Anti-bullying laws
Sabia, J. J., & Bass, B. (2017). Do anti-bullying laws work? New evidence on school safety and youth violence. Journal of Population Economics, 30(2), 473-502.
Then answer the following questions:
What does the data tell us?
If you were a lawmaker or policy maker, what changes would you make on the data?
Do you feel the methodology is sound, or do you feel there are questions unanswered?
Sample Answer
The study by Sabia and Bass (2017) found that the typical state anti-bullying law (ABL) has little effect on school safety and youth violence. However, the study also found that state mandates that require school districts to implement strong, comprehensive anti-bullying policies are associated with a 7 to 13% reduction in school violence and an 8 to 12% reduction in bullying.
If I were a lawmaker or policy maker, I would focus on enacting strong, comprehensive anti-bullying policies that are mandatory for all school districts. I would also work to ensure that these policies are effectively implemented and enforced.
I believe that the methodology used in the study is sound. The authors used a variety of data sources, including the Youth Risk Behavior Surveys and the Uniform Crime Reports, and they controlled for a number of other factors that could have influenced the results.