The Washington Post, January 16, 2011
"AWAVE OF legislation and proposed legislation in statehouses across the country has followed high-profile incidents of children being bullied, some to their deaths. These bills bring welcome attention to the problem and represent an implicit indictment of schools for failing to deal with it. Bullying has long been seen as a normal rite of growing up and not as the unacceptable abuse that it is. But while we applaud efforts to strengthen policies, we have to question the wisdom of a proposal in Virginia that would criminalize bullying.
Del. Adam P. Ebbin (D-Alexandria) is sponsoring a bill that would make egregious bullying a criminal misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine. The measure would define bullying as 'recklessly or intentionally endangering the health or safety of a student by exposing the student repeatedly, and over time, to physical aggression or intimidation, whether through direct physical contact or through the use of information or communication technology, resulting in bodily injury or other harm to person or property.' It would also give victims the right to sue those who have bullied them." Read More
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