Italian Education Minister Mariastella Gelmini said in response to the growing problem of bullying in Italian high schools, officials have decided to institute a behavior grade that could result in bullies having to repeat a grade level, Italy's ANSA news agency reported.

''This is a necessary move. If they don't make the grade they will have to repeat the school year," Gelmini said.

The governmental move will bring back the so-called conduct grade that Italy abolished a decade ago. Yet, ANSA said, the government is concerned with the steadily increasing number of bullying reports in Italian schools and everyone from Gelmini to Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is dedicated to stamping out the violent practice.

ANSA said Italian Pediatric Society data indicate that during the last two years in Italy the number of bullying reports has increased 6 percent.