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Cyberbullying and its effects on our youth
Impacts cyberbullying has on individuals and society
Causes and effects of cyberbullying
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Should individuals really be prosecuted for stuff said on the internet? Absolutely not. First of all, that would go against the First Amendment of freedom of speech. Second off, if there was to be a punishment for cyber bullying, being prosecuted and thrown in jail would be to serious a punishment for words on a screen. The issue focused on cyber bullying hurts millions of people worldwide, it is not a subject to be taken lightly. Kids should be educated to not succumb to cyberbullying and learn how to prevent it. In conclusion, individuals should not be prosecuted for cyberbullying, it goes against too many factors to ever become a reality.
First of all, prosecuting for cyberbullying is going against the First Amendment of free speech. According to Sacrificing the First Amendment to catch “Cyberbullies” by Kirk Sigmon, [“ ...a handful of Democratic New York State senators think that the First Amendment should be treated “not as a right but as a privilege”]. Obviously, the First Amendment is a right that every American should possess, the freedom to Religion, Speech, Press, Petition, and Peaceful Assembly. According to the first amendment an individual has the right to be as cruel as one wants under the freedom of speech. Moreover, the First Amendment should never treated as a privilege, it is your own right that no one can ever take away from you.
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According to The Dangers of Cyber bullying by Brett Warnke, Warnke asked the question “...shouldn’t law enforcement be focusing on the kinds of crimes that affect more people?” Of course they should. Law enforcement should be focusing on real crimes instead of arresting someone for something said on social media. In summary, prosecuting someone for cyber bullying is too big of a
“Cyberbullying is a willful and repeated harm inflicted through the use of computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices,” stated by the Ophelia Project. Individuals should be prosecuted for statements made on social media. One reason individuals should be prosecuted is because of physical consequences to the victim. Another reason is because of mental effects that cyberbullying can have on the victim. Even though some people believe that free speech allows them to say what they want to but individuals should be prosecuted because the first amendment does have a limit on what you can say.
According to the Psychologist, Eden Foster, from the radio interview, “The Dangers of Cyberbullying" cyberbullying can cause physical harm and with a law prosecuting the tormentors, they would be held accountable for the harm they caused.
Others might say that the idea of prosecuting someone for cyberbullying is crazy, stupid and pointless. I can see in their perspective that it shouldn’t be that big of a problem, if that person just stops going on the internet. The Ophelia Project says “The only solution to cyberbullying should not be prosecution, just education. Children should be educated to manage and avoid offensive situations on the internet. If the person getting cyberbullied can’t handle not being attached to the internet, they shouldn’t use it. It's that simple.” With bullying it’s a whole other concept. The Ophelia Project states that “ In traditional bullying, an aggressor immediately sees the hurt they have caused the target.” With cyberbullying an aggressor/ cyber bullier can keep repeating it’s harmful behavior towards a person and not get confronted for
Along with the usual low self esteem, cyberbullying victims can feel lonely, sad, angry, frustrated, or a combination of them. These feelings can lead to suicide, like in the case of Megan Meier, along with murder/manslaughter, or physically injuring someone badly. Teens cyberbullied can also find relief from the hate through drugs and alcohol, which is normally illegal for most teens. Constantly, the already injured victim has a lot more ways to hurt themselves that might seem good at the time because of cyberbullying. If we don't use the 1st amendment to prosecute cyberbullies, the bullying would most likely be stopped. But if the bullies do use the 1st amendment so they do not get in trouble, the bullying could still be going on. And, most bullies don't just bully one person in their lifetime. This means that more and more people can and will be bullied if we don't stop them. Megan Meier committed suicide after being harassed online by her friends mom after she created a fake social media account and embarrassed her
First off, cyberbullies should not be prosecuted because there are more important matter to be worried about. Examples include murder and theft. Hurting someone’s feelings is not big enough to be criminally prosecuted. The radio interview “The Dangers of Cyberbullying” by Brett Warnke states, “shouldn’t the law enforcement officials be focusing on the kind of crimes that affect more people? Cyberbullying might seem somewhat trivial, as it only affects only two people: the bully and the victim.” Cyberbullying is very minor compared to actual crimes that affect more people. As Warnke states, cyberbullying only affects two people.
Schools need to establish a no tolerance policy towards cyberbullying and strictly enforce it too. A victim of cyberbullying needs to try and resolve the issue on their own first, before they talk to someone or get help. Students should have the privilege of talking to someone like a teacher, that they feel comfortable around and trust. This is important thing to remember, because they need to be able to talk to someone about this when it is happening, so the teacher can put an end to the bullying that is occurring. Some students may have the fright of sharing on what is happening and this can be, for the reason that they have a fear of getting into trouble, the bullying could get worse, and no one would believe them (Hitchcock,
...op it once it starts?"). At one point bullying was just a problem on the playground at school. With how far along technology has came it has made it easier than before and there is an endless internet audience. Kids and teens can bully eachother through email and social networking sites such as facebook and many others. Traditional bullies had to be seen when they were bullying someone but a cyberbully can do it while sitting behind a computer screen and never even have his identity revealed. ("Cyber Bullying VS Traditional Bullying.") It would seem that cyberbullying is far worse than traditional bullying because of the emotional effect it can leave on the victims. With technology rapidly advancing, if we don’t find out a way to completely stop cyber bullying it will continue to be a problem and it will only get worse with the constant advancement of technology.
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.”)....
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
Cyber bullying can be more terrifying than standard bullying, because the target typically does not know who is after them. Cyber bullies believe that because they are posting anonymously or not using their names, they can get away with anything. The case is that Internet activity is traceable. It is important to know that cyber bullying can be charged as crimes. In some cases, cyber bullies will be charged as sexual predators and have to be on the registry. Furthermore, items posted on the Internet can affect the person’s ability to get into university or employment.
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
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
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
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...
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,