Loveland judge takes “zero tolerance” approach with kids

With a powerful computer in almost every school student’s back pocket, parents frequently don’t know what their kids are doing on their phones. And when a lack of oversight meets malicious behavior, things can get out of hand, sometimes tragically — something Loveland’s Municipal Judge Geri Joneson wants to prevent via a “zerotolerance” approach.

“I’m taking a pretty nononsense, hardline approach to the bullying in our schools and among our teenagers,” Joneson told the Loveland City Council on Aug. 14 during a quarterly report.

Joneson told the council to expect that because of an increasing trend of cyberbullying cases over the last two years, in the future there will likely be more cases in which juveniles are charged under the Municipal Code’s antiharassment rules.

While some peer conflicts can be handled by parents or teachers, what’s increasing are cases of protracted, vicious online harassment that can last for months out of the view of parents or teachers, Joneson said in a Monday interview. Some cases start off as online harassment and culminate as an inperson fight, sometimes with many young people in attendance, she said.

In the presocial media, presmartphone days, victims could escape school harassment by physically distancing themselves from their bullies, but with a phone constantly delivering victims a barrage of abuse at all hours, bullying today can be a lot more intense, Joneson said.

“It can go on for months, this social media cyberbullying, and that’s the hard part,” Joneson said. “That’s difficult. It has to stop. Kids need to know if they’re going to initiate that kind of behavior … that there’s going to be a consequence if it gets to law enforcement.”

And how does law enforcement get involved? It becomes the duty of the counselor, teacher, principal, coach or parent to whom the victim reports the abuse to either get the school’s resource officer involved, or go straight to the police, she said.

There is no requirement that an adult report the harassment or bullying to the police, such as with mandatory reporting of child abuse, and more often than not the reporting party ends up being the parent of the person being bullied, Joneson said. But, adults should report, she said.

“Kids are committing suicide over this,” Joneson said. “You really can’t (mess around) because you just don’t know what text message or instant message is going to be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.”

Colorado’s overall suicide rate is ninth highest in the nation, and there were 179 suicides by individuals aged 1024 in 2016, the most recent data available, according to the Colorado Health Institute. In that age group, suicide is the leading cause of death, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

Suicides can be prevented, and many people who think about or attempt suicide go on to thrive, the CHI states.

What typically happens when a bully is reported to the police is a school resource officer writes the bully a ticket for harassment or disorderly conduct, so they are ordered to come into court, Joneson said.

Firsttime juvenile offenders are sometimes tried in the Teen Court, during which other teens serve as prosecutors, defense attorneys, judge, bailiff and jury members. Teen court sentences are set by the teen jury, and can include public service hours, classes and letters of apology. School resource officers may act as a witness against the defendant in these cases.

Joneson said she typically suspends the usual $500 fine on the condition that the minor complete all conditions of the sentence, including community service, payment of court costs, participation in the Teen Court process, a term of probation and a class on empathy.