New Law Could Charge Parents of Bullies

This Anti-Bullying Law Will Have Parents Of Offending Kids Fined Up To $500

Updated Oct. 3 2018, 10:43 p.m. ET

Raising good children is difficult, but then again, the most rewarding things in life usually aren't walks in the park. No one feels so good about beating their 4-year-old cousin in Street Fighter. But, if you somehow manage to best the guy who lives in the arcade and receives his weekly paycheck in quarters, then you can pat yourself on the back.

It's not a secret that bullying in school is causing major problems for students all over America. Whether it's kids staying home from school and missing classes for fear of being bullied, worsened academic performance, or, in some tragic instances, children taking their own lives, bullying is having a major negative impact on America's youth.

School administrations can only do so much to curb or stop bullying in its tracks - it's not like children can be monitored in school every single second of the day, and that's just in the classroom - what happens when kids leave for the day? With the prevalence of social media and cell phones, kids can become targets for bullying 24-7.

So how does one nip bullying in the bud? Well, since parental influence plays a major role in children's views and behavior, it'd make sense that the burden of how a child ultimately treats others would fall on the shoulders of their parents, right?

At least that's the logic that's behind this proposed Pennsylvania law that will have parents fined up to $500 if their child is a repeat bullying offender.

State Representative Frank Burns' bill is serving up a three-strike rule for parents of children who bully their fellow students.

Strike 1: The school is required to inform the offending kid's parents how they handled their bullying.

I don't know about you, but when I was growing up, I had the fear of God when it came to any reports regarding my behavior to my parents. Bad grades were one thing, but when it came to my manners, if they caught wind of me being disrespectful to my teachers or any of my classmates, man was I in for a world of fear.

Strike 2: Parents will be forced to attend a seminar on bullying resolution and the effects of bullying.

I'm a fairly new parent and I'm really trying to reinforce the idea of compassion in my son and am worried about him growing up to bully other kids and generally be a scumbag of a person. If I had to sit through some class teaching me about how bad bullying is because my son acted out, I'd probably cancel his birthday as a result of his behavior and give away his toys to some good kids who deserve them.

Strike 3: Parents of the offending child will be issued a court appearance citation and could be fined up to $500.

If parents don't take the other warnings seriously then they're going to be hit where it hurts - their wallets. So if they don't care enough about their kids to make sure they don't grow up to be total jerkwads, then they'll care about their iPhone upgrade being delayed because their children couldn't behave themselves.

According to Burns, holding parents accountable for the actions of their children "is the only way to put an end to this scourge" of bullying.

Once people heard the news of the proposed fine, it received immediate support.

People began citing their own personal struggles of being bullied in school, as well as citing current examples in the news cycle of children taking their own lives due to constantly being picked on.

While some people aren't convinced that the law would be effective.

Sadly, there are too many instances of bullying resulting in tragedy - all it takes is a quick search of recent news cycles to see that bullying is a big problem that needs to be addressed.

Do you think holding parents accountable for their children's actions is a fair solution to the problem? Or will this do little to curb bullying if the law is actually passed? (h/t thv11)

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