Perhaps to some, the idea of criminally charging children for "bullying" seems a bit strange. Even with tear-jerking tales such as that of Phoebe Prince, 15, who hung herself in January after what Erik Eckholm and Katie Zezima describe, in their article for The New York Times, as "relentless taunting".
The problem facing Massachusetts officials, however, seems to do with the severity of the taunting:
Apparently severe bullying is somewhat widespread. One parent, Mitch Brouillard, told Zezima that he was pleased that charges had been filed; one of the students involved allegedly bullied his own daughter. Charges have been filed against another student in the bullying of Rebecca Brouillard:
But the school must figure out how to address bullying on its grounds. A task force met yesterday to outline the problem, but must keep an eye toward what happens in the state house. "The big question out there is what the legislature will impose on school districts," said Bill Evans, a member of the task force.
In a case involving criminal charges including statutory rape, stalking, and bodily injury, it is hard to see what a bullying statute would add to the heap of trouble the alleged offenders find themselves in. However, there also arises the proposition that a bullying policy might install some manner of checks that will help prevent situations from escalating to such extremes.
Through a spate of school shootings in the 1990s and early part of this decade, I often remarked grimly on the difference a few years made. Bullying is not an unknown phenomenon to me; I was once held in detention, in fifth grade, after being assaulted by three other students. The school's rationale was that I had been involved in a fight. Again, in sixth grade, I was reprimanded for being assaulted. Yet as more and more students went postal, or simply psycho, I used to comment that while I understood the feeling to blow up the outside world, the difference was that my peers and I never went through with it.
So it seems to me there must be something that school and state officials can do to install some sort of breakwater between the normal conflicts of teen angst and felonious violation for sport. But how do bullying statutes work? Should it be a separate charge, or a context added to other charges? To wit, had Phoebe Prince not hung herself, would two boys presently be charged with statutory rape? In what context did the alleged sexual intercourse take place? Or does that context matter?
In the end, it seems to me that part of this investigation should focus on whether or not the parents of the accused should be charged for raising delinquents. And then, of course, the state would have to figure out how to go about doing that. The nature of school bullying is such that similar incidents and behavior can have vastly different implications. Attorney Silverglate suggests new cyberbullying statutes are too vague; the same can easily happen with real-world statutes. And it's controversial enough to hold parents responsible for certain stupid behavior their children undertake. Still, the accused are, for the most part, children under the law, and, I would suggest, children in mind. How, exactly—or even generally—do things get so far out of hand?
____________________
Notes:
Eckholm, Erik and Katie Zezima. "9 Teenagers Are Charged After Classmate’s Suicide". The New York Times. March 30, 2010; page A14. NYTimes.com. March 30, 2010. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/30/us/30bully.html
The prosecutor brought charges Monday against nine teenagers, saying their taunting and physical threats were beyond the pale and led the freshman, Phoebe Prince, to hang herself from a stairwell in January.
The charges were an unusually sharp legal response to the problem of adolescent bullying, which is increasingly conducted in cyberspace as well as in the schoolyard and has drawn growing concern from parents, educators and lawmakers.
In the uproar around the suicides of Ms. Prince, 15, and an 11-year-old boy subjected to harassment in nearby Springfield last year, the Massachusetts legislature stepped up work on an anti-bullying law that is now near passage. The law would require school staff members to report suspected incidents and principals to investigate them. It would also demand that schools teach about the dangers of bullying. Forty-one other states have anti-bullying laws of varying strength.
The charges were an unusually sharp legal response to the problem of adolescent bullying, which is increasingly conducted in cyberspace as well as in the schoolyard and has drawn growing concern from parents, educators and lawmakers.
In the uproar around the suicides of Ms. Prince, 15, and an 11-year-old boy subjected to harassment in nearby Springfield last year, the Massachusetts legislature stepped up work on an anti-bullying law that is now near passage. The law would require school staff members to report suspected incidents and principals to investigate them. It would also demand that schools teach about the dangers of bullying. Forty-one other states have anti-bullying laws of varying strength.
The problem facing Massachusetts officials, however, seems to do with the severity of the taunting:
In the Prince case, two boys and four girls, ages 16 to 18, face a different mix of felony charges that include statutory rape, violation of civil rights with bodily injury, harassment, stalking and disturbing a school assembly. Three younger girls have been charged in juvenile court, Elizabeth D. Scheibel, the Northwestern district attorney, said at a news conference in Northampton, Mass.
Appearing with state and local police officials on Monday, Ms. Scheibel said that Ms. Prince’s suicide came after nearly three months of severe taunting and physical threats by a cluster of fellow students.
“The investigation revealed relentless activities directed toward Phoebe to make it impossible for her to stay at school,” Ms. Scheibel said. The conduct of those charged, she said, “far exceeded the limits of normal teenage relationship-related quarrels.”
It was particularly alarming, the district attorney said, that some teachers, administrators and other staff members at the school were aware of the harassment but did not stop it. “The actions or inactions of some adults at the school were troublesome,” Ms. Scheibel said, but did not violate any laws.
(ibid)
Appearing with state and local police officials on Monday, Ms. Scheibel said that Ms. Prince’s suicide came after nearly three months of severe taunting and physical threats by a cluster of fellow students.
“The investigation revealed relentless activities directed toward Phoebe to make it impossible for her to stay at school,” Ms. Scheibel said. The conduct of those charged, she said, “far exceeded the limits of normal teenage relationship-related quarrels.”
It was particularly alarming, the district attorney said, that some teachers, administrators and other staff members at the school were aware of the harassment but did not stop it. “The actions or inactions of some adults at the school were troublesome,” Ms. Scheibel said, but did not violate any laws.
(ibid)
Apparently severe bullying is somewhat widespread. One parent, Mitch Brouillard, told Zezima that he was pleased that charges had been filed; one of the students involved allegedly bullied his own daughter. Charges have been filed against another student in the bullying of Rebecca Brouillard:
“My daughter was bullied for three years, and we continually went to the administration and we really got no satisfaction,” Mr. Brouillard said, adding, “I was offered an apology a few weeks ago that they should have handled it differently.”
(ibid)
(ibid)
But the school must figure out how to address bullying on its grounds. A task force met yesterday to outline the problem, but must keep an eye toward what happens in the state house. "The big question out there is what the legislature will impose on school districts," said Bill Evans, a member of the task force.
Harvey Silverglate, a lawyer in Cambridge, Mass., who has argued that proposed cyberbullying laws are too vague and a threat to free speech, said that he thought the charges announced Monday would pass legal muster. The sorts of acts of harassment and stalking claimed in the charges were wrong under state law, Mr. Silverglate said, but a question would be whether they were serious enough to constitute criminal violations, as opposed to civil ones.
“There is a higher threshold of proof of outrageous conduct needed to reach the level of a criminal cause of action, in comparison to the lower level of outrageousness needed to prove a civil violation,” he said.
A lawsuit involving another case of high school bullying, in upstate New York, was settled on Monday. A gay teenager had sued the Mohawk Central School District, saying school officials had not protected him.
In the settlement, the district said it would increase staff training to prevent harassment, pay $50,000 to the boy’s family and reimburse the family for counseling, The Associated Press reported. The boy has moved to a different district.
(ibid)
“There is a higher threshold of proof of outrageous conduct needed to reach the level of a criminal cause of action, in comparison to the lower level of outrageousness needed to prove a civil violation,” he said.
A lawsuit involving another case of high school bullying, in upstate New York, was settled on Monday. A gay teenager had sued the Mohawk Central School District, saying school officials had not protected him.
In the settlement, the district said it would increase staff training to prevent harassment, pay $50,000 to the boy’s family and reimburse the family for counseling, The Associated Press reported. The boy has moved to a different district.
(ibid)
In a case involving criminal charges including statutory rape, stalking, and bodily injury, it is hard to see what a bullying statute would add to the heap of trouble the alleged offenders find themselves in. However, there also arises the proposition that a bullying policy might install some manner of checks that will help prevent situations from escalating to such extremes.
Through a spate of school shootings in the 1990s and early part of this decade, I often remarked grimly on the difference a few years made. Bullying is not an unknown phenomenon to me; I was once held in detention, in fifth grade, after being assaulted by three other students. The school's rationale was that I had been involved in a fight. Again, in sixth grade, I was reprimanded for being assaulted. Yet as more and more students went postal, or simply psycho, I used to comment that while I understood the feeling to blow up the outside world, the difference was that my peers and I never went through with it.
So it seems to me there must be something that school and state officials can do to install some sort of breakwater between the normal conflicts of teen angst and felonious violation for sport. But how do bullying statutes work? Should it be a separate charge, or a context added to other charges? To wit, had Phoebe Prince not hung herself, would two boys presently be charged with statutory rape? In what context did the alleged sexual intercourse take place? Or does that context matter?
In the end, it seems to me that part of this investigation should focus on whether or not the parents of the accused should be charged for raising delinquents. And then, of course, the state would have to figure out how to go about doing that. The nature of school bullying is such that similar incidents and behavior can have vastly different implications. Attorney Silverglate suggests new cyberbullying statutes are too vague; the same can easily happen with real-world statutes. And it's controversial enough to hold parents responsible for certain stupid behavior their children undertake. Still, the accused are, for the most part, children under the law, and, I would suggest, children in mind. How, exactly—or even generally—do things get so far out of hand?
____________________
Notes:
Eckholm, Erik and Katie Zezima. "9 Teenagers Are Charged After Classmate’s Suicide". The New York Times. March 30, 2010; page A14. NYTimes.com. March 30, 2010. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/30/us/30bully.html
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