LEGAL RESPONSES TO CYBERBULLYING BY CHILDREN: OLD LAW OR NEW?

Abstract

This article comments on Peta Spyrou’s article in this volume entitled ‘Civil Liability for Negligence: An Analysis of Cyberbullying Policies in South Australian Schools’. It considers whether the two established legal regimes of tort law and the criminal law can offer a satisfactory response to the problem of cyberbullying by school children and then moves on to outline some innovative legislation introduced recently by the governments of Australia and New Zealand. It suggests that the law of torts is not currently equipped to deal directly with many of the problems caused by cyberbullying and argues that using the weight of the criminal law is not always an appropriate response to wrongs committed by school children. It concludes that the recent legislative initiatives offer a more efficient, effective and restorative response.