work by offering short trainings on cyberbullying for colleagues.
- Prevention education is expected. Classroom lessons on digital citizenship and online empathy fit here.
- The law names protected groups. Bullying based on these characteristics may also be a civil rights issue for your school.
- Your state limits student phone use at school. Know your school's phone rules so responses to online incidents are consistent.
- Your state has laws on minors' online safety. They mostly regulate tech companies, but they are useful context when you talk with families.
What Illinois’s bullying law includes
- Bans bullying outright: included
The law clearly states that bullying is not allowed. - Defines bullying: included
The law spells out what counts as bullying. - Says where the rules apply: included
The law describes where the rules apply, such as school grounds, buses, events, or online. - Names protected groups: included
The law lists characteristics, such as race or disability, that bullying often targets. - Districts must have a policy: included
Every school district has to adopt a written bullying policy. - Reporting and investigation rules: included
The law sets out how bullying is reported and investigated. - Consequences for bullying: included
The law describes consequences for students who bully. - Policy shared with families: included
Districts have to tell students, staff, and families about the policy. - Support for students involved: included
The law calls for protection or support, such as counseling, for students who are involved. - Policies reviewed and updated: included
District policies have to be reviewed and kept up to date. - Prevention education: included
The law requires or encourages bullying prevention lessons or programs. - Staff training: not included
The law requires or encourages training for teachers and other staff. - Parent involvement: included
The law involves parents in preventing or responding to bullying.
Questions and answers about the law
How are bullying and cyberbullying defined in Illinois anti-bullying laws and regulations?
Illinois anti-bullying laws include the following definitions of bullying and cyberbullying:
“Bullying” includes “cyber-bullying” and means any severe or pervasive physical or verbal act or conduct, including communications made in writing or electronically, directed toward a student or students that has or can be reasonably predicted to have the effect of one or more of the following:
(1) placing the student or students in reasonable fear of harm to the student’s or students’ person or property;
(2) causing a substantially detrimental effect on the student’s or students’ physical or mental health;
(3) substantially interfering with the student’s or students’ academic performance; or
(4) substantially interfering with the student’s or students’ ability to participate in or benefit from the services, activities, or privileges provided by a school.
“Bullying”, as defined in this subsection (b), may take various forms, including without limitation one or more of the following: harassment, threats, intimidation, stalking, physical violence, sexual harassment, sexual violence, posting or distributing sexually explicit images, theft, public humiliation, destruction of property, or retaliation for asserting or alleging an act of bullying. This list is meant to be illustrative and non-exhaustive.
“Cyber-bullying” means bullying through the use of technology or any electronic communication, including without limitation any transfer of signs, signals, writing, images, sounds, data, or intelligence of any nature transmitted in whole or in part by a wire, radio, electromagnetic system, photoelectronic system, or photooptical system, including without limitation electronic mail, Internet communications, instant messages, or facsimile communications. “Cyber-bullying” includes the creation of a webpage or weblog in which the creator assumes the identity of another person or the knowing impersonation of another person as the author of posted content or messages if the creation or impersonation creates any of the effects enumerated in the definition of bullying in this Section. “Cyber-bullying” also includes the distribution by electronic means of a communication to more than one person or the posting of material on an electronic medium that may be accessed by one or more persons if the distribution or posting creates any of the effects enumerated in the definition of bullying in this Section. Beginning with the 2026-2027 school year, "cyber-bullying" also includes the posting or distribution of an unauthorized digital replica by electronic means if the posting or distribution creates any of the effects enumerated in the definition of "bullying" in this Section.
105 Ill. Comp. Stat. § 5/22-110 (2025)
Do Illinois anti-bullying laws and regulations cover cyberbullying that occurs off-campus?
Yes. Illinois anti-bullying laws cover off-campus conduct involving the transmission of information from a computer that is accessed at a non-school-related location, activity, function, or program or from the use of technology or an electronic device that is not owned, leased, or used by a school district or school if the behavior causes a substantial disruption to the educational process or orderly operation of a school, and if a school administrator or teacher receives a report that bullying through this means has occurred. The law does not require a district or school to staff or monitor any non-school-related activity, function, or program.
What are the policy requirements for schools to prevent and respond to bullying behavior?
Illinois school districts adopt bullying prevention policies. Illinois school district policies must contain key policy and procedural elements, including, but not limited to:
- Definitions of bullying that conform to the definition in state law;
- Statements that bullying is contrary to state law and school district policy;
- Procedures for reporting and investigations, including designation of a staff person or persons responsible for receiving bullying reports and a procedure for anonymous reporting;
- Procedure for promptly informing parents or guardians of all students involved in an alleged incident of bullying and discussing the availability of social worker services, counseling, school psychological services, other interventions, and restorative measures;
- Statements prohibiting reprisal or retaliation;
- Disciplinary consequences and appropriate remedial actions for violations of the policy;
- Interventions that can be taken to address bullying, which may include, but are not limited to, school social work services, restorative measures, social-emotional skill building, counseling, school psychological services, and community-based services; and
- Requirements regarding how the policy will be publicized within the district.
Illinois anti-bullying laws require districts to file policies with the State Board of Education and to engage in a policy evaluation review process to assess the outcomes and effectiveness of the policy. Information developed as a result of the policy evaluation must be made available on the Internet website of the school district. Illinois school districts must review and re-evaluate policies every two years and make any necessary and appropriate revisions.
Do Illinois anti-bullying laws and regulations include protections for specific groups?
Yes. Illinois anti-bullying laws prohibit bullying on the basis of actual or perceived distinguishing characteristic (see 105 ILCS 5/22-11).
Illinois schools that receive federal funding are required by federal law to address discrimination based on certain personal characteristics. Find out when bullying may be a civil rights violation.
Do Illinois anti-bullying laws and regulations encourage or require districts to implement bullying prevention programs or strategies?
Yes. Illinois anti-bullying laws outline roles and responsibilities for school social workers and school counselors that include, but are not limited to, developing and implementing school-based prevention programs including mediation and violence prevention, implementing social and emotional education programs and services, and establishing and implementing bullying prevention and intervention programs.
Do Illinois anti-bullying laws and regulations encourage or require districts to train teachers and other school staff on how to respond to bullying incidents?
No. Illinois anti-bullying laws do not require districts to train teachers and other school staff on how to respond to bullying incidents.
Do Illinois anti-bullying laws and regulations encourage or require districts to provide safeguards or mental health supports for students involved with bullying?
Yes. Illinois school district bullying prevention policies must include interventions that can be taken to address bullying, which may include, but are not limited, to school social work services, restorative measures, social-emotional skill building, counseling, school psychological services, and community-based services. School district policies must require that the district or school provide the victim with information regarding services that are available within the district and community, such as counseling, support services, and other programs.
Do Illinois anti-bullying laws and regulations involve parents in efforts to address bullying behavior?
Yes. Illinois school district bullying prevention policies must be based on the engagement of a range of school stakeholders including students and parents or guardians. Illinois school district bullying prevention policies must also include procedures for promptly informing parents or guardians of all students involved in an alleged incident of bullying.
Answers from StopBullying.gov, last reviewed April 28, 2026.
School phone and device rules
Statewide ban. Most recent statewide action: SB 2427, July 28, 2026.
Source: Ballotpedia, checked November 11, 2026.
Online safety and social media laws for minors
These laws mostly place duties on apps, platforms, and websites, such as age checks, parental consent, or limits on addictive feeds. Several have been challenged in court.
- Children’s Online Social Media Safety Act, HB 5511, Public Act 104-0664
In effect: January 1, 2028
Source: Orrick Online Safety Law Tracker, updated August 18, 2026.
Legal citations, explained (10)
Each entry shows what the law or rule is about first, then its official name with abbreviations spelled out.
- Mental health database and resource page Law passed by the legislature 20 Illinois Compiled Statutes Section 1705/76 Read the text of 20 Illinois Compiled Statutes Section 1705/76
- Student discipline policies; parent-teacher advisory committee Law passed by the legislature 105 Illinois Compiled Statutes Section 5/10-20.14 Read the text of 105 Illinois Compiled Statutes Section 5/10-20.14
- School social work services Law passed by the legislature 105 Illinois Compiled Statutes Section 5/14-1.09.2 Read the text of 105 Illinois Compiled Statutes Section 5/14-1.09.2
- Preventing or interfering with a child’s attendance at school Law passed by the legislature 105 Illinois Compiled Statutes Section 5/22-12 Read the text of 105 Illinois Compiled Statutes Section 5/22-12
- Bullying prevention Law passed by the legislature 105 Illinois Compiled Statuses Section 5/22-110 Read the text of 105 Illinois Compiled Statuses Section 5/22-110
- School counseling services Law passed by the legislature 105 Illinois Compiled Statutes Section 5/10-22.24b Read the text of 105 Illinois Compiled Statutes Section 5/10-22.24b
- Internet safety education curriculum Law passed by the legislature 105 Illinois Compiled Statutes Section 5/27-13.3 Read the text of 105 Illinois Compiled Statutes Section 5/27-13.3
- Principals shall report incidents of intimidation Law passed by the legislature 105 Illinois Compiled Statutes Section 5/34-84a.1 Read the text of 105 Illinois Compiled Statutes Section 5/34-84a.1
- Hazing Law passed by the legislature 720 Illinois Compiled Statutes Section 5/12C-50 Read the text of 720 Illinois Compiled Statutes Section 5/12C-50
- Failure to report hazing Law passed by the legislature 720 Illinois Compiled Statutes Section 5/12C-50.1 Read the text of 720 Illinois Compiled Statutes Section 5/12C-50.1
Official Illinois resources
Educational information, not legal advice. Laws change, so confirm with your district and state education department.
Find a school district in Illinois
Search by ZIP code, select a district on the map, or look one up by name. Each district links to a search for its own bullying policy, since district rules can go further than state law.
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