Abstract
The objective of this study was to investigate the Brazilian legislation to combat school bullying and analyze the nature of its norms, in order to verify if the respective law is punitive, preventive, or informative. The method used was documentary research, carried out between July 2019 and October 2020, based on the survey of national and state laws that address bullying. In addition to consulting the Federal Constitution, the Estatuto da Criança e do Adolescente (ECA, Statute of Children and Adolescents) and the Lei de Diretrizes e Bases da Educação Nacional (LDBEN, Law of Directives and Bases for National Education), documental research was also carried out on the websites of the National Congress and state Legislative Assemblies, using the keywords bullying, school violence, and prevention. Three national laws and 43 state laws were identified, involving 24 of the 27 Brazilian states, including the Federal District. From the content analysis, the results indicated that some states have more than one law on the subject and some of them have characteristics that place them in more than one category. It was observed that all laws are informative, most have a preventive nature, and some have punitive aspects. The importance of the broad Brazilian legislation to combat bullying is highlighted, which contributes to effective protection and the right to education.
School bullying; Legislation; Public policies