Canadian Bill Proposed to Make Cyberbullying a Crime
May 6th, 2009 by Kiwi Commons
A Liberal MP has proposed a bill that would help making cyberbullying a thing of the past. The proposed bill would amend the Criminal Code to incorporate cyberbullying in the three existing laws that outline harassment, defamatory libel, and spreading false messages through telecommunications.
The current ‘bullying’ laws don’t stipulate modern technologies like cell phone text messages and social networking messages, so harassment through those means is a very gray area legally.
One in five students are victims of online bullying, while 29% said they had bullied someone else before, according to a 2008 survey conducted by the University of Toronto.
The proposed bill suggests the current harassment law penalties be applied to cyberbullying, which includes a maximum of 10 years imprisonment and up to five years for defamatory libel. Other than a sense of morale, superficial penalties like a slap on the wrist and a suspension, along with the comforts of their own home computers make it too easy for youths to engage in cyberbullying. Yet, the risk of imprisonment should help solve the ongoing issue of how to deal with youths harassing local kids and teachers online more effectively.
Though the bill has a long road ahead in order to become an official law, in another step forward the government has positively responded to the ideas of incorporating in-class cyberbullying lessons, created by the Canadian Teachers’ Federation and the RCMP.
A note for teachers:
The Media Awareness Network has developed a series of lessons, in English and in French, to give students a better understanding of the ethical and legal implications of cyberbullying, and to promote positive Internet use. Click here to take a look.
Source: http://www.canada.com/story_print.html?id=1453174&sponsor=
Posted in Internet Safety | 
bullying, cyberbullying, news |
|
