HARRISBURG (TNS) — School bullying is frequently and loudly condemned, but it isn’t a crime in Pennsylvania. A bill recently introduced by a Republican and a Democrat could change that and enable prosecutors to bring the criminal justice system to bear on bullies.
“It is our belief that bullying in today’s America has hit a crisis point — driving young people to the unthinkable point of suicide or causing severe harm to themselves or others,” Rep. Torren Ecker, R-South Middleton, and Rep. Kyle Mullins, D-Olyphant, said in a co-sponsorship memo. “Families, lives and reputations are being ripped apart because of the severe, chronic and inescapable nature of what bullying has become.”
The bill was drafted in cooperation with the Pennsylvania District Attorney’s Association, Ecker and Mullins said. Currently, prosecutors who believe criminal charges should be filed must attempt to do so under other offenses, such as disorderly conduct, harassment, simple assault or terroristic threats.
House Bill 2053 would enhance penalties for these and other crimes if prosecutors could also prove the offense of bullying, defined as the intent to “harass, annoy, alarm or intimidate another individual or group of individuals” or “place another individual or group of individuals in fear of bodily injury or property damage.”
The proposed law is not limited to children and would apply to all ages.
As awareness of bullying has grown in recent years, legislators in other states and cities have also considered criminalizing the act. Several cities have passed or attempted to pass bills that would create fines or jail time for bullies or their parents.
Most states, including Pennsylvania, also have laws that provide for criminal sanctions for cyberbullying or electronic harassment, according to the Cyberbullying Research Center.
The movement also has critics, who argue that criminal sanctions are ineffective at preventing bullying and risk increasing incarceration rates. Society should instead focus on efforts that address the causes of student bullying and providing support for people who are bullied, they say.
There are also concerns that what constitutes bullying is subjective and could lead to inconsistent judgment calls by officials determining whether someone should be charged with the crime.
“Instead of upgrading bullying — which is often ambiguously defined — to a misdemeanor to further criminalize children and young people, we should be telling parents to teach compassion for people who are different,” wrote Rory Fleming of research firm Foglight Strategies in a recent opinion piece for the Pennsylvania Capital-Star.
Some victims of bullying believe a criminal law is necessary, including Rep. Brandon Markosek, D-Monroeville.
“As a person who battles with a speech disorder on a daily basis, I know first-hand what current students battling all different forms of bullying are dealing with,” Markosek wrote in a news release supporting House Bill 2053. “Bullying in our schools should not be tolerated at any level.”
The bill is awaiting a vote in the House Judiciary Committee. A companion bill, Senate Bill 564, is awaiting a vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
