Civilly, they may be liable, but I don't think I've ever heard of a parent being criminally charged for something their minor child did, unless the parent directly contributed. There was one case of cyberbullying I seem to recall where the parent (or parents) of the bullies were, in fact, involved in bullying the victim as well.
Civilly, they may be liable, but I don't think I've ever heard of a parent being criminally charged for something their minor child did, unless the parent directly contributed. There was one case of cyberbullying I seem to recall where the parent (or parents) of the bullies were, in fact, involved in bullying the victim as well.
I don't feel comfortable charging people criminally (adults or children) with so-called "cyberbullying" if for no other reason than the slippery slope, (and you know that government and law enforcement LOVES to expand these laws as much as they can.) While some might look at this case and say these girls need to be punished because they're cyberbulling contributed to a suicide, where do you draw the line? If I'm in a heated discussion with somebody on FreeRepublic about one Obama policy or another, and in the heat of the moment I call them an idiot. Then latter that day they're found to have committed suicide and left a note saying the reason was they could no longer deal with being called names on FreeRepublic. Wouldn't I be just as guilty as these girls under "cyberbullying" laws? It would eventually get so that anybody would be afraid to say anything even remotely controversial that might upset someone suicidal...