Legally holding someone responsible if bullying ending in victim death

1:Bullying can be any form of behavior, physical or verbal, intended to berate, humiliate, scare, or harass another person. The behavior is usually repetitive, and can extend over a long period of time. Bullies are frequently in a position of power over their victims, either physical or social. Bullying has always existed in schools and in a myriad of other environments from the home to the workplace. In the past, it was viewed as a harmless right of passage children had to go through to "toughen up". But in recent years, a better understanding of the traumatic effects it can have on its victims, has increasingly highlighted how damaging a phenomenon bullying is. It can lead to serious psychological problems, like depression and even suicide. Both the shooters in the Columbine high school massacre (1999) and the Virginia Tech school shooting (2007) had been bullied for years before they opened fire on fellow students and then killed themselves. The media has also shined a light on the problem by widely reporting on high profile cases like that of Tyler Clementi, 18, who committed suicide after being outed as gay on the internet by his roommate, and Phoebe Prince, 15, who hung herself after months of torment by students at her school. There are also indications that the rates of suicide caused by bullying are higher for LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered) youth. This heightened awareness has led to numerous initiatives to tackle the problem, through both government and civil society programmes. But what, if any, should be the legal response against bullies? Should we just focus on prevention and the protection of victims, or should the bullies themselves face the force of the law if their actions lead to loss of life? http://www.ru.idebate.org... 2: I took this and opened it to the public. Here are some responses. 72 % side with me on this one. "They should get consequences Because there are a lot of kids and teens killing themselves. Just because they get bullied. Those bullies shouldn't get away with it. Because right now while your reading this there is a person getting bullied and there is a person killing themselves. Some people even begin to do drugs just because some people say that it helps you get rid of your problems. But actually its not helping you get rid of your problems its killing you. And they are just going to let the bullies get away with everything they have done. Well I don't think so. I think that they should be in jail for a good time. Until they learned that what they have done is stupid and that there is no excuses for bullying." "Yes bullies should be responsible for there victims death If the bullying is so severe that they cant take it any more and they commit suicide then they should be held responsible because they shouldn't be doing it in the first place and they know its wrong but they do it anyway because they are (mentally) weak and when they see on the news that the victim is dead they may be shocked or maybe now when they are in court they could show remorse but aren't truly remorseful and me being and attorney I would say that the ladies and gentleman of the jury I hope you reach a fair and just verdict and that would be the end of that// P.S. Research says that the majority of people that say that they shouldn't be responsible are either bullies or they are just in denial or they know a bully that is there friend. Yes they are responsible." "What They Do Is Disgusting And Should Be Punished, You cannot say that bullies do not have the intention of the child they are bullying to kill themselves. There are many cases where kids tell the bullied to cut themselves, starve, kill themselves, etc. Amanda Todd for example, when her bullies found out she tried to kill herself and failed they told her 'Try again' and 'Second times a charm' these kids know exactly what there doing when they say those hurtful names. Bullies now exactly what they want to do and it's to lower the persons self-esteem sometimes to the point where they would take there own life, and it's for that reason they should be punished. Not harsh time of course but they should be punished. As i was a victim of bulling myself, the words they say truly have an impact on you for the rest of your life whether you want it or not." Read more of these @ http://www.debate.org... 3: "After Kenneth Weishuhn told classmates at his Iowa high school last winter that he was gay, his family says anonymous voicemail threats began popping up on his cellphone. At school, some of his fellow students yelled anti-gay slurs, and the harassment got so bad that teachers at South O'Brien High School in Paullina, Iowa, began standing guard in hallways. Friends started an online support group for Kenneth, whom they called "K.J." Bullies spammed it, family members say. On April 15, K.J. hanged himself in the garage of his home in Primghar. He was 14. K.J.'s suicide generated a rare front-page editorial in the Sioux City Journal, headlined, "We must stop bullying. It starts here. And it starts now." The editorial said bullies' mistreatment of Weishuhn "didn't let up until he took his own life," adding, "We are all to blame. We have not done enough." Candlelight vigils and rallies for the freshman spread across Iowa, and K.J.'s image served as an onstage backdrop during Madonna's European tour. Nearly two months later, police are still investigating. O'Brien County Sheriff Michael Anderson said Tuesday that an announcement from the county attorney on whether criminal charges will be filed could come as early as this week. Tragic suicides such as K.J.'s have galvanized educators into a zero-tolerance stance on bullying, and a recent analysis by the U.S. Department of Education shows that state lawmakers nationwide are increasingly willing to criminalize bullying behavior, even as experts wonder whether doing so will have the intended effect: to curb the behavior and improve the learning atmosphere. As millions of students head off to their summer breaks, they might leave behind the face-to-face bullying that includes everything from simple taunts to brutal beatings, but too often they can't escape the digital world that gives the predators access to their prey day and night and well beyond the schoolyard gates. Though bullying is as old as classrooms, only in the past decade or so have states moved to address, legislatively, what once was simply the domain of schools. In 1999, only Georgia had an anti-bullying law. Now every state but Montana does. In the past 13 years, states have enacted nearly 130 anti-bullying measures, half of which came since 2008. Spurred partly by the Columbine shootings in 1999, in which media accounts suggested the perpetrators had been bullied, states began "rapidly" addressing bullying, a 2011 U.S. Department of Education report found. Eighteen states have laws that allow victims to seek legal remedies for bullying, either from schools that don't act or from the bullies themselves. Among other recent trends: "32 states require that schools have procedures for investigating bullying incidents. "17 states require that school staff report bullying to a supervisor, much as they report suspected abuse and neglect. "Nine states require administrators to report bullying to police. "11 states require that schools allow anonymous reporting by students of bullying. Russlynn Ali, the Department of Education's assistant secretary for civil rights, said schools should think hard before turning discipline cases over to police. "It's hugely important to set the (school) culture right and make it safe for all," she said. "That is different from sending children to jail." Ali said minority students in districts with zero-tolerance policies are frequently punished more severely than other students. She noted new federal data that show that zero-tolerance districts in the 2009-10 school year expelled nearly 30,000 students; 56% were black or Hispanic, though 45% of students enrolled were black or Hispanic. Even anti-bullying advocates warn that throwing bullies in jail might not be the best remedy. "It's a terrible idea," said Eliza Byard, who heads the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), a national advocacy group that works on improving the climate at the nation's schools. "Locking children up (and) imposing criminal penalties on children represents a tremendous failure on the part of adults." Yet in state after state, legislators are stepping forward to address what has been called a national epidemic, one that has gained even greater visibility in recent years as singer Lady Gaga, actress Anne Hathaway and scores of other celebrities have helped to elevate the cause. Chris Hall, an Iowa state lawmaker from Sioux City, proposed legislation last winter that would require both the bully's and the victim's parents to take part in mediation after a bullying report. If the bully's parents refuse to cooperate, prosecutors could pursue fines or criminal charges, though Hall envisions community service, not jail time, for scofflaw parents. Bringing the parents into the process, Hall says, "helps to connect the dots for a child." The measure died before getting a hearing, but Hall says K.J.'s suicide, which came at the end of the 2012 legislative session, could make a difference going forward. He plans to reintroduce the legislation in January. The Prince case Perhaps the most notorious bullying case in recent years took place in South Hadley, Mass., where on Jan. 14, 2010, Phoebe Prince, also a high school freshman, hanged herself from a stairwell in her home. Police concluded that in the three months before her death, a small group of classmates had relentlessly bullied the 15-year-old. USAtoday.com Thanks