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Controversy around cyberbullying
Essays on why cyberbullying should become part of united states criminal code
Ethical issues related to cyberbullying
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Each year, schools are having to update the Codes of Conduct in order to keep up with the bullying that is occurring on social media. Schools have failed to effectively monitor and take action upon what these students have been doing to others and what others do in return. This has resulted in many lost lawsuits, in which schools were held liable for not taking appropriate action on what occurs outside of campus. School districts therefore must take more responsibility over what happens to the students, on and off campus. Districts argue that such instances are outside of the school’s control, however these victims are still their students. In the case of Ryan Halligan, a teenage boy who committed suicide at the young age of 13, Albert D. Lawton
How severely the punishments should be for each student is always controversial. When witnesses get involved, a digital pile on occurs. In this situation, the person who posts something is soliciting the involvement of other users who may not even know the target. The other users that get involved will also be at fault for agreeing and encouraging the bully to continue to distress the victim. One of the bullies in the Halligan case, a young boy whose name was not mentioned, had supposedly developed a friendship with Ryan. His new friend then used the conversations between the two to spread rumors around school that Ryan was gay. It would be his fellow classmates that later posted mean and humiliating comments on his social media profiles and pages. That next summer, a popular girl named Ashley, claimed to have a crush on Ryan, who was unaware that the messages the two had been exchanging online were being shared to other classmates. The other students, again used those exposed messages to embarrass Ryan. Ashley had turned against him, telling him that he was a “loser” and no longer wanted to talk to him. Her negative comments provoked Ryan to reply by saying that it was girls like her that made him want to kill himself. As the bullying worsened, Ryan referred to pro-suicide websites to find a way to end his
The bullying and harassment that occurs between these students should not only be up to the parents to deal with, but also up to the school districts. Afterall, parents expect that the students are partially under the school’s protection and responsibility. When the bullying continues outside of school, and personal information is exposed for others to see on social media, it is still up to the district to set the consequences for its students. Because most cases of cyberbullying start at schools, it is nearly impossible for students to avoid the bullies’ torment throughout the day. As for the consequences, a school district’s Code of Conduct must also consider the former record of these bullies and anyone else who is involved. The severity of each student’s punishment shall be partially determined by his or her history of previous misbehavior or faulty actions. In a digital pile on for example, a student may only post a small comment in agreement with a previous post but will still receive the minimal of a written referral and a phone call home, letting the parents know why such measures had to be taken. If the reported bully continues to bother the victim, whether it is in person or through social media services, the consequences will be more harsh for each known violation until expulsion is the only answer. The current Code of Conduct does
Suicide due to bullying has been given the name of bullycide. One example of bullycide would be Jon Carmichael from Texas who was bullied so harshly that “one day they stripped him naked, tied him up, and stuck him in a trash can, and they taped it with their cell phones and put it all on You Tube” per his mother’s account (Texas Monthly, Hollandsworth). A few days later Jon was found hanging by a rafter from their barn after committing suicide. The perpetrators of this abuse were his fellow classmates and it is reported that “60% of boys who bullied others in middle school had at least one criminal conviction by the age of 24; 40% had three or more convictions” (van der Valk, 41). Bullying behavior not only negatively affects the victims that are singled out and tormented, but from a legal perspective can lead to long term criminal
Cyberbullying has become more of a problem over the past years. With technology being in such high demand and there being endless options. Students can use and abuse technology in a negative light. Since technology isn’t going anywhere cyberbullying will only worsen. The First Amendment rights along with the school’s handbook, student handbook and states policies and procedure are meant to protect students from such harm. A students’ rights and privacy must be protected with such things implemented and actions are taken cyberbullying can become
Approximately 83% (5 out of 6) of all males have never been a victim of cyberbullying. This evidence helps explain why schools should not limit students’ online speech because the majority of the students are not affected by cyberbullying, making no reason for new reinforcements on the students. In document D, the court sided with the students, but the students must serve ten days, but the ten day suspension will not be shown on their records. It must pose a threat, there was no threat so they sided with the students.
Cyberbullying is no exception to this statistic. The two writers also stated that “There have been several high-profile cases involving teenagers taking their own lives in part because of being harassed and mistreated over the Internet (Apollo, 2007; Halligan, 2006; Jones, 2008), a phenomenon recently termed cyberbullicide—suicide indirectly or directly influenced by experiences with online aggression,” (Hinduja and Patchin, 2007). These cases are not a constant issue in every school, but they have happened frequently enough to raise attention to faculty and parents. With adolescents being at such a sensitive age, it is important to remind them that the actions they take can have serious consequences, including
With this unfortunate circumstance, schools need to put a stop to bullying. Informing the school and the community on the issue of bullying is the first step in ending it. To continue, the next is to make rules that will prevent kids from wanting to bully other students. Also, creating an anti-bully committee and a bullying report office in schools will help reduce bullying. With cyber bullying being so difficult to detect, we inform parents and students about safe internet use and ask parents to monitor their child internet usage. Bullying is
Phoebe Prince is a name some of us might not know or remember, but in 2010 her name and picture were everywhere. Phoebe Prince was an Irish immigrant who moved to South Hadley, Massachusetts. In her new high school she was the subject of malicious bullying by her classmates, both at school and online. This bullying would eventually drive Phoebe to hang herself. Bullying in schools and online has become a serious problem in our country. . According to cyberbullyinghotline.com, 20 percent of those cyberbullied think about committing suicide, while 1 in 10 victims attempt it. With rates like this, the question left to be answered is, when is bullying “just kids being kids “,
Track back to 15 to 25 years ago. An unfortunate student would normally get bullied at school with physical acts of violence, but as soon as that student arrives at his home he or she is presumed safe. Cyber bullying does not allow this luxury. Cyber bullying occurs over the information waves of the internet, with sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google plus. Which is why the guidelines must be improved or that children should not be allowed to access such sites entirely. With a the tools of direct messaging and posting videos cyber bullying can follow children to their home, beyond the school playground, seven days a week 24 hours a day. These acts of emotional trauma occur on a child’s computer and smartphone. For this reason it is more difficult to monitor...
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.
over an extended period of time. Since the Ryan Halligan case in 2003, there has been a string of cyberbullying suicides which have made states and school districts react by imposing policies to deter and essentially criminalize cyberbullying which happens on and off campus. The issue at hand is whether state legislature and school districts enacting laws and policies regarding students’ speech in terms of off campus cyber speech, is interfering with the students’ free speech rights. Three Supreme Court cases have been cited in recent cyberbullying cases, in the context of the speech of students and the authority of the school district; Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969), Bethel v. Fraser (1986), Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier (1988).
Before students only had to worry about being bullied at school, but due to technology advances and the use of social media, teenagers can be bullied twenty four- seven. Cyberbullying causes a huge impact on students and when they are too busy with the anxiety of being bullied their grades can suffer or they can even drop out. According to HealthDay News, 9,590 students were surveyed from 580 U.S. schools. Compared to kids who were not bullied, students that were cyberbullied experienced a 0.049 drop in their GPA between grades 9 and 12. This number is too big when you think about the potential students have but the constant bullying by their peers on social media effects that. For some, dropping out or taking the bad grades feels like their only option. Some teenagers that get cyberbullied on social media can’t take the constant criticism, which can lead to suicide. An example is Hannah Smith, a 14-year old student from England. Smith had been on ask.fm, a social networking site that allows people to ask questions anonymously. Cyberbullies urged her to drink bleach and cut herself. Eventually she couldn’t take the bullying any longer and committed suicide. Social media has a huge impact on these suicides because it’s through these websites that these teens are being bullied by other students. If teens don’t stop soon the side effects of cyberbullying
Educators attempt to provide safe, nurturing environments where students can thrive. Any disturbance to this climate can have negative affects on students’ educational performances. Bullying is one such disruption. Unfortunately, physical and verbal abuse are nothing new in the school setting, however, the rise of technology in our country has created a new setting for bullies to target their victims. Cyberbulling, or the use of any number of technological means to harm or harass another, has become an increasingly prevalent occurrence, specifically among school-aged children (Campfield, 2006).
The physical abuse that used to happen in the halls and on the playgrounds is no more. Time has changed bullying into a twenty-four hour, seven day a week, occurrence. The pain these children are suffering, from being bullied over the web, is not something you can put an ice pack over. The psychological hurting is what gets to them. The agony these children endure is just as real, and may be even more excruciating to bear. With cyber bullying becoming a sweeping problem for children, there needs to be a solution. Adults, educators, legislators, and even children need to prevent this type o...
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...
For a student to have a successful education and time in highschool he student must feel comfortable in the learning environment. Schools have done a relatively adequate job in dealing with bullying that occurs at school, but it should not end there.What happens at home affects a student 's performance in school and that students attitude. Many times schools are left helpless when it comes to cases of cyberbullying and harassment on social media due to that school 's limits on its power. If a student 's attitude at school is stunted or the student is so distressed the thought of going to school is a nightmare, then the school must step in. From here, the next step is to involve the law enforcement to find a way to prosecute people who do harass or bully students on social
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,