However, few offenders receive proper punishment in China. In most of the cases that do not involve severe physical harm, the only "punishment" offenders receive is criticism from schools. As for parents, most of them consider bullying incidents as "small fights" between their children, and it is precisely because of such an attitude that bullying cases have not declined in China.

Moral education is important, but a special law to deal with bullying cases would be more effective. For example, led by the US Department of Education, a Bullying Prevention Steering Committee consisting of many other federal departments is in place to guide efforts to end bullying in US schools. In fact, 46 of the 50 US states now have their own anti-bullying laws.

Perhaps China could learn from the US in this regard, and the National People's Congress, the country's top legislature, along with the Ministry of Education, could enact a specific anti-bullying law.

An important lesson to learn from the California bullying case is "joint liability". Zhang Xinlei, who claimed to be a bystander during the entire incident, has also received severe punishment. Bullying is often a group action, and without accomplices like Zhang, incidents like the one in California might not take place. So despite not being the prime culprit, Zhang bears joint liability and should receive befitting punishment.

Another point to be noted is that though most of the bullying cases involve minors, who are usually immune to criminal responsibility, judges in the US have the right to treat them as adults if the crimes are severe or if they have criminal records.

Physical wounds can heal with time, but mental trauma can continue causing pain for the rest of a bullying victim's life. This is something lawmakers ought to keep in mind while drafting legislation on bullying.

The author is an editor at China Daily. [email protected]