Should Parents Be Held Liable for Their Children's Bullying?

Introduction

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, between one-quarter and one-third of all American school children report being bullied in some fashion, with the highest prevalence of bullying occurring during the middle school years (Facts about bullying 2). It is inappropriate to classify every type of aggressive encounter between youths as bullying, because young people are undergoing a profoundly transformative period in their lives during which experimentation, peer pressure, and the search for individual identity assume truly enormous significance. When some types of unwanted aggressive behaviors persist, however, they conform to the definition of bullying provided by the U.S. Department of Education and Centers for Disease Control (Facts about bullying 3), and many of these behaviors are crimes. A growing body of evidence confirms that bullying can have a wide range of adverse effects on both the perpetrator and the victim that can extend well into adulthood. Identifying ways to stop bullying in and out of schools has assumed increasing importance and relevance in recent years as technology has created new avenues for young people to bully each other. This paper provides a review of the relevant literature to argue that parents should be held responsible — to an extent, whether financially or legally — for their children who are bullies. An analysis of both sides of this argument is followed by a summary of the research and the rationale in support of holding parents responsible for their children's bullying behaviors.

Background and Overview

Although there is no universally agreed-upon or legal definition of bullying, the definition provided by the U.S. Department of Education and the Centers for Disease Control includes three core components: (1) unwanted aggressive behavior; (2) observed or perceived power imbalance; and (3) repetition of behaviors or a high likelihood of repetition (Facts about bullying 5). This definition, however, is silent with respect to the intended outcome of such behaviors. For additional clarity, the definition provided by Shaugnessy states that "bullying is a conscious, willful, and deliberate hostile activity intended to harm, induce fear through the threat of further aggression, and create terror" (51).

While the prevalence of bullying is highest during the middle school years, bullying can occur sooner and persist long after this period. For example, Darden reports that "stories abound about students at all grade levels engaging in severe harassing behavior that prompts suicides or inflicts lasting physical or emotional scars" (76). More troubling still, the inordinately high prevalence of bullying has resisted the best efforts of parents, lawmakers, educators, and civic organizations across the country. In this regard, Darden emphasizes that "despite extensive efforts of educators, parents, lawmakers, and society at large, bullying remains a stubborn barnacle clinging to schools. Both the historic face-to-face bullying and the newer cyber variety are relentlessly prevalent" (76).

Besides face-to-face physical or verbal bullying and so-called cyberbullying — that is, bullying behaviors committed more than once using some type of communications technology such as cellphones, chat rooms, email, instant messaging, and online posts — there are other types as well, including relational bullying intended to negatively affect the relationship or reputation of targeted victims, and bullying that involves damage to property (Facts about bullying 5). In addition, face-to-face bullying is classified as direct because it takes place in the presence of the targeted victim, as opposed to indirect forms of bullying that are not directly communicated to the victim, such as the spreading of malicious rumors or gossip (Facts about bullying 6).

Even indirect bullying can have serious effects on targeted victims, including causing young people to commit suicide. For instance, Darden reports that "in one of the most high-profile tragedies from social media bullying, a 12-year-old Florida girl took her life by jumping from a tower at an abandoned concrete plant" (76). Moreover, other bullying behaviors such as assault, harassment, or — as the recent death of a 19-year-old college student at Pennsylvania State University clearly showed — hazing can be classified into various criminal categories, including manslaughter or murder (Isaac 4). Although few right-thinking people would likely argue in favor of holding parents criminally or even financially responsible for one-time physical or verbal altercations between youths, the argument can certainly be made that when such actions rise to the level of criminal behaviors, parents are ultimately responsible, as discussed further below.

Conclusion

Just as an ethical corporate culture begins at the top of an organization, parents have the fundamental and overarching responsibility to inculcate socially acceptable behaviors in their children. While children typically develop a well-formed capacity to distinguish right from wrong and to recognize socially acceptable behavior by the time they enter elementary school, they may be unable to exercise the self-control needed to moderate their impulsivity. Of course, some children suffer from developmental disorders that can prevent them from exercising appropriate self-control and from distinguishing acceptable from unacceptable behavior — but these are not the young people under consideration here. The types of bullying behaviors under consideration are those that persist over time despite repeated warnings to bullies and their parents, that intentionally cause harm to others, and that would be regarded as criminal actions if committed by adults — because they are, in fact, crimes with far-reaching consequences for their victims. In the final analysis, it is reasonable to conclude that holding parents liable for their children's bullying behaviors is the first realistic step in addressing this public health threat.

Works Cited

Darden, Edwin C. "Courts Join Crackdown on School Bullies: Bullying Has Proven Resistant to School Efforts to End the Practice; Now, the Courts Are Joining the Fight." Phi Delta Kappan, vol. 96, no. 7, April 2015, p. 76.

"Facts about Bullying." U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2017, https://www.stopbullying.gov/media/facts/index.html.

Isaac, Matthew. "Ten Additional Penn State Students Charged in Hazing Death of Pledge." The New York Times, 13 November 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/13/us/penn-state-fraternity-hazing.html.

Shaugnessy, Mary A. "Bullying: Definition and Legal Issues." Momentum, vol. 46, no. 1, February/March 2015, pp. 50–54.