What the law says about school bullying in Costa Rica, and how to report it

The Ley para la Prevención y el Establecimiento de Medidas Correctivas y Formativas frente al Acoso Escolar o "Bullying" (Ley N.º 9404, de 2016) obliges all educational centers in Costa Rica — public and private, at all levels, from preschool — to protect students from school bullying.

What counts as school bullying (Artículo 7): intentional behaviors by one or more students toward another to cause pain or suffering, repeated continuously, where there is a power imbalance — the victim perceives themselves as vulnerable compared to the aggressor. It must occur between peers (student against student), not from an adult toward a student.

Types recognized by the law (Artículo 6): physical, patrimonial (damaging or taking belongings), verbal (insults, defamation, rumors), psychological (intimidation, exclusion, humiliation), social (isolating or excluding someone), sexual violence (sexual comments or insinuations that do not rise to a separate sexual crime), and **cyberbullying** — bullying through the internet, social networks, cell phones or any digital medium.

Where and when it applies (Artículo 5): inside the educational center’s facilities during school hours or outside them, in organized activities or those related to the school, and also everything that occurs in cyberspace among students — it does not need to happen inside the classroom for the law to apply.

• **Against retaliation** (Artículo 3f): the law specifically defines as a violation any punishment, revenge or threat against someone who reports a bullying case, provides information during an investigation, or is a witness.
• **Responsibility of school personnel** (Artículo 4f): if an employee (teacher, administrator) fails to act on a school bullying case they know about, they can receive administrative disciplinary sanctions — it is not optional for educational staff to intervene.

How to report: the Ministerio de Educación Pública (MEP) has a Protocol for Acting on Bullying Situations, mandatory compliance in all educational centers, which defines a confidential channel to report a case within the school itself — usually through the Dirección de Vida Estudiantil or the Departamento de Convivencia Estudiantil of each institution. The MEP also invites reporting directly through its official channels (mep.go.cr).

Note: this sheet summarizes the most frequently consulted information by families and students. The exact investigation and sanction protocol may vary depending on the type of educational center — for a real case, the first step is to report it within the school itself following the current MEP protocol.