Overview

• The provincial government submitted a reform of the Contraventions Code to the Legislature to add bullying as an offense and place administrative responsibility on parents and guardians.
• Penalties would escalate from 5–50 days of mandatory community service to fines of up to about 2.1 million pesos, with revenue directed to bullying-prevention programs and provincial libraries.
• Judicial escalation is contemplated for repeat conduct, allowing judges to double sanctions and require compulsory family therapy or parental workshops.
• A newly issued protocol guides schools through identifying and documenting cases, notifying families, implementing immediate action plans, following up, and referring severe cases to protection agencies or the courts.
• Authorities point to more than 200 hotline and online reports this year with over 55 interventions, and they note the recent La Paz case in which a 14-year-old entered a school with a gun, fired into the air, and barricaded herself for hours.