In today’s age, the Internet is a vast collection of many different websites that can lead to access to journals, newspapers, music, and hundreds of thousands of other categories. With the Internet being as large as it is, there’s no surprise that there are social websites so that people may interact socially over the web. These sites, such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc., are ways that friends can reach each other and family can keep in touch. With all of this in mind, many people don’t know that there are darker things afoot. Impertinent instant messages, rude status updates, and uncivil tweets affect up to 20% of teens in America, today (Cyberbully Research Center.) With this said and done, there is really one question that should be asked. Should cyber-bullying be illegal? In the state of Texas, the harassment laws in the Texas Penal Code also cover cyberbullying. This is also the case for the majority of …show more content…
One large effect of cyberbullying is depression. It effects 17 million people nationwide, and as many as one in eight teens suffer from depression (Understanding Depression 1.) This article also states that the symptoms of major depression are “persistent sad mood, feelings of worthlessness or guilt, and the inability to feel pleasure or happiness.” There are many different types of depression that teens experience everyday. Teens suffer can suffer from major depression, dysthymia, and bipolar disorder (Understanding Depression 1.) Being a person willing to help friends with any problems in life, people needing someone to talk to are often around. From indirect experience, teens often seem to have a very low self-esteem and often seem lost and don’t know where to go from their current situation. Those who extremely suffer from depression can often become suicidal. Suicide is the second leading cause of death in youths aged 10-24 (The Parent Resource
Even laws differ by every state cyberbullying can turn into illegal actions. At that point if it should get to that point law enforcement may need to take action. Some of the states that participated in the movement to stop cyberbullying are. Alabama being one of them they created a misdemeanor for any offense electronics or harassing communications. In Delaware schools are given authority to take action alongside any technological bullying if occurring off or on campus, only if there is any connection with the campus. Another good thing they do is each school district has to have an anti-bullying policy will Intel the correct procedures to report any demeanor of bullying and will have consequences for
The first reason why cyberbullies should be prosecuted is because victims of cyberbullying can be physically injured. In "Dangers of Cyberbullying", line 38 and 39, it states, "Cyberbullying can also lead to kids getting physically injured." Cyberbullying may not seem like somebody can get physically injured, it may just seem like mentally they will be hurt. Any kind of bullying can convince
Bullying has occurred for many years and via the internet is a new form of bullying, giving higher chances for bullying to occur more often due to technology.
Nowadays, cyber bullying is growing to a big problem due to the development of the internet. Some teens even commit suicide from cyber bullying.
There are times when kids and teens commit suicide over cyberbullying, but a lot of times… actually, most of the time, they can handle it alone, they just don’t know how. A number of tips to avoid cyberbullying are to not respond, not retaliate, and to talk to an adult/peer about the situation. Seriously, the situation will only worsen if you return the bullying back to the person who initiated it; don’t do it. When thought about, there are other ways to deal with cyberbullying. It doesn’t have to lead to self h...
Since Teen Suicide is the second leading cause of teenage death in the United States, there is a need for legislation that promotes awareness and education about Cyber-Bullying.
Bullying includes two people, a harasser and a victim. The bully abuses the victim through words, actions, or other ways in order to gain supremacy and dominance. This may be done directly by hitting, physically or verbally assaulting face-to-face or behind a screen: gossip, rumors, etc. According to Sameer Hinduja and Justin Patchin’s Preventing and Responding to Cyber bullying: Expert Perspectives, cyber bullying is defined as “willful and repeated harm inflicted through the use of computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices,” and that it has become a growing issue. Cyber bullying is a universal social concern today. It is the use of technology most likely social networks such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to harass, threaten, or humiliate another being. According to Justin Patchin’s Preventing and Responding to Cyber bullying: Expert Perspectives, “Estimates of the number of youth who experience cyber bullying range from 5 to 73 percent, depending on the age of the group and the definition of cyber bullying.” It is hard to believe that cyber bullying happens every second. Although bullying is a well-known problem, it can also be ignored or go unnoticed. Cyber bullying has been one of the fastest growing problems and it’s a shame that some people who witness it do not take action upon it. Though cyber bullying does not cause physical damage, research shows that the harmfulness can be much worse. It causes psychological, emotional, behavioral, and may eventually lead to physical damage. Targets of cyber bullying are more prone to committing suicide compared to those who have not been victimized by it. For many years, “technology has changed the landscape of children’s lives” (Williams and Guerra, 15). Thus a few r...
In the article, “Sacrificing the First Amendment to Catch Cyberbullies,” Kirk Sigmon, an opposer of the bill, says “The last time I checked, hurting someone’s feelings- even in real life- never justified criminal prosecution.” However, bullying is not simply “hurting someone’s feelings.” Bullying- in the cyber world or in real life- is a repeated action meant to cause harm to another. Bullying in the real world is criminally prosecuted; “hurting someone’s feelings” is not, as the statement is generally referring to a single occurrence. Therefore, cyberbullying should play to the same rules as regular bullying and be allowed to be counted as a criminal
This sort of phenomenon makes major headlines regularly in recent times and effects a clear majority of today’s youth. State and local lawmakers have taken steps to prevent this type of bullying by making illegal under several criminal law codes. Michele Hamm, a researcher in pediatrics explained, “There were consistent associations between exposure to cyberbullying and increased likelihood of depression.” Cyberbullying became widespread among students with the rapid growth in use of cellular devices and the Internet. With this kind of technology bullies have the ability to send harmful messages to their recipients at any given time. This type of bullying is the hardest to control because it involves students but often happens off school grounds. However, because the evidence is material, students and parents could bring this evidence to the school and local police departments if a situation were to happen. Parents should be mindful of their child’s use of the internet and electronic messaging, cyberbullying usually takes place in a medium in which adults are seldom present (Mason, 2008). Also, instead of sending direct messages to other students, bullies use platforms such as social media and anonymous blogs to post harmful things for others to see. Educators must understand the significance of social media use to their students, especially
Yes, it is easy to tell when someone is getting bullied in some sort of form but lawmakers at the state and federal levels are going around in circles about it. There have been many reported cases that involve bullying and that is when lawmakers finally realized how harmful these situations actually are. The federal government defined the requirements for off-campus behavior, such as cyber-bullying, to be regulated by the school. For a school to take action, there must be a clear disruption to the educational process or a representation of true threat. (Donegan R.). States governments also went around in circles over bullying laws and it took them a good amount of cases to finally decide something needed to be changed. There was a case in Missouri in 2006, that involved cyber-bullying. A fake social media account was created to harass someone that ended up taking their own life. The case United States vs. Lori Drew had a lot of debate. The court ruled that they could not hold Drew responsible for the harassment leading to the suicide because of the lack of legal realization. They applied the Computer Fraud and Abuse act. This act is not for bullying but it is to prosecute electronic stealing but in this circumstance it was used to apply the social media’s terms of service. The terms require users to abide by a host of regulations, which “required truthful and accurate registration, refraining from using information from the social
In some cases, criminalization is preferred, while other bullies are slapped on the wrist and grounded for a month. What can be agreed upon is the need for a definitive policy. Cyberbullying, as a burgeoning field of abuse directed specifically at teens, requires direct, speedy, and, perhaps even harsh, measures to curtail the stream of mistreatment flowing freely online. In order to develop such measures, cyberbullying must be recognizable. The government website dedicated to the prevention of bullying in general offers this definition: cyberbullying is “bullying that takes place using electronic technology” (“What is Cyberbullying.”)....
Cyberbullying is a new form of bullying that follows students from the hallways of their schools to the privacy of their homes. Many victims of cyberbullying are bullied 4 from the moment they wake up and check their cell phone or e-mail, to the time they go to bed and shut off their computer or cell phone. Cyberbullying is bullying or harassment that happens online and more difficult to stop because you need to have all the evidence saved to prove it happened. Cyberbullying is nothing to mess around with if a kid is being cyberbullied you need to get that taking care of before it gets any worse.
Cyberbullying should be a criminal offense because whether it’s bullying or cyberbullying, it still damages a person emotionally and physically. Admittedly, many will argue that it is crossing the line to force perpetrators behind bars when it is not even bullying, but some foul words thrown in social sites. However, there is no difference between cyberbullying and offline bullying when it is still an issue that constantly eats away at its victims, abusing them with hurtful words and messages. “The United States Department of Health and Human Services calculated the percentages of bullied victims, where 37% of teens have been physically bullied, while 52% of teens have been cyberbullied” (Cyber/Bullying Statistics). Studies shown indicate that there have been more cases of cyberbullying than offline bullying, whereas people believe that “cyberbullying is not real bullying” and “it is to speak out in what...
The initial reason why anyone who cyberbullies should be criminally accused is due to their harmful behavior that can result in people getting seriously hurt both mentally and physically. If the bully is convicted, cyberbullying can be stopped! As directly stated in the Radio Interview of source one “Cyberbullying can also lead to kids getting physically injured.” This statement further emphasizes why the outcome of this act should be punishable by law. Due to the fact that individuals face violent behavior, it could mean suicide for the victim. In no shape or form should this be tolerated since lives are taken due to the
With technology progressing, students are moving past face to face hectoring, and are verbally bullying other through social media. Cyberbullying can sometimes become more harmful than verbal, physical, and emotional bullying due to victims, not feeling like they have an escape route because they are threatened repeatedly through text messages, e-mails, social media, etc. The worst part about cyberbullying is that the things posted can be anonymous; therefore, there is no blame for who posts what. A victim can suspect that someone is to blame for the actions done, but there is no proof to solve a possible ongoing issue. Cyberbullying and bullying are actually considered a crime when someone: physically assaults another person, gender or racism is talked about, violent or deadly threats are made, sexually texting, inappropriate photos, stalking,