Should bullying become a crime

Bullying may not have anything to do with music however Ill bet youd find that many musicians and artists of all types had some type of bullying when they were growing up. Some of them might even say it inspired some of their art. It doesnt mean they liked it it just meant mabye they needed to vent.

I dont know about you but it breaks my heart to continue to hear about kids and teens killing themselves over bullying, and about school shootings that continue to happen. Maybe I dont pay attention to the news enough but it still seems to me like every time things seem to settle down you hear about another suicide or shooting.

Now well leave the argument that the media picks up on what they deem tragic enough…and then cover the story mercilessly. That's a separate issue all its own. Whether or not we hear about the stories in the news anyway, we know the same things continue to happen. They're either on a smaller scale or not considered newsworthy enough.

bullying should be a crime

CE Topic

  Should bullying be illegal?
Bullying should be illegal because kids wont stop if they can't get in serious trouble for what they are doing.
There are many types of bullying such as name calling, physical abuse, and cyber bullying.

    Name Calling:
Name calling is a very serious type of bullying, it is almost as bad as punching someone. Calling someone names and teasing them is one of the worst types of bullying because it puts someone down and lowers self esteem.

    Physical Abuse:
Physical abuse from bullying is very bad because mainly the people who get bullied are smaller then the bullier because it makes the bully feel better about themselves. Lots of young kids get hurt because they can't defend themselves.

   Cyber bullying:
Cyber bullying I feel is the worst type of bullying because the kid who gets bullied can't delete anything that the bully says online. The only thing kids can do for cyber bullying is tell your parents or the police.

   I feel that bullying should be illegal because the bullies wont stop bullying because nothing serious will happen to them if they can't get in serious trouble from the law.

should kids own cell phones

My topic today is about should kids own or have cell phones or should they not own cell phones.Cell phones for kids is a good way to keep track of your kids because then its an easier way to communicate.

With a cell phone parents or friends will know what's going on in there life at that moment.But there's the other side of people were they think that kids should not own cell phones because its maybe distracts.

cell phones may brainwash your kids from being active outside or its just addictive and then you will never get your kid off of it thankfully im not like that.But most kids who have cell phones are starting to turn into that.

After awhile parents are going to start getting angry because there kids may be on so much that it starts racking up there phone bill to like 400 dollars and it will keep going up and up and up until finnaly.

 parents are going to lay down the law and thats the dark side of kids owning cell phones.But think of it this way if your kid didnt have a cell phone and was just wondering around at the mall and he has know cell phone how will you know if hes okay but with a cell phone you could just be at home relaxing and knowing that there kid is safe and sound walking around the mall with his friends or somthing.the end

By dylan

Reminders

There are still many some people in this group who need to play catchup on their blog posts.
These people include:
DYLAN
DEACON
JUSTIN
These blog posts must be done by FRIDAY so I hope the following people can start playing catchup now!

Blog post: CE Topics, final post

The question today I am going to answer for my CE Topic is #4: Should bullying be a crime?

Canadians have surveyed that 65% of the people being asked this question think that bullying is a crime. The others think that bullying is not a crime. Today my answer is a yes and also a no and here are my reasons why, but before I explain my answers I have to point out the main types of bullying and also the 5 stages of bullying.

Main types of bullying:

There are many types of bullying in this world. The main types of bullying are physical (which includes hitting), verbal (which includes insulting), indirect (which includes spreading rumours), social alienation (which includes excluding someone out of a group), imitation (which includes threatening) and last but not least, cyber bullying (which includes sending bad stuff online). These are all the main types of bullying. 

5 stages of bullying 

Bullying can cause a lot of problems for the person who gets bullied. There are 5 stages of bullying. 

1: Bullies watch and wait: 

At the beginning stage, the bully tries to find someone who is smaller and weaker than the bully itself.

2: Bullies Test out the Waters With Their Victims:

After observing their victim for a while, bullies may interact with them and gauge the response. The victim at this stage is unsure whether the bully was just feeling mean that day or if it is a sign that worse is to come.

3: The Bullying Steps up a Notch:

By this stage the child will realize that the bullying is purposeful and upsetting. He or she may ask a teacher or parent for help but is often given glib advice about standing up for himself or herself. The bully watches what is going on and if the way remains clear, he will step up the harassment.

4:The Bullying Gathers Momentum:

If the victim is resigned to the bullying, the bullies will take advantage of this and begin to bully more and more. The abuse may move from the playground into the classroom and even outside of school. The person being bullied begins to feel unsafe and have some behavioral changes. Parents and teachers may blame the child and misunderstand the behavior which only makes matters worse.

5:Bullying is Fully Established:

By the time bullying is fully established, the child will be living in torment. The bullies will harass him or her at school, in the classroom, in the playground and on the way home. The abuse may overflow to sexual harassment or cyber bullying where the person is sent bad texts and emails. Social networking sites such as Myspace, Twitter and Facebook may also be targeted.

YES side for bullying being a crime:

Bullying can be considered a crime at stages 5 when bullying is fully established or at the end of stage 4 when bullying gathers momentum. My reasoning for bullying being a crime at these stages are because the bullying can get REALLY REALLY SERIOUS that stage and sometimes bullying can even ruin peoples lives!!!! Many people begin to have behaviour changes and they just dont feel safe at that stage. Sometimes, people can feel so bad because they get bullied that they just commit suicide and also jump off bridges. I hear many many news about people who do that on the news. Bullying can get very carried away at that stage so basically I think it can be considered as a crime at the stages of 4 and 5.


NO side for bullying being a crime:
Bullying can also not be considered a crime at the stages of 1, 2 and 3 when bullying is not taking many effect on the person who is being targeted. When the bully is looking for a victim and just lurking around it is not a crime. At these stages bullying is not considered a crime because it is not taking much effect on the person!!!


So it depends which stage your at for bullying. This is my opinion and it depends wether the bullying is taking little effect or large effect on the person. I think there is a Yes side and a No side for bullying and I hope you agree with my blog post.


Sources:
-http://library.thinkquest.org/07aug/00117/typesbullying.html
-http://voices.yahoo.com/the-five-stages-bullying-8358353.html?cat=72
-http://www.fortmcmurraytoday.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3487269

Hi,

My post this week is about a very controversial topic. I am here with you to question, should bullying be a crime? I definitely think that this topic needs to be talked about much more than what it is, so I am addressing it now.

What is bullying? Bullying is a child's way of saying you are different. Bullying is a teenager's way of making themselves seem better than others. Bullying is an adult's way of getting what they want, it is manipulation. Bullying, in all stages of life, is a way to hurt someone.

Bullying is wrong. Bullying is harmful. Bullying hurts, no matter how unsubstantial the incident is. So then why is bullying not yet a crime?

Really, shouldn't bullying be a crime? A crime is harm done to a person, property, or to self. Isn`t bullying harmful to another person? Of course it is. But there is more to bullying than the obvious statements.

Yes, we all know the tragic stories, "11 Year old boy commits suicide after being bullied for too long", "17 year old girl's family grieves after a death occurs due to bullying", among others. But what about the stories that we do not hear? The ones that seem so insignificant that it is hard to decide whether they actually were bullying incidents, or just harsh words? Should those be considered a crime as well?

Of course, if only the tragic stories occurred, the answer to my question would not be a difficult one to find. The answer would be yes, bullying is a crime, somebody died, of course it is a crime. But with these small incidents, it is hard to decide. How do you expel almost every child in any school? How do you send almost every adult into jail? How would it be possible?

If bullying was a crime, what would our world be like? Really, how do you catch it before it transforms into something too big? When a child is bullied, it starts out small, like being called a name. From here, it can grow in many different directions. The bullying could turn physical, which is more noticeable than verbal bullying. These are the incidents that are usually caught, because it is easier to see a big violent fight than a small encounter at lunchtime. Verbal and emotional bullying is much harder to see. How do you see somebody being tormented by a bully verbally and emotionally? That is why these cases of bullying usually go unnoticed. So if bullying was a crime, how would we be able to convict people, if we don`t even know that the bullying is happening? How much of a difference would it make?

Also, would the punishments be the same for every case? What would the difference be between, say, a case ending in an accidental death, than a case ending in a suicide? Bullying can result in actions and events that are crimes, and are dealt with and treated as such.

People today are much more aware of bullying than they were, say, 20 years ago. There are events dedicated to making people aware of bullying that happens and how to stop it, like Pink Shirt Day, and there are movies showing people what bullying can do, like Cyberbully (2011) and Bully (2011).

To some extent, bullying already is a crime, due to events that happen as consequence of the actual bullying. As many of incidents are already dealt with and treated as crimes because of what occurs in them (assault, murder, accidental murder, suicide), and many people are already aware of the dangers of bullying, and stop bullying if they see it, I would find a law to not have much effect.


As for the smaller incidents, society needs to be able to identify them and deal with the situations now, as supposed to when they get out of hand. If we do not deal with the incidents, they can get worse and turn into a crime. But if we are able to stop them before they reach that stage, they should not be a threat anymore.

I think that because major bullying incidents are already treated like crimes, and because people are already so aware of bullying, that bullying should not be a crime. With all the awareness about bullying and knowledge of how to prevent bullying, I think that a law would not help out as much as showing people what kinds of things bullying can do. I don`t know that bullying will ever be gone, but I do know that it can and will get better.

Sources:
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/canada-politics/bullying-crime-225007123.html
http://www.fortmcmurraytoday.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3487269
http://www.theprovince.com/life/Bullying+should+crime+Canadians+poll/6229221/story.html

Help Dylan

Can one of Dylan's buds give him a phone call and remind him he needs to catch up on his posts please.