Bullying: A True Crime or Not

Image result for map of where bullying is considered a crime
“Preventing Bullying.” CQ Researcher 

A report from Rachel's Challenge, a girl who died from the Columbine High School Massacre, states that about 160,000 children skip school every day due to the fear of being bullied, but yet, only 1 out of 3 incidents of bullying are reported to adults. Why do 70% of people see bullying happening in their schools (American SPCC)? Why is so little done about bullying? What long term effects does bullying have on society? Is bullying considered a crime?

What is the proper definition of bullying? According to Merck Manual, bullying is defined as "youth violence in which repeated verbal, emotional, physical or psychological attacks are done to dominate or humiliate another person who is weak or who the bully thinks is weak" (Merck Manual). There are many forms of bullying such as cyber-bullying, threats, exclusions, and violent assaults (Merck Manual). Despite this range of bullying, bullying is still a major problem in schools and can lead to long term effects in children’s lives.

Bullying is the main cause of depression and thoughts of suicide and can lead to the person actually committing suicide. According to American SPCC, 4,600 lives are lost each year from suicide, but in grades 7-12 alone 5,400 lives are lost (American SPCC). The main cause of these deaths are bullying. In most cases, kids who were bullied showed warning signs of depression and thoughts of suicide before they took their own life.

Bullying is a leading cause of depression and suicide. But is bullying considered an actual crime? According to the PEW Charitable Trusts, 12 states have a criminal sanction towards bullying, ranging from school suspensions to jail time (PEW Charitable Trusts). Many of these bullies face criminal charges because of criminal harassment, such as two Florida boys charged with bullying and stalking a 12 year old girl. However, each state varies its bullying laws, Montana having no laws at all. 

Even if bullying is considered a crime, opinions vary. According to Elie Mystal, who writes for Above the Law, she claims that bullies should not be charged with a criminal charge because bullies are tormentors not torturers. Bullies don’t force people to commit suicide, that is a personal decision made by the person him or herself. She states that kids make jokes about other kids, that’s how the world works and that it wasn’t a criminal charge before, why is it considered a criminal charge now (Above the Law)? Another reason why bullying should not be a crime is because if bullying were a crime, it would incarcerate way more prisoners than the already total of 2.3 million, Eli Federman of Forbes reports. 

Bullying is a serious issue in most schools that can cause a lot of kids to attend school in fear. Even if 1 out of 3 bullying incidents are reported to adults, and 70% of people see bullying in their school, still, little is done about it. However, over the last decade, our government realizes it is an issue and many laws are being passed so that kids can go to school in peace. A report from the United States Department of Education shows that with the government's help, bullying dropped to 22% , one of the lowest in decades (US Department of Education). Bullying is still an issue, however, but with many resources and government aid, it is slowly declining. 

Comments

  1. UnknownApril 12, 2018 at 9:19 AM

    So what you're saying is is that bullying is considered a crime only under certain circumstances? I think that when discussing the issue on bullying, many tend to believe that it is only considered a crime when there's a tragedy (such as death) involved. Bullying IS a debatable issue; it is needed to be taken seriously.
    Have any criminals been actually accused of "bullying"? There has to be more to it. With problems such as stalking, many can see why this is a criminal offense.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What is Bullying

Bullying entails aggressive and unwanted behaviors among school children which involve a perceived or real power imbalance. In many situations, the behavior can be repetitive or has the potential to be repeated for a prolonged period.   The stude nts involved, that is, the bullies and bullied may have severe prolonged problems.   In this case, this post will advance the concept of bullying in schools, particularly the effects it advances to the victims. Potential suicide: it is one of the worst things which the victims can do in response to bullying. It happens in many situations primarily because of depression and despondency . Moreover, the feelings of helplessness make a bullied person view suicide as the only potent option remaining. Suicide can take several days, months or even years and the affected learner decides extreme social ridicule and embarrassment ( Ttofi et al., 201 Physical injury: bullying on both males and females often lead to physical inju...
Read more

Bullying is a Type of Crime

Image
Over the past few years, the rates of bullying have risen significantly in the United States. The term "Bullying" refers to unwanted, aggressive behavior that many times involves an imbalance of power.  The behavior can be repeated and both kids who are bullied and bully others can have serious long lasting potential problems. The three types of bullying commonly seen are verbal, social/cyber, and physical. All three cases can involve serious implications to a person's mental and social health if not taken seriously and ignored. Any type of bullying that can potentially harm anyone should not be taken lightly and be dealt with as a form of crime. According to the American Society for the Positive Care of Children( SPCC), one in three students are bullied every day at school. Kids come to school for a better future for themselves and to find who they are as an individual. If their coming to school to get bullied by other kids, chances are... they will start to devel...
Read more

The Mind of a Serial Killer

Image
Many serial killers act the same as any other human beings.  They walk, talk, and work long hours at any occupation.  However, they are masters of compartmentalization due to certain traits such as strong narcissism to manipulate others, making interrogations useless since it can be difficult on what serial killers are actually thinking and on why they kill.  They don't kill because they think differently, it's based on what they feel or any other motives towards murdering their victims. According to the FBI , a serial killer "means a series of three or more killings, not less than one of which was committed within the United States" (Morton, 2005).  In the research of Ph.D Berit Brogaard , it is discussed that the term serial killer is problematic for many reasons that some people will not be able to understand based on the situation at hand.  Since the 1980's in the United States there have been 87 classified serial killers per year and of today there...
Read more