Cyberbullying: A Silent Threat to Mental Health

1054 Words3 Pages

Being cyberbullied is a reality that mostly teens and young adults of today have to face but it can happen to anyone at any age, with many suffering from it but not speaking up about it. If not dealt with properly it can lead to numerous mental health problems and in extreme cases even suicide of the victim or others being injured. Thus becoming a serious problem that needs more attention by adults, media, and schools alike. With the advancement in technology and social media becoming a bigger part of these teens lives everyone needs to be educated on a subject like this from young to old. In a quote by Chris McComas, father of Grace McComas, a teen who had committed suicide, posted “No longer does a bully say something nasty in the schoolyard …show more content…

What is worse the negative effects of cyberbullying may go unnoticed by loved ones or peers as the person who is being targeted does not want to tell anyone of their problems. As the teen is afraid of the repercussion of them taking action and reaching out to someone, but instead the issues just get steadily get worse. When teens get cyber bullied it mainly for the reason that they are somehow different from everyone else or something specific has happened to them that theses bullies can use against them. It could be that the teen has learning problems, a bit awkward, frail, gay, loner, or overall an easy target to pick on. But then for other things such as rape, nude photos, having to do something with a boyfriend or a girlfriend, being a “slut”, or knowing any embarrassing truth that can used as blackmail or a touchy subject for this …show more content…

She was a 15 year old freshman attending Howard County Glenelg High School who had been cyber bullied by her bully for months before she had killed herself. McComas’s bully had supposedly lived next door to her and this boy family had been friends of theirs for years. She had been raped by her bully and he then started the harassment by tweeting things such as "I hatehatehatehatehatehatehate you. Next time my name rolls off your tongue, choke on it.. and DIE," who was unidentified and never confirmed who the person was. She had been neglected by the authorities and the school for they had done nothing to help the family and to put simply the McComas had been betrayed by their community. She had been told various times to make bullying reports but she had never done so because she was afraid of the retaliation. After Grace’s death her fellow students started to band together and started a anti-bullying campaign on twitter known as the #blue4grace which had brought a strong community together to support Grace’s family and anyone in need. The students at Howard High School had also done some work at the schools to create a community based on respect to speak up about bullying and shutting it down. Then the state of Maryland had passed Grace’s Law which took effect on all 24 of its districts, stating that using an media device to bully. impose death

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