Should Bullies, Regardless Of Age, Be Punished With Time In Prison If They Cause Their Victims To Commit Suicide?

[Physics-Man]

Yes

No

Other

[MCheetah]

No, someone should not go to prison because someone else decided to take their own life! Not at all! Because it's not another person's job to be in control of your emotions, reactions, mental health, and choices in life. Should we start punishing people for not complimenting us, as well?

While I can definitely sympathize with people who commit suicide ( I was in that state in my early 20s), these people are not mentally healthy and chances are, they were going to harm themselves one way or another, and the bullying was just the most convenient solution. A society that punishes others for not kissing their asses is not a free society, nor one I want to live in.

Also, if that was the case, then WAY more women would be guilty of such a crime. Not just the women who create incels, but actual women who caused men to kill themselves through bullying. Like Zoe Quinn directly leading to the suicide of game developer Alec Holowka over lies and false sexual abuse allegations , but the sh*tty media trying to spin it as him "dying", like it was a freak accident or something, and not directly suicide caused by her actions. So yeah, women cause more suicides by bullying, to both genders, than men do. I somehow doubt society would want to all of a sudden hold women responsible for their actions.

Now as for what SHOULD happen to such a bully? They can be a social pariah, if need be. Let it be known that this person indirectly caused another person to take their own life, and let society judge them. I 100% DO NOT believe in "Cancel Culture," but if there was ever a time to justify it, it'd be for causing suicide in another.

Prison time is saying we should kiss each other's asses and that people are not responsible for their own emotions and lives, EVERYONE ELSE is. However, "canceling" someone for causing one's death, is okay by me.

Anyone who wants to blame a mean kid for the actions of a mentally damaged person who had options and avenues to get the help they needed but chose not to, are saying they themselves are WEAK and fragile. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

[Exterminatore]

Didn’t read it all. Didn’t need to. Your first sentence makes an excellent point.

[Chazmatazz269]

This is extremely subjective. My thoughts on this matter have had to change recently with new information. Watching “The Girl From Plainville”, and related documentaries has taught me a lot. Let’s see if i can put this together for the first time, here and now….
I don’t generally believe in “bullying”, especially online. If parents are doing their job, no kid should ever feel hurt by a stranger’s words. Similarly, if parents are doing their job, they should know if their kids have special needs and will adapt accordingly. You don’t get to know you’re kids are exceptionally sensitive or mentally ill, send them to an environment that COULD be damaging and then sue after the fact when they’re damaged.
That said, when a person and/or their family and friends are doing their best to mitigate the effects of a cruel world on the mentally ill, and a person knowingly and deliberately undermines that for any reason or none at all, the punishment should fit the crime. If your victim dies, so do you.

[Aerissa_Jade]

Yes but only if there is evidence, such as online bulling... documented on social media sights.

Not so much the verbal stuff, unless it is recorded.

Not saying it should be a lot of prison either, personally I think a few months would be fine... does not need to be years.

Also not for a few isolated events, needs to be able to prove a record of it going on for a long time.

[EnglishEuropean]

Online bullying is a myth. It's so easy to block people.

[Aerissa_Jade]

@EnglishEuropean It is real, you can block the actual bully but then they post shit and spread lies around to others thus causing real world social damage. When you hear others now believing the lies, friends, family and so forth, there is no way to block 100% and even if your not online they are still spreading the lies and it is affecting your life.

[LilyoftheLake]

What the victim does is NOT the bully's fault. They should be punished for what THEY did, not how they were reacted to. Especially when they are just a kid! High schoolers are dumb, really dumb. Taunting and manslaughter aren't on the same page, no matter how cruel the insult.

[Brokenheartedx]

The perps who contributed to amanda Todd's death will now be adults and more likely still bullies. Bullies who seek out to torment day in day out with nobody stopping them grow up to be bullies, and bully victims grow up with the self hatrid day in day out, until they are older and some kill themselves when they are older. It needs pinched in the bud as soon as they start, and don't say the teachers don't notice the name calling in class, they turn a blind eye.

[LilyoftheLake]

@Brokenheartedx Pinched in the bud, definitely. But not imprisoned!

[Snsl153]

Yes, imprisoned. For life.

[Lynn2001]

Just because the bully didn’t have control of the response doesn’t change the fact that they are responsible for the result. Especially if they told them to kill themselves.

[TheSpaceGnome]

I agree with @LilyoftheLake on this one. People need to be responsible for their own actions, it's called suicide because the person killed THEMSELVES.

Everyone has bullies, but most people don't off themselves, if you off yourself, thats on you.

[LilyoftheLake]

So, lets say someone on here insulted my political views, and that was the final straw, and I committed suicide. Would it be justified to track down and imprison that person?
How far do you have to go before it's considered manslaughter? What if you only told someone that their shirt was kind of ugly. Imprisoned?

[Lynn2001]

Yeah like that would be a good example. A rude comment isn’t the same as harassing and verbally abusing somebody.

[Lynn2001]

Also, experiencing a rude interaction isn’t the same as getting bullied. You don’t see people saying they’re being bullied every time someone is rude with them.

[Brokenheartedx]

No lily I'm talking about real bullies not a someone called someone a name.
Look at little 10 year old kids who have taken their own lives and written notes thay
It was because of the tormenting they recieved at school, calling someone fat
And ugly once is terrible but saying it everytime they see the person every day for 5 days at school for 4 years over and over and embarrassing them then that's bullying and it's humiliating esp when everyone laughs, 10 year old already told the teacher but teacher didn't do anything, that will have a negative effect on any kids heads. Just because they are 10 doesn't mean they don't know right from wrong

[Brokenheartedx]

A good boot right up the arse is needed towards the bully and its parents, no be long in stopping

[LilyoftheLake]

@Brokenheartedx I assure you, I have experienced more than my fair share of it. My parents had enough foresight to remove me from school and homeschool me due to issues with it.
A good boot, absolutely, but not imprisonment. Suspension, perhaps. Counseling.

[Paul09]

So let them keep bulling poids and people? Until adulthood? F no, maybe parents should go to prison for them? Lucky you never been bullied.

[LilyoftheLake]

@Paul09 I was LITERALLY bullied OUT OF HIGH SCHOOL.
And no, we put a stop to it! But imprisoning anyone who does something wrong is NOT the way to go! ADULT DRUNK DRIVERS, who have a MUCH higher rate of manslaughter, are often let go with warnings! How much more compassion and mercy should be offered to teens who are suffering from other troubles and take it out by insulting their peers.
To reinstate: They should get in trouble. If that doesn't stop, they should experience suspension from school. They need to be distanced from their peers, NOT from society as a whole!
There are so many high school bullies who grew out of it, especially as their circumstances changed. Imprisoning them wouldn't change them; it would cement it as part of their identity.

[Paul09]

There should be a school where it's all bullies then.

[LilyoftheLake]

@Paul09 Lol I think that's called a detention center

[Sandeeppingping]

Nahhh, I was bullied like crazy till I was about 12, I was a soft chubby kid, that was why I was bullied, standing up to them, especially one big tall dude who bullied everyone, changed me completely, I manned up I started to talk shit back and I took care of myself, now that same tall dude treats me as if like I was the popular kid at school even though I was a nobody, MY lesson is, it's not your fault that you're getting bullied, but it's your responsibility and YOURS ONLY to change something about it, suicide is your choice, not the bully's choice..

[BeMuse]

Nope. People have free speech. You can say whatever you want. If someone doesn't like it they don't have to listen to you. It's simple enough to turn off a computer/phone, turn off the TV, stop reading a book, newspaper, or magazine that has ideas that you do not like. If you kill yourself over other people's opinions you were a weak link. If they damage your financial life with slander then sue them and take their financial life. If they physically batter you, then there are already laws for that to put them in jail. You having a weak mind, low self-esteem, and an addiction to negativity isn't their fault. That is a decision you made all on your own.

[libsaretards]

I voted "other". I am a former victim of being bullied.

I do believe bullies should serve prison time for driving their victim suicidal, but I do not believe this should happen at all ages. Some kids really do not know how badly their bullying can be. Even when told by adults, most kids view adults as buzzkills and do not take them seriously until something proves them right. For age to be a factor, it would need to be proven that the child, given their mental level, could understand the severity of their actions. There are many bullies who have driven victims to suicide who did not think they were doing something other than a prank. This is a really difficult line to define and could open a slippery slope to other childhood behaviors getting kids arrested.

[WeirdoFriendly]

To all those people who said yes. Do you really want a child in prison to become a worse person rather than a father or mother teach them what is wrong with how they treat people? You wouldn't even give them a chance at changing? Just, straight to prison (regardless of age).

Yes, I understand that some bullies push other people to far. But they don't do the killing. The person who commits suicide does the killing. And that's on them. Whether or not to deal with the pain in another way or just end it. That decision is for that person alone. And yet you would still have another person take the fall for that?

[DoctorSex]

Schools are a microcosm of the larger society.

Kids/teens mirror the society, how they've been raised and the behaviours taught.

I'd punish parents up to the age of 25, as that's the age the brain stops growing and a human is finally mature.

Kind regards,
DoctorSex

[AMS700CX4u2]

Whenever human congregate, someone finds a need to make others feel insecure. The bad thing is that the bullied are usually better adjusted than the offenders. who usually seek the company of others because they can't stand alone. What is fun to watch over the years is the reversal of the pecking order once the bully is taken from their support group.

[purplepoppy]

Children bully, when adults do it we call it abuse or harassment. Either way if it's done to the level a person feels the only way out is suicide then there needs to be legal consequences. I would also extend it to "with intention to cause death" even if no suicide takes place if it can be proven the level was high enough.

[Luopio27]

When people start killing themselves, they have given up on hope, from all the people in the society, not just bullies. Bullies are the most obvious or clearest reasons of suicide but rarely the only ones whos actions lead to the suicide of someone they know.


When I had suicidal plans, it was because of all the horrors of psychiatric treatment, that were way worse than all the experiances with all the bullies and racists I have ever encountered.


No amount of money, no amount of prison time, no punishment in the world will ever replace the loss of a loved one. The only thing the human race can try to do, is to build a society that is so understanding, respectful, inspirational and professional that its worth living for. Such a society with a 100% only exists in the human imagination.

[RealMarek]

It should never be allowed to get this far. Some things that used to work: Corporal punishment for bullies. Letting kids defend themselves from bullies (no zero tolerance policies). No social media for minors. But these are draconian and old fashioned, so I guess we can continue going to hell in a hand basket.

[mantelk]

Bullies should always be punished no matter what. They are the cause of most problems in the world. Without bullies life would be amazing. The problem with law is bullies get away with it but if someone gets angry and fights back, they get in trouble.

[mantelk]

A major part of the problem is women. Women are attracted to bullies often and have sex with a lot of bullies. It makes these greatest of cowards feel like powerful men. They are rewarded for being abusive by the shallow sluts of today.

[mantelk]

Women assume bullies are good at sex and the so called "nice guys" are not. This is the issue. A man that feels dominant will be good in bed. Now what kind of society you create will decide who is more dominant. If the coward bullies are made to feel powerful, they will be good at bed. If the good hearted are labled weak, they will be bad. If we lived in a society that gave higher status to good men and lower status to coward bullies, you'd see the good men would be much better in bed than the bullies. A bully is not above a good man, they are below. They have fundamentally given up on their virtues and dignity and humility. A good man can become a bully if they gave up their virtues. It's not difficult being a bully. It is difficult being a good man. And women don't seem to understand this.

[Anonymous]

No, because it would be too hard to prove, and people would use it as a weapon.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/pbpChEEQsbk

Billy Joe Mcallister jumped off the Tallahassee bridge because of Jan 6th.

[Opinion Owner]

Tallahatchie bridge.

[TheSpaceGnome]

Yup.

[Literalbillionaire17]

Yes. If they are underage then send the to juvi but I think there should be some rules. Like if the bully physically harassed the victim they should do months of Juvi time. If it was verbal harassment I think the time should be less but they still do time.

[crmoore]

As much as I oppose bullying, you shouldn't punish somebody for the actions of others. You can punish a bully for their acts of bullying, but not for someone they bully committing suicide.

That'd be like saying someone who threatens somebody else's life in a country where guns are illegal, then they should be held accountable if the person they threatened illegal obtains a gun.

[Jakelyr]

i certainly agree that we need to be harsher on bullying, but unless there's evidence that suicide or self harm was an expected result we should be looking at other options.

prison is a lazy solution that burdens society and a child raised in there is unlikely to come back out a better person. not to mention they'll be lacking an education, further hindering their ability to come around as an able adult.

[JDBSLAOQ]

Jail/Juvie time with rehab and therapy and support for whatever it is that causes them to bully to that extent. Early leave should be available if they get better though, especially if theyre children.

[Exterminatore]

So long as the bullying can be proved and the connection to the suicide can be proved.


Bullies don’t exist if everyone polices up their balls and handles them.


Do your part, stomp a bully out today.

[Exterminatore]

www.stompoutbullying.org/how-to-deal-with-bullies

[TheSpaceGnome]

No, a person's choice to kill themselves is never the fault of another. Life is hard, everyone has had bullies, everyone has gone through times that suck, but it's a personal failure when someone commits suicide.

Stand up for yourself, or no one else will.

[Anonymous]

No. For one thing the bully-bullied relationship isn't always clearly defined. Some people who claim to be bullied are bullies themselves. Also, you never know what's going push a guy over the edge. Some people you can taunt mercilessly and they take it like a champ. Others you make fun of them once and they get a gun and shoot up a school.

[helpmary16]

not regardless of age! A boy in my middle school killed himself in the seventh grade. The bullies had a hard enough time processing it and are still dealing with the fallout for the rest of their lives. The last thing a bunch of dumb 12 year olds need to deal with is prison time. The school should be held responsible, not children.

[Bug99]

It all comes back to how the offender was raised by his/her parents. Some parents have a tendency to continually defend their child when he/she offends someone, whether it be verball insults or just being disrespectful. As a result of this, the offender grows up thinking that it is okay to do what he/she is doing.

So if he/she needs to be punished with jail time, then do so. But also punished the parents for raising a bully.

[EarthRealm]

Bullies don’t force them to commit suicide they decide that’s what they wanna do so they commit suicide people have wants likes dislikes Desires
The person who committed suicide Had a desire and a want to commit suicide so they did it.

[FinneasWilson]

Yes because it's murder. You have bullied that person to death.


you killed someone so yes prison is a good idea. If it's a child then a young offenders institution.

[MarkRet]

Prison might be a little extreme. Maybe some waterboarding or a mark on their public record that'll affect their career.

[GreatnessBack]

No, depending on age. Over 18, definite yes. Under 18, more juvenile detention and retraining.
Also, kid offender's parents should be held accountable as well. Like, how do you let your kid turn into such a cunt.

[2facedfa1ry]

If they kinda directly caused it yes unless they're really young. If they just bullied someone but didn't try to make them do it then no

[Queeninmydreams]

When bullies are treated for how they act instead of who they are, what kept them human will take its leave

[lilyanony1]

Jail time seems harsh, I think community service and a psychological assessment and rehabilitation.

[NathanDavis]

that could be quite difficult to prove in court, depending on the circumstances...

[Avicenna]

Yes, if causation can be proven, absolutely

[UdosUNDERDEVELOPMENT]

There should be no punishments of any kinds. We have to treat everyone and everything with love , care , respect , peace , goodness , and freedom , and not resolve towards abuses and evils regardless of what someone or something has done.

[SmokinAces2000]

No because people make a choice to commit suicide, bullying is messed up especially when it leads to someone committing suicide but like I said people make a choice to commit suicide

[Fireguy17]

If it can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt then yes.

[Lynn2001]

I answered yes but I realized it said regardless of age so mostly other. If it’s ages under 12-13, juvenile, rehab and therapy maybe. But older, yes.

[r4nd0mus3r]

no. instead let the victims fight their bullies without the threat of legal trouble.

[Guy13]

There’s no correlation and too many factors in lif to make such a jump to one thing cause suicide of person

[EnglishEuropean]

There are laws against harassment. But if you commit suicide that is your decision. Nobody has forced you to do it.

[Aiko_E_Lara]

Not only if their victim committed suicide but bullying in general. But of course there needs to be proof.

[Aiko_E_Lara]

Also they should be focusing on the topic and teach kids how to respect themselves and others. If their victim committed suicide then yes there's a sentence to that but if none, then they just have to be kicked out

[Lickmymeet]

no if anything that’ll make things worse how about we raise children with enough confidence and self esteem to stand up for themselves

[Lynn2001]

We’re not parenting everybody so we can’t control that. We have to be able to protect children who don’t have that.

[Lickmymeet]

@Lynn2001 you protect them by teaching them as that old saying goes “ it takes a village” if I saw a kid getting picked on I’d teach him to stand up for himself not coddle him or her they only bully you because you won’t fight back it not important that you beat them but if you defend yourself they’ll know not to mess with you because you won’t tolerate their mistreatment remember bullies pick on weak timid children they just need encouragement

[captain_voidwalker]

Nope, teach kids to fight back not bow down and bullies will cease to be.

[Paul09]

Yes. You know most of those bullies will become criminals. They are so useless to society.

[Shyfemguy]

Of course, suicide is a big deal, it's not like the bully just put gum on the victim's sit.

[AviatorTom]

Not prison time, they should be executed... in public.

[TheSpaceGnome]

To execute them would just make you the bigger bully (at least until you made yourself no exception to your extremist punishment rule).

[exitseven]

I would entertain the idea but it would be hard to prove.

[Anonymous]

No, we can't even prove that bullying directly causes suicide.

[Juxtapose]

No, bullying isn't illegal unless it's harassment.

[Dinosaursandanime65]

How often do homeless people try getting sent to prison/jail?

[Jouth]

we should actually torture them to death in public

[Snsl153]

Yes, lock them up and throw away the key!

[fonduegirl]

Yes, yes, and a million times yes!

[pizzalovershouse]

No but make them work doing a janitor job

[Sparkie460]

If you do the crime you should do the time

[brezzybaby]

Yes I believe they should be

[Anonymous]

I would say yes.

[PhenomenalQueen]

Yes! They should!

[Monah4billion]

A definitely yes

[skeetskeetskeet]

That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard

[NNWSSEnew]

Yes,

[NNWSSEnew]

I would have to put some kind of age on this before there become s a law

[crossdressingrihno]

Definitely not