If you’ve been a target for violence or harassed at school, or if you fear for your safety, you are not alone. Here are some things you can do to protect yourself.

Talk to someone you can trust. Ask for help.

Have a safety plan. This might mean, for example, finding a different way to walk home from school, arranging for a ride home, or carrying a cell phone or money to make an emergency phone call.

Keep a written record about the problems you are facing at school. Be sure to include details about what happened, the people who were involved, where and when the incident took place and whether there were any witnesses.

Report all harassment and abuse to the school principal. Counselors and teachers can be helpful, too, but they are not always legally required to take action to the same extent as the principal. Reporting to the school principal is the key. Put your reports and complaints in writing, and keep a file with copies of all documents you send and receive.

Follow your school’s complaint procedures. Schools that receive federal financial assistance are required by federal law to have complaint procedures.

Make reports to your local police if you experience serious threats or physical assault.

Next steps. Give the school principal a reasonable amount of time to address your complaint, but if no helpful action is taken, then take your complaint to the superintendent or school board.

If necessary, consider anonymous reports. Generally, it is important to identify yourself when you make a complaint, because you are more likely to receive protection and because the school is more likely to have a legal obligation to protect you if administrators know you have been mistreated. But if you feel strongly that you can’t identify yourself, send an anonymous report of harassment to the principal. The report could identify particular harassers at your school or describe your school’s harassment problem more generally. You might also ask a trusted adult, like a counselor, to tell the principal without using your name that harassment is a problem at the school. Many schools have procedures for anonymous reporting. Always keep copies of your reports or reports filed on your behalf.

Report harassment even if you don’t know who the harassers are. It is important to make the principal aware that harassment is taking place, even if you are unable to identify the harassers. As always, report incidents in writing, and keep a copy of the report for yourself. Speak up if the help isn’t actually helpful

Don’t give up if your school attempts to stop the harassment but fails. Talk to the principal and other adults at school about other ways the school could respond. At a minimum, report to the principal that the school’s efforts are not working.

Contact Lambda Legal if your school does not respond in a helpful way (866-542-8336 or use our online email form at www.lambdalegal.com/help.) Click here to learn more about the ways that Lambda Legal has helped students targeted for bullying.