Once again, Florida's Legislature has failed to enact comprehensive anti-bullying legislation. An anti-bullying law would have provided children with an important and powerful safeguard against racism and bigotry in our public schools.

Every day, children across Florida are bullied in public schools. Unchecked, in-school bullying has long-term detrimental effects for the victim and society. (To many child-psychology experts, it is not surprising to learn of speculations that the perpetrator of the Virginia Tech massacre, Seung-Hui Cho, may himself have been bullied by his schoolmates.) Victims of school bullying often mature into adults who exhibit overly aggressive behavior and even resort to bullying others.

Children labeled as ''different'' for any reason are often victimized and isolated. In addition, these targeted young people are more likely to take actions that harm themselves or others. Left unaddressed, biased attitudes can lead to biased behavior, which can all too often escalate into violent acts of hatred.

There is a common misperception regarding the purpose of passing an anti-bullying law. Bullying is a form of severe harassment that affects school performance, safety and mental well-being. Many well-intended adults associate ''bullying'' with the taunts and teasings that may occur on the school playground. For example, calling a child ''four eyes'' for wearing glasses, or poking fun at a child because of a physical attribute has been, unfortunately, an accepted behavioral pattern in public schools.

However, the term ''bullying'' also takes into account far more sinister occurrences that have produced devastating consequences. In the adult world, we would call these occurrences outright acts of anti-Semitism, racism and intolerance. Last year, for example,a Jewish student at a public high school in central Florida was ridiculed by his football teammates for being Jewish. A public high school principal in South Florida recently reported that the use of the N-word from white students directed to black students is still, unbelievably, all too prevalent. Tragically, a Jewish student in an elementary school on the west coast was harassed and beaten because of his religion.

These are just a few examples of anti-Semitic and racist acts on school grounds that the Anti-Defamation League has logged over the past few years. The total statistical picture is even more shocking. According to the ADL's annual Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents, last year alone in Florida a total of 19 incidents of anti-Semitism occurred in elementary, middle and high schools, as well as colleges. They include racial slurs, anti-Semitic remarks and graffiti, vandalism, assaults, cyber-bullying and text messages.

These statistics only take into account those acts reported to the ADL. Imagine how those numbers would jump if every act of bullying was reported to this agency. Particularly troubling is a recent study reporting that almost a third of students in grades six to 10 -- more than 5.7 million children nationwide -- had been either the targets or perpetrators (or both) of bullying in the previous 30 days.

The advent of the Internet, unfortunately, has provided school bullies with yet another avenue to act out against other children. ''Cyber-bullying'' allows a student to hide behind the anonymity of text-messaging, Youtube, MySpace and other websites in order to deride classmates. Concerned agencies that provide educational services, such as the ADL, have been quick to roll out new cyber-bullying programs designed to fight against this latest development.

Students have a right to attend school in safe and accepting environments where they can learn and grow. Children are not born anti-Semites, racists or bigots; their behavior is learned. In fact, by preschool age, children have already acquired negative stereotypes and attitudes toward those they perceive as ''others.'' In our increasingly diverse state, every child should be afforded the right to attend school in a safe and healthy environment in which they are valued and respected -- in order to learn, achieve, and mature.

A democratic, pluralistic, and free society thrives when all people -- including our children -- treat each other with fairness, dignity and respect. An anti-bullying law will send the strongest possible message declaring that the State of Florida values the educational environment of our children.

Andrew L. Rosenkranz is Florida regional director of the Anti-Defamation League.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.