Stringent laws designed to punish or criminalize bullying are usually accompanied by statements from public officials that the new policies will help make schools safer for children by matching the serious, often overlooked issue of bullying with an equally serious response. But such "legislative knee-jerk" reactions may actually have the opposite effect, making victims less likely to report incidents of bullying and creating unnecessary harm for bullies in the process, a group of school climate and youth advocacy groups have said.

That's because racheting up the consequences of hurtful or abusive speech to an immediate school suspension or a criminal citation removes valuable, intermediate steps from the process. Knowing the immediate severity of the punishment for bullies, victims might hesitate to report them, and school officials might be more likely to look the other way, the groups, including the National School Climate Center, said in a brief filed in a New York court case related to a local statute that criminalizes cyberbullying.

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