Restorative Justice for the Victims of School Bullying: How Far Does the Law Go?

Abstract

While school bullying may not have received that much attention from a historical perspective, recent events have led policy-makers, researchers, the media and the general public to focus more attention on this growing problem. In particular, cyberbullying is rising at a rapid rate and can no longer be treated as harmless playground behavior.

Unfortunately, under the current legal system, the courts appear to be reluctant to find that cyberbullying causes a substantial disruption in the school, except for a few extreme cases, because of the belief that the public is best served by a dissemination of ideas. The legal system needs to catch up with the times and realize that there is a difference between valuable political speech that is protected by the First Amendment and worthless cyberbullying speech that should not be protected by the First Amendment.

Keywords: School Bullying, Cyberbullying, Cyberharassment, Free Speech, First Amendment