As we look back at the progress made throughout 2025, it is clear that while the law provided the foundation, the work of organizations like Defeat the Label remains the heartbeat of the movement. Policies on paper do not stop a bully in a hallway; culture, education, and the courage of “Upstanders” do.

The State of Michigan Schools: 2025 by the Numbers

Throughout the 2024-2025 academic year, data collected by the Michigan Department of Education and student safety programs like OK2SAY painted a sobering picture of the challenges our students face. Despite the existence of Matt’s Law, the reporting of incidents has surged—not necessarily because bullying is becoming more frequent, but because students are finally feeling empowered to report it.

Key Statistics from the 2025 Reporting Cycle:

• 11,200 Reported Incidents: Michigan schools reported over 11,000 verified bullying incidents in the last calendar year.
• The Cyber Shift: Approximately 18.5% of Michigan high schoolers reported being bullied online in 2025, continuing a three-year upward trend in digital harassment.
• The Power of Prevention: Schools that implemented comprehensive “Upstander” training saw a 22% decrease in physical altercations and a 35% increase in student-led interventions.
• Witnessing the Conflict: Research indicates that while 80% of students witness bullying, only 15% feel they have the specific tools to intervene without a school-wide program in place.

2025: A Year of Legislative Transformation

The year 2025 marked a pivotal shift in how Michigan handles school safety. Legislators and educators recognized that “reactionary” policies were no longer enough. The focus shifted toward Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management (BTAM).

In early 2025, bipartisan efforts were made to further strengthen the reporting requirements of Matt’s Law. This new focus requires every school to establish a dedicated team to identify the “pathway to violence” or self-harm before a crisis occurs. Throughout 2025, Defeat the Label worked alongside school districts to ensure that “threat assessment” includes the emotional and social triggers of bullying, rather than just physical security measures.

Defeat the Label’s Impact Throughout 2025

Defeat the Label has always believed that the solution to bullying isn’t just more rules—it’s fewer labels. By removing the social hierarchies that lead to “othering,” we create a space where students see each other as human beings rather than targets.

Stand4Change Day 2025 On May 2, 2025, Defeat the Label led its annual Stand4Change Day. Millions of students across the globe—and thousands across Michigan—literally stood up at the same time to signal their commitment to a bully-free world. In 2025, participation reached a record-breaking 6.5 million students worldwide.

The Upstander Program Expansion While Matt’s Law requires a procedure for reporting, our Upstander Program teaches the how. Throughout 2025, our year-long school-based programs focused on moving students from “bystanders” to “upstanders.” By the end of the year, over 200 Michigan schools had officially integrated the Upstander curriculum into their daily schedules.

The Evolution of Cyberbullying under Matt’s Law

One of the most significant updates discussed in 2025 was the integration of stricter regulations on digital harassment. As cyberbullying continues to be the primary frontier for harassment, 2025 legislative sessions focused on how Matt’s Law applies to the digital world.

The legal definition of bullying under Matt’s Law now explicitly includes electronic communication that “substantially interferes with educational opportunities” or causes “substantial emotional distress.” In 2025, we saw a rise in schools using restorative justice practices—bringing the victim and the perpetrator together to understand the impact of digital words—rather than relying solely on traditional suspension.

Looking Ahead: The Road to 2026

As we move into 2026, the legacy of Matt Epling remains at the forefront of our minds. His father, Kevin Epling, has often said that Matt’s Law was never the “finish line”—it was the “starting line.”

Defeat the Label is committed to ensuring that every school in Michigan goes beyond the minimum requirements of the law. We are pushing for:

1. Mandatory Annual Training: Ensuring all staff, from bus drivers to principals, can identify the subtle signs of social exclusion.
2. Increased Mental Health Funding: Supporting the 2025 initiatives that link school safety with mental health infrastructure.
3. Peer-to-Peer Support: Expanding grants for programs that allow students to lead the conversation on inclusivity.

Matt’s Law gave us the legal framework to fight back, but the heart of the battle is won in the classrooms and on the playgrounds. The statistics from 2025 show us that when we invest in education, empathy, and empowerment, the numbers go down. When we empower students to Defeat the Label, we aren’t just following a law—we are saving lives.

The post Strengthening Matt’s Law for a New Generation of Michigan Students first appeared on Defeat The Label.

If you believe your child is a victim of bullying, you can help in a variety of ways:

• Talk to your child, ask questions, show support, and act on the information he or she give you.
• Commit to your child that you will help him or her in any bullying situation.
• Work together to make a plan for bullying – whether it happens to your child or if he or she sees it happening to someone else.
• If your child is withdrawing, avoiding school, skipping school, or getting emotional, find out why. Believe him or her and follow your plan.
• Seek professional help if the bullying is negatively affecting your child.
• Contact law enforcement if you think a crime has been committed or seek legal advice.

Matt’s Law defines bullying as any “written, verbal, or physical act, or any electronic communication that is intended or that a reasonable person would know is likely to harm one or more pupils.” The policy must name the school officials that are responsible for ensuring its implementation and must have procedures for notifying the parents or legal guardians of a student that has been the target of bullying. Furthermore, the school must have a procedure for reporting an act of bullying and how it investigates bullying incidents.

You can contact your child’s school and ask for a copy of the school’s bullying policy.

Become familiar with the Michigan anti-bullying law.

The post Every school in Michigan is required to adopt an anti-bullying policy first appeared on Defeat The Label.

“A lot of kids all knew Matt and gravitated towards Matt because of, he was just kind of fun to be around,” Epling said.

On his last day of eighth grade in 2002, Matt was assaulted by high school students.

“They restrained him. They smashed eggs on him. They poured syrup on him and basically told him his life in high school was going to be hell,” Epling said.

The bullying continued through out the summer. The night before the Eplings were planning on going to the police, 14-year-old Matt Epling took his own life.

“It turned our world upside down,” Epling said.

In 2003, Epling decided to speak out about what Matt went through. In 2011, the Matt Epling Safe School Law was passed requiring school districts to adopt anti-bullying policies.

Now state Sen. Curtis Hertel Jr., D – East Lansing, is proposing two bills aimed at preventing adolescent suicide and strengthen anti-bullying laws.

Epling says they’re needed.

“Some schools are doing wonderful things, some schools are not doing the base required things that are in the law,” he said.

Suicide is the second leading cause of death among adolescents in the state, with 211 deaths in 2017.

“We’re never going to end suicide,” Hertel said. “This will in many ways make sure less people fall victim to it.”

One bill calls for educating kids and young adults on suicide in schools.

“By talking to kids and by sharing signs of depression, sharing warning signs, we can help kids know that some of these thoughts are normal and so that it’s okay to seek help,”

Hertel said.

It would also educate teachers on how to detect signs of depression in kids.

“If a child is seen in distress at school, that they don’t just send them to the office or have them talk to the nurse,” Epling said. “They actually contact a family member of that student.”

The second bill aims to strengthen bullying laws already in place.

“Cyberbullying isn’t included strongly enough in the laws and it also doesn’t reflect that a lot of this bullying happens off school grounds,”

Hertel said.

Epling said bullying prevention “is what we really need.”

“It’s not waiting until something happens and reacting to it,” he said. “It is about setting up measures of prevention.”

The post Bills would strengthen Michigan’s anti-bullying laws first appeared on Defeat The Label.

His father, Kevin Epling worked for nearly a decade after Matt died to get state laws on the books that would prevent another tragic death. Today he’s an anti-bullying advocate who speaks directly to students about the damage bullying inflicts. He counsels parents when they reach out to him looking for help when their kids are bullied in schools around the state.

Nearly two decades after Matt’s death, Epling is still working with legislators to strengthen anti-bullying laws in Michigan.

Epling was deeply frustrated when he read about the recent death of Michael Martin, a Lansing schools eighth grader. Michael, 13, died in January after taking his own life, two months after his mother began pleading with staff at Lansing’s Everett High School for help with bullying he was struggling with.

“It is very frustrating that we have spent time, energy, trying to get people to understand this is a much bigger problem than just addressing incidents as one-off issues,” Epling said. “I think that’s the problem. Schools wait until something happens.”

Epling doesn’t believe school districts are following the Matt Epling Safe School Law. It includes requirements that school districts implement anti-bullying policies that include a process to investigate reported incidents and that they inform school boards of the scope of those incidents every year.

A State Journal investigation of 18 Lansing area school districts shows most aren’t:

The post Is your school following Michigan’s anti-bullying law? first appeared on Defeat The Label.