The parent trap: Extending New York State's parental liability law to hold parents liable for minor child's bullying

• Published date: 01 October 2022
• Author: Nicolette Gardini
• Date: 01 October 2022
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fcre.12681

STUDENT NOTES

The parent trap: Extending New York State's

parental liability law to hold parents liable for

minor child's bullying

Nicolette Gardini

Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra

University, Hempstead, New York, USA

Correspondence

Nicolette Gardini, Maurice A. Deane School of

Law at Hofstra University, 121 Hofstra

University, Hempstead, NY 11549, USA.

Email: npgardini@gmail.com

Abstract

Bullying is a phenomenon that results in psychological and

physical effects, or even suicides and school shootings.

Many states have enacted anti-bullying laws to prevent bul-

lying, but we still see the same tragedies that come from

it. A town in New York jails parents for their child's bullying

and has seen improvement. However, the goal of this

amendment is to deter, not to punish. To protect the wel-

fare and safety of our state's children, this Note proposes

that New York amend its parental liability law by adopting

the parental liability laws of Oregon, Tennessee, and the

notification law of Utah.

KEYWORDS

anti-bullying laws, bullying, cyberbullying, emotional distress,

extreme and outrageous conduct, intentional infliction of

emotional distress, intentional torts, New York parental liability

law, Oregon parental liability law, parental liability, socially

intolerable conduct, suicide, Tennessee parental liability law, Utah

bullying law

Key points for the family court community

•Victims of bullying are 2 to 9 times more likely to con-

sider suicide than those who are not bullied.

•40.5% of girls and 27.6% of boys have exhibited symp-

toms of PTSD at the time of their bullying trauma.

•Every day, 160,000 students will not attend school due

to fear of being bullied.

DOI: 10.1111/fcre.12681

© 2022 Association of Family and Conciliation Courts.

Family Court Rev. 2022;60:885–900. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/fcre 885

•Approximately 71% of school shooters were victims of

bullying and 87% of them have left evidence at the scene

suggesting they were bullied.

•There is no current law in New York State that addresses

these issues.

INTRODUCTION

“Go kill yourself”and “why are you still alive?”are the messages Re becca Sedwick rece ived from a group of fif-

teen girls who bullied her to the point where she committed suicide by jumping to her death onto a concrete

slab.

1

The main perpetrator of the bullying pack proceeded to taunt Rebecca, even after her death, by posting

messages online saying, “Yesik[Iknow]IbulliedREBECCAnd[and]she killed herself but IDGAF [I don't give

a f***].”

2

A national survey conducted by the Cyberbullying Research Center, throughout the United States in 2016 and

2019, showed that there was an increase in the prevalence of bullying, particularly cyberbullying.

3

In the 2016 sur-

vey, 33.6% of twelve to seventeen-year-olds said they were cyberbullied at some point in their lifetime.

4

In compari-

son, in the 2019 survey, 36.5% of twelve to seventeen-year-olds said they were cyberbullied at some point in their

lifetime.

5

In 2016, 72.8% of the same age group said they were bullied in the traditional sense where in 2019, 73.1%

of the age group said they were traditionally bullied.

6

Another student survey conducted in 2017 found that 82% of students in sixth through twelfth grade had

been bullied or harassed by other students.

7

This number was an incr ease from a reported pe rcentage of 65% of

students in 2012.

8

In 2018, a separate survey that was given to more than 160,000 secondary school students in

twenty-seven states, found that middle school students (40%) were more likely to be bullied than high school stu-

dents (27%).

9

Currently, there is no federal law that addresses this very prevalent and serious issue of bullying.

10

How-

ever, each state jurisdiction addresses bullying by either creating laws, regulations, or policies.

11

Some states

require schools to implement a bullying policy, while others require bullying prevention programs.

12

Specifi-

cally, New York's anti-bullying law requires schools to take “reasonably calculated”measures to end bullying.

13

1

Jim Goad, 15 Teen Bullying Cases with Tragic Ends,THOUGHT CATALOG (Apr. 22, 2015), https: //thoughtcatalog.com/jim-goad/2015/04/15-teen-bullying-

cases.

2

Id.

3

Justin W. Patchin, School Bullying Rates Increase by 35% From 2016 to 2019,CYBERBULLYING RSCH.CTR. (May 29, 2019), https://cyberbullying.org/school-

bullying-rates-increase-by-35-from-2016-to-2019.

4

Id.

5

Id.

6

Id.

7

Summer Delaney,School Bullying at An All-time High in NYC: Report, PIX 11 N.Y.’SVERY OWN (June 18, 2018, 5:23 PM), https://pix11.com/news/local-news/

school-bullying-at-an-all-time-high-in-nyc-report.

8

Id.

9

JenniferMcClellan, One Third of Middle-and High- Schoolers Were BulliedLast Year,Study Shows,USATODAY(Sept. 24, 2018, 3:01 AM),https://www.usatoday.

com/story/life/allthemoms/2018/09/24/one-out-three-students-were-bullied-us-school-last-year/1374631002;seealso NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCILET AL.,

BUILDING CAPACITY TO REDUCE BULLYING:WORKSHOPSUMMARY 14 (The Nat'l AcademiesPress ed., 2014) (discussinghow elementary andmiddle school students are

more likelyto be bullied than highschool students).

10

Laws,Policies & Regulations,stopbullying.gov,https://www.stopbullying.gov/resources/laws (last visited Oct. 14, 2021).

11

Id.

12

Id.

13

New York Anti-Bullying Laws and Policies,Stopbullying.gov,https://www.stopbullying.gov/resources/laws/new-york (last visited Oct. 14, 2021).

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