“The long-term effect is almost a public-health issue,” said County Attorney Palumbo. He noted that one in six children who engage in bullying will have a criminal record before they turn 24. Bullying online is as damaging as face-to-face bullying, he said. As for sexting? “This is child pornography,” he said. “We could be charging half the school.”
That paragraph can be pulled apart in a number of different ways. Will one in six have a criminal record, regardless? What's the baseline? Next, raging hormones and digital camera capabilities, trumping judgment on all that sexting thing. Beyond that, and far more important - bullying is a corrosive thing, and kids should not do evil to other kids. It is that plain. That simple. One can and should appreciate the Golden Rule. Whether from a religion or secular humanist perspective, it first and foremost is a rule of basic decency and common sense.