title: Combating weight-based bullying in schools: is there public support for the use of litigation?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Bullying litigation is an emerging area of law that has increased in response to serious cases of bullying at school. Weight-based bullying is prevalent at school, but no research has examined the use of litigation to address this problem. We assessed public support for litigation approaches to address weight-based bullying at school, and whether support for litigation varies according to the reason why a student is bullied.
  
  
  METHODS
  A national sample of 994 adults (49% parents) completed an online questionnaire assessing their support for litigation approaches in response to hypothetical incidents of youth bullying.
  
  
  RESULTS
  As many as two thirds of participants supported litigation against schools for failing to intervene and protect students from weight-based bullying. Litigation remedies received slightly higher support in response to bullying due to race or sexual orientation compared to body weight. Participants favored litigation approaches that target schools for inadequate intervention or a bully's parents on behalf of their child's actions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study offers novel findings about public and parental views of litigation as a potential approach to address weight-based (and other forms of) bullying, and introduces considerations about the potential role of litigation as part of broader remedies to address youth bullying.
authors: Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, University of Connecticut, 1 Constitution Plaza, Suite 600, Hartford, CT 06103. rebecca.puhl@uconn.edu.
authors: Rebecca
authors: R
authors: Puhl
authors: Joerg
authors: J
authors: Luedicke
authors: Kelly M
authors: KM
authors: King
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001835:Body Weight; D058445:Bullying; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008318:Malpractice; D008875:Middle Aged; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D044469:Racial Groups; D012574:Schools / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
keywords: bullying litigation; legal issues; school bullying; school law; weight-based bullying