“Over the course of three months, Prince was verbally abused — publicly and in Facebook posts. She was threatened with physical abuse and received hostile text messages. On the last day of her life, Jan. 14, 2010, some of her tormentors drove by in a car, called her an Irish slut, and suggested that she go kill herself. She did.” (Huus). Phoebe Prince was an ordinary High School teenager who wanted nothing more than to fit in and live a normal teenage life, but because of harassment and embarrassment her life was cut short. Instead of focusing on how to prevent this type of bullying, people are focusing on how to punish the bully and deal with the incident after it happens. The internet is a fairly new thing, and it is not going away anytime soon; therefore, students need to be educated on cyberbullying and somehow shown how it can impact their life or someone else’s. Also students should be monitored when using computers and other technology that allows them access to the internet, and students need to take responsibility while facing the consequences for their actions online.
Students should be educated about cyberbullying by people who impact their lives or play a large role in their society; for example, fireman, police officers, school officers, and parents. Many kids and even teenagers can be easily influenced by people who are seen as a role model or a “figure of authority”, so if those are the adults educating our kids about it then it could more easily be prevented and controlled. Kate Fogarty writes, “Have the local law enforcement agencies talk to kids about their rights, how to prevent cyberbullying, and how to control it. If children have more options of people to talk to about bullying, they will be more likel...
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Murphy, Wendy J. "Federal Law Requires Schools to Protect Children from Cyberbullying." Cyberbullying. Ed. Louise I. Gerdes. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2012. At Issue. Rpt. from "Suing School Would Shine Light on 'Suicide by Bullying,'." Patriot Ledger 13 Feb. 2010. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.
Parikh, Rahul. "The Dangers for Teens Online Are Exaggerated." Policing the Internet. Ed. Roman Espejo. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2012. At Issue. Rpt. from "Our Overblown Paranoia About the Internet and Teens." Salon. 2011. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 6 May 2014.
Simmons, Rachel. "Cyberbullying Is a Growing Problem." Policing the Internet. Ed. Peggy Daniels. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2007. At Issue. Rpt. from "Cliques, Clicks, Bullies and Blogs." Washington Post 28 Sept. 2003: B01. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 4 Apr. 2014.
The purpose of writing this article is to highlight the adverse effects of bullying on vulnerable individuals. Hopefully, the light shed here using Phoebe Prince story will put a halt on this vice in our school system. Playing it safe by being well mannered can only get you so far when it comes to avoiding being victimized by bullies.The key to avoid bullying as such is not to learn how to be as invisible as possible, but to learn how to stand up for oneself and have a support network that one can fall upon. The Phoebe Prince story features prominently to help students and parents understand the dynamics behind bullying and how to arrest it so that no individual gets emotionally damaged.
Cyber bullying is taking over the internet, schools, and students’ lives. The worse part is there is no way to defeat the war against social media and bullies. There are laws that have been passed to help reduce cyber bullies, but they are not effective considering cyber bullying is still a major issue in society. The idea of a bully being behind a computer anonymously harassing their peers is horrendous. The only way to save victims from cyber bullying is to delete their social media, which is impossible due to students being attached to their accounts. The idea of teachers becoming involved in the issue will be beneficial to the students. Teachers can educate students on the effects of cyber bullying, talk to victims, and save lives. If students know they have a trustworthy adult to talk to, they will feel less alone in their situations. Guiding and persuading students their situation will get better will help victims of cyberbullying overcome their
In her article “How the Internet Has Changed Bullying”, Maria Konnikova explained how bullying has reached technology, and in the workplaces of many adults. The Internet has made it harder to escape from bullying, and easier for bullies to escape from confronting their victims. Furthermore, the author stresses that cyberbullying not only targets high schoolers, but it’s affecting the lives of college students as well (Konnikova 1). Cyberbullying takes place in the Internet world where is easier for a bully to gossip and humiliate multiple of victims in a faster pace. The studies have shown that cyberbullying is making a greater impact in the victims’ and the bullies’ lives more than the traditional bullying and many people are not aware of it; therefore the schools, witnesses, and employers should work together to fight against cyberbullying and provide help to the victims and bullies.
Cyberbullying is a very controversial matter. People are starting to say that cyberbullies should be prosecuted for their actions. First of all, there are more important crimes to focus on like murder and theft than just prosecuting a kid who said something “offensive” to another kid. Also, the First Amendment protects cyberbullies to have freedom of speech and say stuff to other kids. To add on, just because someone “excludes” another kid form not joining a group, does not mean that they should be criminally prosecuted. If people are being cyberbullied, they should not use social media much.
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.
Schools should educate student that there are different ways to decrease cyberbullying. It normally happens off school premises and it eventually leads to the classroom. School administrators should suspend students if the cyberbullying becomes detraction to the classroom. The school policy should be reviewed if the bullying starts taking place at school and consequences must be in forced. Administrators can frighten the students by telling them that could even get law enforcement involved if this activity gets out of hand. An assistant principal at Central Valley stated, “I have the duty to protect students and I have the duty to make students comfortable while on campus and to make the campus inviting” (Modesto Bee par.11). “Without the threat of suspension or some sort of punishment at school, there is nothing to stop students from bullying others online,” said Nikko Womack, a sophomore at Central Valley High School (Modesto Bee par. 5) .Pupils need to be aware that everyone should be treated a mutual respect for each other and that cyberbullying should not be tolerated. Students mu...
The playground bully is a classic figure in the life of children. Shoving, pushing, pinching, name-calling, and dirt-throwing are some of its favorite pastimes. In the modern world, however, bullying is moving to another arena, one much more sophisticated and secretive than the jungle gym. Bullying that takes place online, or cyberbullying, is a growing area of concern among the younger generations. Recent events have thrown cyberbullying, rather unceremoniously, into the spotlight. After being relentlessly tormented online for ten months, Rebecca Sedwick, a twelve-year-old girl from Florida, committed suicide by jumping from the roof of a defunct concrete plant on September 10, 2013. Two teenage girls, Katelyn Roman and Guadalupe Shaw, both older than Rebecca, were charged with felony aggravated stalking upon further investigation into Rebecca’s death. These charges were dropped the week of November 18, 2013, with prosecutors unable to compensate for “a lack of evidence” (Kemp). The controversy over saddling minors with a felony charge caused quite a stir in the media. The correct response to cyberbullying is a growing area of contention. 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.
Cyberbullying is seen by a portion of our United States Congress as the internet equivalent of actual physical assault against another person. In the Megan Meier Cyberbullying prevention act, they found that “ electronic communications provide anonymity to the perpetrator and the potential for widespread public distribution, potentially making them severely dangerous and cruel to youth”. This makes logical sense, as it points out the harms cyberbullying could do, as well as making the point it should be stopped. However, the equal and nearly opposite point could be made that cyberbullying is not an extension of bullying, rather a misconception of a deeper underlying problem: that bullying in itself is the actual problem, and it needs to be stopped, and cyberbullying can be solved by just turning off the device you are using.
McQuade, III, Samuel, James Colt, and Nancy Meyer. Cyber Bullying: Protecting Kids and Adults from Online Bullies. First Edition. Road West, Westport: Praeger Publishers, 2009. 47-49. Print.
As we are living in the age of technology, we are seeing our youth being victimized by a new phenomenon of bullying, called cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is defined as the use of information and communication technologies such as email, cell phones and pager text messages, instant messaging, defamatory personal Web sites, and defamatory online personal polling Web sites, to support deliberate repeated and hostile behavior by an individual or group, which is intended to harm others. Cyberbullying can also employ media such as PDAs, blogs, and social networks (Beckstrom, 2008). This form of bullying is progressive because it can happen instantly due to the technology involved, whereas traditional bullying tends to take longer to evolve and happens
...y must understand that sometimes someone with more power than them should help address the problem. By educating children on standing up to cyber bullying, they can help to prevent cyber bullying all on their own.
...rbullying has been proven to be even more detrimental to adolescents especially considering the rate of suicides. Technological advances have also played a significant role in the development of cyberbullying techniques in order to make the victim feel alone and helpless. In most cases of cyberbullying, 25% of students reported that they would not tell anyone and 47% would tell friends but not school faculty or parents in fear of consequences, such as retaliation from the bully or limited internet use at home, or belief that there was nothing that the authority figure could do to help them (Granello 18). Cyberbullying is an issue of rising concern that needs to be dealt with as soon as the warning signs become present. Laws enacted to protect those victim to cyberbullying will not only provide them with a sense of security, but help minimize the issue altogether.
“Cyberbullying only takes a push of a button to harm another individual. It is a risk someone is more likely to take when there is no one around to see where it originated from; an easy, sneaky way to cause harm. This bully is faceless, and their victim's unnoticed pressure is unbearable. Old school bullying is easier to catch and prevent. One can step in during the attack, acknowledging the bully and the harm of his/her victim. Cyberbullying spreads rapidly and goes unnoticed often until the victim is
Technology means that bullying is no longer limited to schoolyards or street corners. As technology use begins to increase, so does cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is bullying that takes place using electronic technology. Electronic technology may include devices and equipment such as cell phones, computers, and tablets as well as communication tools including social media sites, text messages, chat, and websites. Chris Rowan states the obvious, commenting “a mere 20 years ago, children used to play outside all day, riding bikes, playing sports and building forts” (The Impact of Technology 1). Because so many kids are caught up in the latest technology and no longer care about playing outside, it is much easier to access the internet and therefore talk, and even harass, other kids. Unlike traditional bullying, cyberbullying doesn't require physical strength or face-to-face contact. Many kids say things online to others they would never say in person— this is why cyberbullying is so popular; kids want to feel big and bad, in control, and superior to their peers. The only way to feel like this is to be feared by others.
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,