Bullying has been a major issue for a long time with young people in society. Many have been bullied and have become inspirational, powerful people, but others are not as fortunate. Some get to the point where they feel that their life is not worth anything to anyone and end up taking their life at a young age. This issue is not a problem that is only happening in the United States but across the world. Every day a child is bullied, whether it be physically, online, or verbally. The definition of bullying is, “an attack or intimidation with the intention to cause fear, distress or harm; a real or perceived imbalance of power between the bully and the victim; and repeated attacks or intimidation between the same children over time” (Albertson
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In the state of Indiana, “Students were required to participate in anti-bullying programs from kindergarten through grade twelve. Despite anti-bullying measures taken in schools, bullying still occurred” (Albertson ). Clearly the young students are not being taught the severity of being a bully or being bullied. Through the threat of being accountable for their actions many bullies will not want to get caught and have fewer victims or none at all. The possibility of a bully having more than one victims is more common then people think. An example of this would be a young girl who wrote to her bully, “How did you manage to have so much control over so many of us?” (Hall and Jones 30). When someone is able to inflict pain on more than one person and they are never punished more than suspension or expulsion then the courts need to be involved and they need to have a criminal record for physical abuse emotional abuse or whatever they caused the victims. In schools they have what is called a zero tolerance policy, “a student who engages in a bullying act is either suspended or expelled regardless of the circumstances surrounding the instance of bullying” (Eisenberg 642). The zero tolerance polices are not effective because they do not address bullying prevention because it is focused on when and after the bullying occurred. These policies also often do not inquire into the motivations behind …show more content…
There was a case in 2010 with a young girl named Phoebe Prince who committed suicide after six people bullied her. Her family and friends wanted a harsher punishment for the girls because for some Phoebe was not the only victim. People in the community said in a statement, “Many have called for tougher charges, like manslaughter” (Eckholm and Zezima). If there were a law to show bullies that they would not just be punished at their school but also in the criminal justice system, then they would refrain from this act. The six girls involved in the death of Phoebe probably thought that they would not get punished for their actions, but since there was such an outrage over the young woman’s death, the courts thought it was necessary to charge them. In other countries there have been multiple cases where the bullies have been charged and sentenced to jail time. Through this the victims and their families are not only receiving justice but they are also protecting other potential
In the state of Indiana, “Students were required to participate in anti-bullying programs from kindergarten through grade twelve. Despite anti-bullying measures taken in schools, bullying still occurred” (Albertson ). Clearly the young students are not being taught the severity of being a bully or being bullied. Through the threat of being accountable for their actions many bullies will not want to get caught and have fewer victims or none at all. The possibility of a bully having more than one victims is more common then people think. An example of this would be a young girl who wrote to her bully, “How did you manage to have so much control over so many of us?” (Hall and Jones 30). When someone is able to inflict pain on more than one person and they are never punished more than suspension or expulsion then the courts need to be involved and they need to have a criminal record for physical abuse emotional abuse or whatever they caused the victims. In schools they have what is called a zero tolerance policy, “a student who engages in a bullying act is either suspended or expelled regardless of the circumstances surrounding the instance of bullying” (Eisenberg 642). The zero tolerance polices are not effective because they do not address bullying prevention because it is focused on when and after the bullying occurred. These policies also often do not inquire into the motivations behind …show more content…
There was a case in 2010 with a young girl named Phoebe Prince who committed suicide after six people bullied her. Her family and friends wanted a harsher punishment for the girls because for some Phoebe was not the only victim. People in the community said in a statement, “Many have called for tougher charges, like manslaughter” (Eckholm and Zezima). If there were a law to show bullies that they would not just be punished at their school but also in the criminal justice system, then they would refrain from this act. The six girls involved in the death of Phoebe probably thought that they would not get punished for their actions, but since there was such an outrage over the young woman’s death, the courts thought it was necessary to charge them. In other countries there have been multiple cases where the bullies have been charged and sentenced to jail time. Through this the victims and their families are not only receiving justice but they are also protecting other potential