Enough is enough . We as a society need to stop dicking around this issue . It ' s time to introduce some real consequences . When incidents like this happen , we often hear kids will be kids or kids can be so cruel but honestly , most bullies do it because they can get away with it . They do it because they find it funny , to impress their friends etc . They do it because they can . Because of the standard of behaviour we set and the knowledge that bullying will result in a slap on the wrist at best . Yet some of these kids are driving other kids to suicide and , even where the worst doesn ' t occur , the consequences of bullying can be lifelong and crippling . The key demographic of this forum is young men and for young men , suicide accounts for almost 30 % of all deaths . The number is slightly lower for young women , but is still unacceptably high . We need to look at tougher laws to require schools to act where they are aware of bullying , and we need to have meaningful consequences in place . Mediation should be easily accessible , and victim support should offered as a matter of course . At the absolute minimum , there should be an automatic suspension for bullying in serious cases and students should be moved to a new class away from their victims . Right now , we often have victims leaving schools to escape bullies but fuck that . Children who bully others should wear the consequences of their own choices . There should be an expulsion if the behaviour continues , and more serious bullying must be legally classed as harrassment , assault or stalking this has been done in Victoria . Criminalising bullying certainly ongoing bullying might fuck up a few young lives amongst its perpetrators but you know what ? We can educate students and warn them not to engage in that conduct and if they know they ' re not going to get off absolutely scott free , we will likely see fewer children willing to bully others . We already hold children to a criminal standard once they are between the ages of 1014 depending on ability to understand the consequences of crimes in every other aspect of life so why the fuck do we not do it with serious bullying ? For doing things that would send an adult to prison ? Older children can and do understand their actions . Some of them engage in serious assaults , cyber stalking , harrassment , victimisation we cannot allow kids to grow up in a society where people even children or teenagers can get away with subjecting another person to that treatment and have it all but ignored . Right now , many victims don ' t complain because they know nothing will be done or they do complain and bullying continues , because little or nothing is done . Bullying had already hospitalised this child following an assault outside of school . The kids who did that to him should have been charged , even potentially imprisoned . They should have been expelled at a minimum . Because fuck those kids . That is not kids will be kids . That is a serious crime . We need to stop minimising bullying and we need to protect and prioritise the lives of its victims . Criminalisation is already making a difference in Victoria and no , it ' s not an allencompassing solution , and it won ' t end all bullying by any means , but it ' s a start . This issue has gone on long enough .