Last week, I testified against a bill that sought to create severe criminal penalties for cyberbullying. Under LD 1233, a first cyberbullying offense would have been a Class E crime, and subsequent offenses rose to Class C status - in other words, a felony.
In the 125th Legislature, the ACLU of Maine worked closely with stakeholders and the Education Committee to craft Maine's anti-bullying law, which directs schools to seriously investigate and address the growing problem of bullying in our schools. Importantly, the anti-bullying law does not provide for criminal penalties, but provides alternative forms of discipline. These measures reflect the underlying goal of creating a safe and supportive environments for all students, and promoting approaches to bullying and harassment that attempt to repair harms and improve school climates and educational opportunities for all youth.
As a result of policies in other states like that proposed in LD 1233, more and more students each year with behavior problems are pushed out of school and into the criminal justice system, which is poorly equipped to help correct and improve behavior. Instead of asking police to act like teachers, Maine should be doing more to equip schools to correct behavior problems early so that they do not become law-enforcement problems. Proposals to get the police involved as early as possible cut directly against that.
A bully who is sent to jail for six months will remain a bully, and the school (and the State) will have missed out on any opportunity to correct or reform that behavior. That is a loss that none of us can afford.
The Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee heard our concerns, and unanimously voted against the bill. We applaud the committee's commitment to keeping young Mainers out of jail!