Persuasive Essay Example

The tragic death of Phoebe Prince shows the terrible impact of bullying. Bullies
should be treated as criminals, because they are criminals! Bullying such as harassment,
threats, physical and verbal abuse, ruins kids lives. Because of the drastic impact of
bullying, bullies should be arrested and punished as the criminals that they are.
Bullying ruins kids lives. It can even cause kids to commit suicide. USA Today
states, “Forty-seven percent of students say they have been bullied in the past year.”
This is a large percentage of students that are suffering from bullies. Bullies should be
punished as severely as possible. Nothing good comes from bullying. The victim can
suffer emotional abuse or physical abuse, but any abuse is terrible and uncalled for.
The effects of being bullied will stay with the victim for a lifetime. Being bullied is
something that is never forgotten.
There are laws against harassment, making threats, stalking, verbal abuse, and
physical abuse. This is what bullies do, which means bullies are breaking the law. When
someone breaks the law, they must go through the regular judicial process. However
when someone is being a bully they are usually punished by just having an adult yell
at them, give them a detention, or maybe they do not receive a punishment at all.
According to the Criminal Code of Canada if an adult is charged with harassment, they
can serve up to ten years in prison. Harassment is defined as, “making a person fear for
their safety by repeatedly following them or repeatedly communicating with them, or
directing threatening conduct toward them.” This is exactly what bullies do, but do not
get any jail time. Bullies need to be treated like criminals because their acts are criminal
acts.
Knowing that they could be arrested will discourage kids from bullying others.

Most kids do not like getting in trouble. They do not want to get a punishment from their
teachers or their parents, let alone from a judge in court. If kids had to face the same
consequences as adults, they would be shocked. According to the Criminal Code of
Canada, “Harassment leads to up to ten years in prison. Destruction of property is two
to ten years in prison and uttering threats is 18 months to five years in prison.” If a bully
assaulted another person they could get up to five years in prison if they had the same
consequences as adults. If kids knew that bullying was a crime, they would stop being
bullies. Kids do not want to have a criminal record, have to do community service, or
serve jail time. Arresting kids for bullying would send a strong message.
In conclusion, bullying is definitely a crime which means bullies should be treated
like criminals. Bullies should be arrested, charged with their crime, and punished by the
law. The effects of bullying are devastating. Bullies need to be punished to the fullest
extent if we ever want to get rid of the growing bullying problems.