More and more schools are adopting a zero-tolerance policy towards bullying, meaning that a student caught bullying others is automatically expelled. Do the advantages of such a policy outweigh the disadvantages? Why?

Everyone knows that children can be cruel. Yet, when it comes to dealing with incidents of violence and emotional or mental abuse, school authorities should carefully consider the consequences of their decisions. As this essay will demonstrate, potentially more harm than good may result from the removal of bullies from academic situations. The obvious argument to expel a bully is that he will be away from his victim and unable to repeat his offences. While this seems undoubtedly positive, there are no assurances the bully will indeed stay away from his victim after school hours, or that his expulsion will not drive him to increase his attacks as a means of revenge. In fact, studies have shown that students who had been expelled tend to become more violent as they age, not less so. Thus, while the institution and the bullied child may find relief, society in general loses. A better approach, and the duty of the education system, is to try to help the bully. For example, guidance counsellors at the school need to get involved and determine the root causes of the bully’s motivations. These may include a troubled home life, difficulties with his academic or social life, or other reasons. Thus, by keeping the child enrolled and helping him, rather than casting him out and shifting the problem to others, educators can help the individual and the greater community at once by ensuring his troubled mind does not degenerate into something even worse and more dangerous. To conclude, removing a bully may be the most convenient action, but it is certainly not the best. Bullies are not born bad; as such, the source of their troubles can be discovered and help given as long as someone cares enough to do this.