BARTOW | For three long months, three classmates harassed and bullied a middle-school student about his weight every school day.

It became so unbearable that the boy began missing school, telling his teachers he had recurring headaches.

Polk County School District officials learned of the problem when a social worker visited his home because of the missed classes. The boy finally told the truth: He was skipping school to avoid the constant harassment.

This school year, because of the Jeffrey Johnson Stand Up for All Students Act that Gov. Charlie Crist signed in June, victims and parents will be able to report incidents anonymously online at the district's Web site, www.polk-fl.net. Also, different types of bullying will be identified, including cyberbullying, social exclusion, threatening and intimidating behavior, and spreading rumors and falsehoods.

District officials said as part of a stronger anti-bullying policy for K-12 students, they will begin to compile more data on bullying incidents, such as genders of victims, ages and the number of accounts of physical bullying, verbal bullying and cyberbullying.

In 2005, Jeffrey Johnson hanged himself by his book bag strap in his bedroom closet. The Cape Coral teen committed suicide after being bullied for three years. Johnson's classmates used the Internet to torment him, calling him derogatory names, a stalker and a creep, according to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

Another extreme act of bullying occurred this past spring.

In May, a 13-year-old middle school student told a coach that four classmates held him down inside the Walker Middle School locker room in Tampa and raped him with a broom handle and a hockey stick.

Hillsborough County sheriff's deputies arrested four teens who will be charged as adults, officials have said.

Although each school had its own methods of dealing with the problem, the Polk County district began tweaking its bullying policy before the rape in Tampa.

Lake Gibson Middle School in North Lakeland was one of the first schools to embrace the anti-bullying law last year by handing out dog tags that say "No Bully Zone."

Victims of bullying were paired with students who spoke out against bullying, said Nancy Woolcock, assistant superintendant of learning support.

What happens away from the classroom, halls or cafeteria poses a big challenge for teachers and principals.

"The biggest obstacle in middle and high school is cyberbullying," Woolcock said. "Elementary is more face-to-face."

Bill Sone, a school resource officer at Westwood Middle School in Winter Haven, said that about half of the bullying incidents are through text-messaging or e-mail.

"A lot of times what happens off campus spills onto school grounds," Sone said.

Sone said that when he identifies cyberbullies, he tells them that they have created a permanent record that could be used against them.

"The potential of illegal activity is usually enough to stop the activity," Sone said.

When school starts, students will see more signs of the new bill.

Anti-bullying signs will be on campuses, there will be magnets on buses and Johnson's mother plans to speak to district officials in October.