by A. M. Gilbert

Created on: December 15, 2010

When addressing the issue of "controlling" cyberbullying, a simple answer can be given: Yes, the issue can be controlled, but no, we cannot turn to legal measures as most would assume. The core of the cyberbullying problem is the negative inclinations some young people are given to, and only through education about the impacts of cyberbullying and parental education can these traits be curtailed. The focus of this paper will therefore be on why criminalizing cyberbullying, though a popular suggestion, is ineffective, while education is vastly preferable.

For clarification, cyberbullying is defined as the use of electronic communication devices to spread harmful information about another person. Internet safety organizations make a distinction between cyberbullying and cyberharassment. The latter term refers to the behavior targeted at adults and/or involving sexual misconduct. The term cyberbullying refers to the behavior when it is targeted at minors non-sexually.

The first point to examine is that, as with so-called regular bullying, no real logical justification for cyberbullying criminalization exists.

Bullying is well-known to be a part of society. Though society does not condone it, there is still good reason for why bullying is not a criminal offense: While it may not be nice, it does not inflict drastic harm as to necessitate legal action. Any emotional damage can be just as well argued in civil courts. In fact, as cyberbullying harms an individual rather than the state or society as a whole, it is a tort, which is inherently a personal offense; furthermore, the tort of defamation applies to cases of cyberbullying to perpetuate libelous claims. As bullying usually involves minors, school administrators are the first to address the issue and the first to decide how to punish the offenders. They should therefore be equipped to handle the problem by educating students on the potential emotional consequences of bullying. 

Ultimately, new laws do not need to be created to control a child’s ever-present mean tendencies. These types of actions should be handled by parents and school officials, for they rarely reach a level of violence or harassment that show legally malicious intent that can be upheld in court and do not fall under the scope of existing statutes. It becomes the responsibility of those responsible for the children to attempt to demonstrate the wrongs of bullying. At the end of the day, though, some people are just jerks.

A second

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