Are Bullies Criminals?

Are Bullies Criminals?

Should bullies be treated as criminals or not? Some people believe that bullies should not be treated as if they were criminals, but others think differently. The tragic death of Phoebe Prince shows the terrible impact of bullying. Bullies should be treated just like criminals because bullies ruin kids lives, there are laws against harassment, and being young is no excuse for bullying.

Bullying can ruin children’s lives and change them for forever. Bullying needs to be taken extremely seriously because not only does it change children and even adults lives, but some people even commit suicide over bullying. Just imagine a child’s parents having to go through losing their child and close friends losing their best friend. Most people, if not everybody, would agree that this is a tragic experience no person should go through. Sometimes the person being affected by the bully does not always commit suicide, but they go through a mental hardship and extreme depression that can lead to self harm. As a teenager I have experienced these things because at the age fifteen I tried committing suicide and I have also struggled with self harm since I was just ten years old. Recently in early 2016 I was sent to a mental hospital, Holly Hill Hospital, because I overdosed on medication trying to commit suicide all because of one girl who bullied me to an extreme. All in all people must think of the overall effect bullying causes on the victim and people who love and know the victim. Remember, not only the victim is being affected, the people who know the victim and also the bully himself/ herself is being affected.

Harassment is against the law in the United States of America. Some states take the law further than others and some states give the law a lot of slack. One might believe if children know that they will get arrested for bullying or harassing somebody or get in serious trouble with the law it may influence them to behave better and try to keep their rude comments to themselves. Some people find criminal consequences to unjust for a five year old and most would agree so this is where school discipline should come in place. Children who are still young and learning should be required to attend classes about bullying, how to handle it, and how to prevent it or doing it. Back when I was in kindergarten it was mandatory for everybody to attend a “Character Ed” class until they reached the third grade. The class taught us how to handle bullies, what to do if you were a bystander, and what to do if you were the victim. These classes helped somewhat and lowered the amount of bullying going on in elementary school, however in middle school and high school the bullying only got worse. Since these classes helped elementary children one might believe we need to make offenders of the rules about bullying attend these classes as a first offense and if it gets worse they should then be handled accordingly by the law. All in all, punishment for bullying should gradually get more extreme as the child gets older or as the offenses become more frequent.

Age does not matter when it comes to bullying and harassment. No matter