Students who attend Arlington Public Schools will start learning about how to prevent bullying and harassment next month, a step the Northern Virginia district is taking in response to recent survey results and a request from parents.
At a recent school board meeting, Superintendent Francisco Durán said students in kindergarten through 12th grade will participate in the lessons. Counselors, school psychologists and social workers will deliver the lessons starting Wednesday.
October, Durán said, is National Bullying Prevention Month.
The rollout comes in response to findings from the 2025 Your Voice Matters survey and calls for increased awareness during community conversations. According to the survey results, 63% of the 2,930 students who responded said when they saw bullying at their school, they told an adult. But only 49% of 3,448 responses indicated the respondent reported the incident if another student bullied them.
Local news site ARLNow was the first to report details of the bullying prevention lessons.
“This is a reflection and opportunity, as we heard from parents and students that this is a need, for us to provide more instruction and more resources,” Durán said. “Here’s something that was developed.”
The lessons, Durán said, will be organized into three sections: understanding bullying behavior, understanding identity and practicing upstanding behavior. Students will learn about the types of bullying and the impact of it, according to a message sent to Arlington families. They’ll also learn how to report bullying and how to stand up for others in a supportive and respectful way.
As part of the lessons, students will talk about what makes each of them unique and what similarities and differences there are within their school communities.
The bullying instruction is in alignment with the Virginia Department of Education’s Social and Emotional Learning standards, Durán said.
The student services department “really put time over the summer to develop and create these lessons, and they’ll now be delivering them over the month of October,” Durán said.
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