I know the feeling of helplessness when you feel like there is nothing you can do to help your child.  There is nothing you can do to help them make it go away.  When it leads them to just want to get away from it all at all costs.  You know the news stories.  Some of us lived some of those stories.  Some of us were luckier than others.

I know as a parent you want something to be done about it, but the truth is, there is not much that one can legally do to stop it while it’s going on.   

It has become a familiar situation for many local police officers.  A parent walks into a police station with a print out from Facebook.  It may be a photo or a conversation.  Their child is being harassed by another classmate or group of classmates.  They could even be airing dirty laundry for the entire world to see.  Those parents are typically frustrated by the responses they receive from local authorities. 

“There is really nothing we can do…” “We have no jurisdiction over the internet…”  “Unless someone is threatening actual physical harm, our hands are tied…”
I have had this fight with my wife over and over as she yells at me to do “SOMETHING” about it.  

Therein lies the problem with the advent of social media and instant communication such as text and picture messages.  It makes growing up in today’s world infinitely more complicated than it was prior to the early 2000s.  Whereas rumors and name calling were once limited to the hours of school operation, the internet allows for a constant barrage of negativity in a public forum that never closes.  A harassing note that was only seen by a few, is now seen by hundreds (or more).   Where in the past, a “Slam Book” was the worst nightmare for a student; today a screen cap of a private conversation becomes fodder for the masses. 

For better or for worse the Information Age has allowed everyone to have a voice and forum to express their thoughts. It allows people to say things semi anonymously in a way they would never have the guts to say to someone’s face.  “Pack Mentality” then causes others to pile on to a situation creating an unbearable situation for the target of the harassment. 

It is extremely difficult to prosecute individuals for “cyberbullying”.  In fact, the very definition of “bullying” can vary from person to person.  It can span from what some would describe as “teasing” to outright threats or telling someone to “kill themselves”.  Prosecutors have sometimes used existing laws in the books to prosecute individuals for cyberbullying. Typically these are cases in which cyberbullying resulted in tragic consequences such as suicides.  Some states have enacted cyber harassment statutes that provide an avenue for charging online bullies. 

New York law falls short on creating a specific criminal penalty for cyberbullying.  In 2009, the legislature proposed bill H.B. A04028 (S 7158), but it was never enacted.  The law would have increased the penalty for some forms of hazing from a misdemeanor to a felony. It would have established a class B misdemeanor of failure to report hazing and requires instruction to discourage bullying and cyber-bullying in schools and policies for schools to be enacted. It defined “‘cyberbullying’ as “a course of conduct or repeated acts of abusive behavior by communicating through electronic means, with a person anonymously or otherwise over a period of time committing such acts as, but not limited to, taunting, insulting, humiliating, harassing, menacing, sending hate mail or embarrassing photographs.”

New York did enact laws which created certain specific responsibilities on schools with regard to an allegation of cyberbullying.  On July 1, 2013, key amendments went into effect of SENATE BILL - S 1987-B (A 3661-C): “Dignity for All Students Act” (more commonly known as DASA).  The law was designed to “strengthen a school's response to harassment and bullying through improved reporting, investigation, intervention, training and prevention.” It requires schools “to take action when students experience cyberbullying or other forms of harassment.” It also “ensures that school districts take immediate steps to end harmful behavior, prevent recurrences, and ensure the safety of the targeted students.” It also established improved training to help teachers and administrators better prevent and respond to bullying and other harmful acts.  School employees who witness or learn of online harassment must notify the school's administration within one school day, and must file a written report within another two days.  The law also requires teachers be trained on identifying and mitigating bullying incidents.  The 2013 amendment stated:

“The legislature also recognizes that most cyberbullying originates off-campus, but nonetheless affects the school environment and disrupts the educational process, impeding the ability of students to learn and too often causing devastating effects on students' health and well-being.” Includes behavior that “occurs off school property and creates or would foreseeably create a risk of substantial disruption within the school environment…”

According to the Cyberbullying Research Center, every state but Montana has a law in place to prevent bullying. Forty-two states' laws include electronic harassment, and 14 include cyber-bullying.

So what can be done? 

If you find yourself in a like situation to those described, there are civil causes of action that can be brought for cyberbullying.  The facts of your specific situation must be analyzed in light of the context that occurred in order to determine whether a civil case should be considered.  Traditional claims of defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, invasion of privacy and threatening language not protected by the First Amendment are options.  A discussion with your lawyer should cover not just the legal issues, but the long road and associated expensive process of fighting such a case. 

None of these answers give a quick fix to stop the torment your child is going through at the time they are going through it.  None of these things will make her or his tormentors leave them alone.  They are long term solutions to hopefully deter future conduct.  Knowing how our children rarely listen to what we say anyway, what hope is there to really get them to understand the consequences of their actions?  All we can do is keep the discussion moving in the right direction.