Long Island Schools Rocked by Surge in Bullying: Over 1,900 Incidents Reported in 2024-25
Long Island schools recorded a 26.3% drop in verified bullying, harassment, and discrimination incidents in 2024-25, totaling 1,906 under New York's Dignity for All Students Act. However, child advocates warn that these statistics likely underrepresent the true extent of the issue due to widespread underreporting and fear of retaliation. The article details specific severe incidents, explores the varying district responses, and outlines how bullying profoundly impacts student well-being, while also explaining the DASA reporting process.
Long Island school districts reported 1,906 verified bullying, harassment, and discrimination incidents during the 2024-25 school year under the New York's Dignity for All Students Act (DASA). This figure, based on a Newsday analysis of data from the New York State Education Department, represents a notable 26.3% decrease from the 2,587 incidents reported in the previous year. While this drop might suggest an improvement, child advocates caution that the data may not reflect the full scope of the problem due to significant underreporting.
The severity of these incidents can be profound, as highlighted by a lawsuit filed by the father of a fifth grader at Great Neck's Elizabeth Baker Elementary School. In June 2025, the 11-year-old Chinese American boy was allegedly sucker-punched and violently kicked by a classmate, resulting in a broken front tooth. According to the lawsuit, the assailant had a history of violent tendencies and frequently targeted Asian students with racial slurs. Paul Liggieri, the victim's attorney, stated that this incident was the culmination of repeated racial and ethnic harassment that the school allegedly knew about but failed to address. Similarly, in Massapequa, students and parents voiced concerns at a board of education meeting. A 15-year-old student named Skylar shared that she had not felt safe at school due to ongoing harassment, including name-calling and body-shaming, which has significantly impacted her mental and emotional well-being. Another African American graduate recounted experiencing racial discrimination in eighth grade, including a classmate telling her to return to a plantation and changing her Chromebook homepage to George Floyd's image, as well as later incidents of monkey noises and egging her house.
The number of verified incidents varied widely across Long Island, from zero in Port Washington to 180 in Longwood. Intriguingly, 21 districts, approximately one-sixth of all districts on Long Island, reported no incidents of bullying or harassment for the 2024-25 school year. Of these, 11 districts have over 600 students, and eight have populations exceeding 1,000. Child advocates, including Joseph Salamone, executive director of The Long Island Coalition Against Bullying, emphasize that bullying is