Bullying refers to ongoing and repeated harassment against a child. We know that 77 % of students say they have been bullied. (Bullying stats.org), that 40% of students have been bullied on line. (How to stop bullying.com) and 160,000 students stay home every day for fear of being bullied.
Web Wise Kids Position
Web Wise Kids believes that a proactive stand against bullying behaviors is most effective. We believe that we need to start with young children and continue to layer our education about the impact of and consequences to bullying through each grade level. We need to equip every young person with how to deal with difficult people, and to promote a culture of mutual respect. It is our goal to approach this issue from a perspective of proactive, education and prevention so that our children are not impacted by the negative consequences on either side of the bullying issue.
We are in no way implying that juvenile bullies should be allowed to mistreat other students. What we are saying is that, for a number of reasons, bringing criminal charges against young people who engage in bullying should not be our first and initial response to this type of behavioral misconduct.
Educational programs for prevention and rehabilitation are sorely needed to create a new culture of respect.
Four Reasons Why to Use Education NOT Prosecution
After years of working with teachers and hearing firsthand of their experiences with students and cyberbullying, we want to share with you four main reasons why cyberbullying incidents are best mediated among schools and parents first, using education as a means of prevention, and seeking help from law enforcement when the situation demands it.
1. Criminalization Will NOT Deter Cyberbullying
Young people will not stop engaging in cyberbullying just because they could get into criminal or civic trouble. The unresolved traits that motivate them to engage in cyberbullying (immaturity, poor impulse control, need for power, peer pressure, lack of digital ethics, poor communication skills, feeling of invincibility, prejudices, etc), coupled with our slow justice system, will compel them to bully regardless of the potential consequences. Also many instances of cyberbullying involve anonymous bullies – criminalizing cyberbullying will not do anything to change this.
2. Criminalization Will Cripple Young People
Assigning young people a criminal record at a very young age will be crippling. This will make it more difficult to rehabilitate them and make it more likely that they will mature into deviant adults. Young bullies can and should be rehabilitated and given the opportunity to live successful adult lives.
Former Massachusetts District Attorney Elizabeth Scheibel expressed concern that referring credible bullying cases to law enforcement would not increase the number of criminal prosecutions because law enforcement officials share school administrators' hopes of keeping students out of the criminal justice system (Boston Globe, "Activists urge lawmakers to expand bullying law," By Sarah Schweitzer, February 10, 2011). Cases that go unpunished by law enforcement would either go unaddressed or would fall back on the schools after a lengthy delay. Neither of those are great ways of dealing with the situation.
3. Criminalization Often Seeks the Creation of New Laws to Govern Cyberbullying
This is not necessary because laws already exist that can apply to the more severe forms of cyberbullying. These can be addressed through anti-bullying and anti-harassment laws already on the books, even at the federal level.
4. Criminalizing Cyberbullying is Reactive Rather Than Preventive
Our organization has always taken the stance that education is the best way to help youth make wise choices. For best results, education efforts should be initiated early and reinforced regularly in a format that young people can embrace.
