Should Death Caused by a Bully Be a Felony?

Just last week, the increasingly alarming trend of children who take their own lives as the result of being tormented by a bully continued in the form of 14-year-old Jamey Rodemeyer, who committed suicide after bullies teased him incessantly about his sexuality. With this latest case, New York lawmakers are thinking that it is time to stiffen the penalties for partaking in cyber bullying.

According to a CBS report, New York lawmakers were set to introduce a bill yesterday stiffening penalties for "bullycide", the term being used to describe bullying that leads to death. The report says that the charge of second degree manslaughter, a felony, would be expanded to include "bullycide." 

The week before he took his own life, Rodemeyer took to his blog. He wrote, "I always say how bullied I am. What do I have to do so people will listen to me?"

Officials are citing Rodemeyer's death as well as the death of Rutgers freshman Tyler Clementi the year before as the reasoning for the surge in lawmaking action.

And all of this bullying talk comes in the wake of a Long Island woman who took her daughter being bullied into her own hands, inciting a fight between the two.

So what do you think? Do you think bullying and "bullycide" specifically should be a felony? Let us know your thoughts in a comment!