The recent tragic death of Amanda Todd, a fifteen year old girl from Port Coquitlam British Columbia, has sparked outcry across the province and indeed the entire nation regarding the continuing prevalence of bullying among Canadian youth, especially online. More seriously, the Amanda Todd case contained elements of sexual exploitation and even child pornography. Since the incident there have been several calls for “bullying” to be written in as a Criminal Code offence, including a suggestion by BC Premiere Christy Clark to focus on cyber-bullying specifically. Much of this seems to stem from the idea that we do not currently have any methods with which to punish those accountable for Amanda Todd’s mistreatment, and this is a fair concern. However, let us first consider which Criminal Code offences could be applied to instances of serious bullying similar to the Amanda Todd case.
241. Counseling or Aiding Suicide- Every one who
- counsels a person to commit suicide, or
- aids or abets a person to commit suicide
264. (1) Criminal Harassment– No person shall … engage in conduct … that causes that other person … to fear for their safety or the safety of anyone known to them.
(2) The conduct mentioned in subsection (1) consists of
- repeatedly following from place to place the other person or anyone known to them;
- repeatedly communicating with, either directly or indirectly, the other person or anyone known to them…
264.1 (1) Uttering threats– Every one commits an offence who, in any manner, knowingly utters, conveys, or causes any person to receive a threat
(a) to cause death or bodily harm to any person…
265. (1) Assault– A person commits assault when
(a) without the consent of another person, he applies force intentionally to that other person, directly or indirectly;
(b) he attempts or threatens, by an act or gesture, to apply force to another person, if he has, or causes that other person to believe on reasonable grounds that he has present ability to effect his purpose…
Should we include Bullying in the Criminal Code?
A simple reading of the above offences clearly indicates that there are several charges that could, and may very well be, laid regarding the severe bullying and eventual death of Amanda Todd. However, in regards to our original discussion of bullying as a potential Criminal Code offence, the above offences reveal a fairly glaring omission. Namely, all of these offences only deal with the problem of bullying once it has become exacerbated to the point of causing serious, and generally physical, harm. Criminal harassment for example only acknowledges the problem of bullying once there becomes a serious threat to the “safety” of the bullied individual, which again is generally interpreted as physical safety. For the phenomenon of cyber-bullying, this allows online tormentors to generally be protected from prosecution despite the severe psychological harm their comments can inflict.
For this reason, an intermediary Criminal Code offence of “bullying” (or some other offence to that effect) seems to be one possible step towards intervening in these cases providing it acknowledged not only physical, but psychological harm. However, it also needs to be remembered who the individuals are that these charges would be brought against. In Amanda Todd’s case, the primary tormentor is rumoured to be a 32 year old man, and if he is indeed found to be involved, there is no issue in laying charges to the full extent of the law that due process allows including charges for possession and distribution of child pornography not listed above. However, many of the perpetrators of bullying are frequently under-age and young teenagers of fourteen or fifteen. Because of this we have to ask whether the process of laying official criminal charges is in fact the best option.
While we at Pardon Services Canada fully believe in the due process of the justice system from initial charges to, of course, an eventual Pardon, it also has to be acknowledged that it is usually beneficial to divert sensitive youths from the conventional path of the court system whenever possible. The rationale for this, which is overwhelmingly supported by contemporary studies in criminal behaviour and deviancy, is that early indoctrination of youths into the conventional criminal justice system can often instead lead to a continued path of re-offending that can be prolonged well into adulthood, and lead to further victimization of innocent Canadians. This absolutely does not mean “letting off” those who are responsible, nor does it mean turning a blind eye to the serious social problem of bullying. This approach would simply acknowledge that perhaps the best method of handling bullying lies outside the purview of conventional criminal justice and instead in the furtherance of early intervention or diversion programs, many of which have been successfully implemented under the current Youth Criminal Justice Act.
There are certainly very legitimate arguments for either approach discussed here, and neither begins to cover the importance of additional programs designed to prevent bullying in the education system, or to protect young women against overwhelming sexual pressure that can lead to eventual exploitation. We are therefore very interested in hearing your opinion on this matter, so please feel free to leave a comment below.
News and Legislation
It’s time bullying was a Criminal Code offence
After Amanda Todd’s death, Christy Clark says new laws may be needed to combat bullying
Criminal Code
Youth Criminal Justice Act