Courts Join Crackdown On School Bullies Summary

In the article entitled, “Courts Join Crackdown on School Bullies,” author Edwin C. Darden claims school bullying is not an easy problem to eradicate, even with the combined efforts of parents and teachers the problem seems only to worsen. The article reports the rise of severe bullying children are at risk of suicidal attempts, emotional issues, and physical scars (Darden, 2015). As bullying is not handled well at a district level Darden explained the courts are getting involved, and taking an active role in putting an end to bullying; they intend to handle the problem by placing blame on the school districts, the students, or the parents (Darden, 2015). The article addressed three specific cases in which the courts applied blame. In the first example, Darden emphasized the seriousness of the court’s decision, as a student experienced severe bully while attending a zero-tolerance bullying school district.

In another example, a Judge wrote, regarding a student who was bullied for years about his weight, that if the charges were proved liability would be placed upon the students involved and the school system. Finally, Darden explains the tragic social media bullying of a 12-year-old, who committed suicide. He reported that Justice Outreach, a legal advocacy group are working to hold parents criminally responsible for their child’s cyberbullying. Edwin Darden concluded that school districts are trying to find solutions for this problem, but in the end the main point is “school officials must be relentless in preventing bullying beforehand as well as responding decisively” (Darden, 2015), as courts should not be the solution to an “on-the-ground problem” (Darden,