Whether people are aware of it or not, bullying happens everyday. Select people believe bullying to be a criminal offense and it should be punished as such while others believe it will only add fuel to the fire. Bullying and it’s effects aren’t always the bully’s fault and taking this to an escalated level could prove to be a heavy price to pay. The simple truth is, by chastising today’s youth they will only be alienated and the “solution” will not be effective. Creating a reaction to bullying in a way that leads to criminal convictions is quite an over reaction that comes with a pretty big price tag. In Bullying Is Bad, But Criminalizing Bullying Would Be Even Worse by Eli Federman, he states: “America already has the highest incarceration
…show more content…
Everyone can say they want something to happen but often, they don’t think of all the consequences that would come once it actually occurred. One such effect would be the rising rate of criminals in the system that would be paid for by tax payer’s dollars. Making these children into criminals will also effectively slow their educations and giving them less opportunity for when they’re released. This doesn’t help reform them but it only hinders their opportunity later in life. Greg Toppo with USAToday, author of Should Bullies Be Treated As Criminals?, states the point that “...[anti-bullying advocates] say much of the new legislation doesn’t address the underlying psychological issues behind bullying or fund training for teachers, counselors and administrators on what to do when victims come forward.” This shows that even schools aren’t doing all they can to stop bullying from happening. Often, the cause of bullying is …show more content…
One such opinion is that making bullying punishable to the point of criminal offense is the right thing to do to get justice for the victims of this bullying. Dani Burns, author of Make Bullying Punishable By Law, says “Bullying, a psychological and social tormenting that has, in the past, led to school shootings, brutal beatings and teen suicides, is in my opinion, a crime.” People like Burns see all the harm done by bullying and decide that it’s automatically grounds for criminal charges and extreme action against the bullies. Yes, much has happened because of bullying but making it criminal won't necessarily stop it from happening again. Federman makes a good point against such as he talks in his article about how society, teachers, and parents need to start addressing bullying. By opening conversation about a topic like bullying you're more likely to gain results than just by locking up the bullies. Though bullying shouldn't go unpunished, there are definitely better ways to go around punishing the guilty to gain the desired results. In Toppo’s article he states “An opinion poll conducted in February 2010, weeks after Phoebe’s death, found that 61% of Massachusetts voters said school bullying should be a crime.” This poll was taken after the suicide of a young girl from South Hadley, Massachusetts. Beyond the bias behind the survey, the outlawing of bullying based off of a death doesn’t seem very
Everyone can say they want something to happen but often, they don’t think of all the consequences that would come once it actually occurred. One such effect would be the rising rate of criminals in the system that would be paid for by tax payer’s dollars. Making these children into criminals will also effectively slow their educations and giving them less opportunity for when they’re released. This doesn’t help reform them but it only hinders their opportunity later in life. Greg Toppo with USAToday, author of Should Bullies Be Treated As Criminals?, states the point that “...[anti-bullying advocates] say much of the new legislation doesn’t address the underlying psychological issues behind bullying or fund training for teachers, counselors and administrators on what to do when victims come forward.” This shows that even schools aren’t doing all they can to stop bullying from happening. Often, the cause of bullying is …show more content…
One such opinion is that making bullying punishable to the point of criminal offense is the right thing to do to get justice for the victims of this bullying. Dani Burns, author of Make Bullying Punishable By Law, says “Bullying, a psychological and social tormenting that has, in the past, led to school shootings, brutal beatings and teen suicides, is in my opinion, a crime.” People like Burns see all the harm done by bullying and decide that it’s automatically grounds for criminal charges and extreme action against the bullies. Yes, much has happened because of bullying but making it criminal won't necessarily stop it from happening again. Federman makes a good point against such as he talks in his article about how society, teachers, and parents need to start addressing bullying. By opening conversation about a topic like bullying you're more likely to gain results than just by locking up the bullies. Though bullying shouldn't go unpunished, there are definitely better ways to go around punishing the guilty to gain the desired results. In Toppo’s article he states “An opinion poll conducted in February 2010, weeks after Phoebe’s death, found that 61% of Massachusetts voters said school bullying should be a crime.” This poll was taken after the suicide of a young girl from South Hadley, Massachusetts. Beyond the bias behind the survey, the outlawing of bullying based off of a death doesn’t seem very