Holiday Calendar

​National Bullying Prevention Month

Next celebratedThursday, October 1, 2026

A month-long observance every October dedicated to preventing youth bullying and promoting kindness, acceptance, and inclusion in schools and communities.

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Last updated February 26, 2026 · by the Holiday Calendar TeamHave an update or spot an error?
YEARLY DATEAll of October
OBSERVED INUnited States
CATEGORYAwareness
SUBCATEGORYViolence Prevention
ORIGIN

Institutional Initiative

FOUNDING ENTITY
PACER's National Bullying Prevention Center
FIRST OBSERVED
2006
“PACER's National Bullying Prevention Center launched the observance as a single week in 2006 and grew it into a full month in 2010.
HOW THE HOLIDAY CAME TO BE

A single week that grew into a movement.

PACER's National Bullying Prevention Center created the observance in 2006 as a one-week event, National Bullying Prevention Awareness Week, and expanded it to a full month every October in 2010 as participation grew.

Visit PACER's NBPM Pagevia PACER's National Bullying Prevention Center
INTRO

The week that became a month, and the cause behind it

National Bullying Prevention Month did not begin as a month. When PACER's National Bullying Prevention Center first marked it in 2006, it ran for a single week. The full month came later, in 2010, after schools and families kept asking for more.

The growth tracks a hard reality. About one in five US students ages 12 to 18 still report being bullied during the school year, according to federal data compiled by StopBullying.gov. The figure has fallen over the past decade, but it has not gone away.

Every October the campaign asks for something specific and unglamorous: not a celebration, but attention. It points students, parents, and educators toward prevention, toward the bystanders who can step in, and toward the resources that help.

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ORIGINS

​National Bullying Prevention Month history

INTRODUCTION

Bullying is older than any campaign against it, but the organized US response is recent and traceable to one place. It starts not with a law or a tragedy headline, but with a Minneapolis nonprofit built to help children with disabilities, a group that knew firsthand how often those children are targeted.

That nonprofit is PACER Center. Its National Bullying Prevention Center launched the observance in 2006. For its first four years it was not a month at all. It was National Bullying Prevention Awareness Week, a short, focused push each October.

CHAPTER 01

From a week to a month

Demand outgrew the format. In 2010, as more schools and communities took part, PACER expanded the week into a full month every October. The renamed National Bullying Prevention Month gave teachers, families, and youth groups four weeks of activities instead of seven days.

CHAPTER 02

The color orange arrives

The campaign's most visible symbol came later still. PACER started Unity Day in October 2011, and its ask is deliberately simple: wear and share the color orange. Held on a Wednesday late in the month, it turns a feeling into something a whole school can see at once.

CHAPTER 03

A definition, and the law catches up

For years the country lacked even a shared definition of what it was fighting. That changed in 2014, when the CDC and the Department of Education released the first common federal definition of bullying: unwanted aggressive behavior, a real or perceived power imbalance, and repetition. Today all 50 states have anti-bullying laws on the books, and the month exists to keep the issue in front of the people closest to it.

WHY THIS DAY MATTERS

Why National Bullying Prevention Month Matters

PREVENTION

What feels tough is not what the evidence says works.

StopBullying.gov reports that zero-tolerance and expulsion are not effective, while bystanders who step in make a real difference. The campaign pushes communities toward those proven approaches instead of harsher ones.

SILENCE

It pulls a hidden problem into the open

Most bullying is never reported to an adult at school, federal surveys show. A visible October campaign gives students and families a clearer prompt to speak up and ask for help.

PERSISTENCE

The problem has shrunk but not disappeared

Reported bullying has fallen over the past decade, yet it still reaches a large share of US students every year. Keeping a month on the calendar guards against treating a smaller problem as a solved one.

BY THE NUMBERS

National Bullying Prevention Month by the Numbers

19.2%
US students ages 12-18 bullied, 2021-22
26.3%
Middle schoolers bullied vs 15.7% in high school
21.6%
Bullied students who were targeted online or by text
44.2%
Bullied students who told an adult at school
28%
Students bullied in 2010-11, before the decade's decline

TIMELINE

Timeline

It begins as a week

PACER's National Bullying Prevention Center launches the observance as National Bullying Prevention Awareness Week.

Expanded to a full month

Growing participation pushes the week to a month-long campaign every October.

Unity Day is created

PACER starts Unity Day, asking people to wear and share orange as the month's signature event.

First federal definition

The CDC and Department of Education release a shared federal definition of bullying.

Rates measured lower

The federal School Crime Supplement finds reported bullying among students 12-18 has fallen sharply since the start of the decade.

Eighteen years on

PACER marks the campaign's 18th October and holds Unity Day on October 16.
National Bullying Prevention Month is more than an awareness campaign, it's a call to action.
Lisa ElmDirector of social inclusion programs, PACER's National Bullying Prevention Center

GET INVOLVED

How to Observe National Bullying Prevention Month

EDITOR'S PICK

Wear and share orange on Unity Day

Join PACER's Unity Day, held on a Wednesday in October, by wearing orange and sharing why. It turns support for kindness and inclusion into a message a whole school can see.

LEARN

Learn the warning signs and how to respond

Review guidance from a recognized source so you know what bullying looks like and what to do. The federal StopBullying.gov site explains how to recognize it and where to turn.

TALK

Talk with a young person in your life

Ask the children or teens you know how things are going at school and online. Listening early makes it easier for them to come to you if something is wrong.

SUPPORT

Support the bystanders

Teach students that stepping in safely, or telling a trusted adult, makes a real difference. Prevention works best when it is shared across a whole community, not left to the target.

SHARE

Share verified prevention resources

Pass along materials from authoritative organizations through your school, workplace, or community group. Accurate information reaches more families than any single event can.

GET INVOLVED

Resources and Support

EDITOR'S PICK

StopBullying.gov

StopBullying.gov. The federal bullying-prevention site, managed by the US Department of Health and Human Services.

CRISIS

Crisis Text Line

Crisis Text Line. Free 24/7 text support. Text HOME to 741741 to reach a trained counselor.

Test your knowledge

How well do you know ​National Bullying Prevention Month?

1 / 8

Which organization founded National Bullying Prevention Month?

Answer

It is observed throughout the month of October in the United States, every year.

COLOPHON

Sources

How we know what’s on this page. References, not endorsements.

6sources
6primary records
3independently dated
PACER's National Bullying Prevention Center
National Bullying Prevention Month
The founding organization's page stating the campaign began in 2006 and runs each October.
View source
PACER Center2024-10-04
National Bullying Prevention Month celebrates 18 years this October
2024 press release confirming the 2006 founding, the one-in-five figure, and Unity Day.
View source
PACER's National Bullying Prevention Center
Unity Day
Explains that PACER started Unity Day in October 2011 with its wear-orange call to action.
View source
StopBullying.gov2024
Facts About Bullying
Federal statistics on youth bullying and HHS guidance on the complex link between bullying and suicide.
View source
National Center for Education Statistics2024
Fast Facts: Bullying
School Crime Supplement data on how many US students ages 12-18 were bullied during 2021-22.
View source
StopBullying.gov
About Us
Describes the federal site as managed by HHS with partners including the Department of Education and CDC.
View source
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