What is Cyberbullying?
TRIGGER WARNING: If you are affected by bullying and/or suicide/suicidal thoughts, this blog post may be triggering. If you need support right now, please seek help from a therapist or other mental health professional or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or text "HOME" to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 if you live in the USA or text "CONNECT" to the Crisis Text Line at 686868 if you live in Canada.
"Cyberbullying victims can be bullied anytime and from anywhere because most children have access to digital devices outside of school" (Uhls 2012). Unlike the traditional bully, cyberbullies can harass their victims twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Though bullying in any form is hurtful and unacceptable, cyberbullying takes the amount of hurt to a whole new level. Some people think that traditional bullying is more hurtful because it is face-to-face. However, there are other people that think that cyberbullying is more hurtful because more people can see it and there is no easy way to avoid it. Although some people believe that cyberbullying is harmless, research shows that preventing cyberbullying is the correct position.
Cyberbullying started when people began using computers, cell phones, and other technology to communicate with people. Cyberbullying mostly happens on the Internet while traditional bullying happens face-to-face. Cyberbullying is when a person sends or posts something cruel through electronic devices meant to hurt another person. Victims have very strong feelings about being publicly humiliated because lots of other people can see what is posted. "Cyberbullying causes real pain and psychological difficulties for its victims, and, in extreme cases, can even lead to suicide" ("Prosecuting" 2010). Incidents of cyberbullying rose by fifty percent between 2000 and 2005 according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study. A 2003 study by suicide.org found that suicide rates increased for people between the ages of fifteen and twenty-four because of cyberbullying. Another study of U.S. children in 2005 found that thirteen percent of children reported being cyberbullied more than four to six times in the past year. In September 2010, there were three reported suicides of three young teenage boys in New Jersey who were cyberbullied for being openly gay or who were suspected of being gay. In a Swedish 2012 study, 16.2% of children reported being a victim of cyberbullying outside of school. If a victim of cyberbullying wants the information that has been posted about them to be removed, that can be very hard to happen. The failure to remove the information can cause the large social media service to be fined up to $17,000 a day. It is expected that there will be a good working relationship between the children's e-safety commissioner and the large social media services. There is a program that issues notices to either the large social media service or the person who uploaded the harmful post. Paul Fletcher, the parliamentary secretary to the Minister for Communications, says that they are able to punish cyberbullies and fine social services who refuse to remove harmful posts. YouTube's Abuse and Safety Center allows views to report inappropriate videos. MySpace allows parents to flag online abuse and technology is developed that will be able to recognize and delete inappropriate postings even before they are reported. Both traditional bullying and cyberbullying continue to negatively affect youth. So, society must take steps towards ending this issue.
Research into cyberbullying has found that it can lead victims to depression, binge eating, theft, violent behavior, self-harm, and emotional scars. Emotional harm of cyberbullying can also interfere significantly with school performance. Cyberbullying gets in the way of students' rights to be safe in school and can result in school failure, school avoidance, and on some occasions violence at school. Representative Linda Sanchez, who sponsored the Megan Meier Cyberbullying Prevention Act, writes in Huffington Post, "Rather than build character, cyberbullying can cause children to become anxious, fearful, unhappy, and even cause them to be physically sick. A young person exposed to repeated, severe, and hostile bullying online is deserving of protections because bullying puts them at risk for depression and suicide" ("Prosecuting" 2010). Research has shown that minors who are victims of cyberbullying are three times more likely to be suspended from school and they are also four times more likely to binge drink. Victims of cyberbullying are also more likely to engage in marijuana use. Cyberbullying seems to result in a more severe negative impact on people's minds than other types of bullying. The Internet allows anonymity, which lets a bully target a victim while hidden behind a computer screen or mobile phone. Supporters of prosecuting cyberbullies say that cyberbullying is a big threat that can cause its victims to have severe emotional problems. Cyberbullies should be charged and suspended from school temporarily as a punishment for what they did wrong. Prosecutors will most likely increase charges against cyberbullies whose victims take their lives. Prosecutors need to charge cyberbullies under criminal law.
Even though cyberbullying is a recent issue, some individuals would say that it does not appear to be common among youth. Some individuals would also say that prosecuting cyberbullies for their wrongful online behavior gets in the way of people's First Amendment right of freedom of speech. "If the only tool you have is prison, then every problem looks like a crime... A national conversation about the importance of civility and respect would be a more effective tribute to Tyler Clementi than trying to prosecute his bullies for manslaughter. They acted meanly, and possibly even criminally, but not homicidally" says Paul Butler, a law professor at George Washington University in Washington D.C., and former federal prosecutor ("Prosecuting" 2010). A cyberbully may not understand how their behavior affects the victim. Some observers of Tyler Clementi's suicide caused by cyberbullying argued against the charges, saying that the incident was only a youthful prank that went wrong. Sixty percent of individuals say that traditional bullying is more hurtful according to a Queensland University of Technology study. Cyberbullying does not always lead to severe effects. Some individuals say that schools and parents/guardians need to be handling children's online activity, not courts and legislatures. Schools and parents/guardians need to teach their children how to use the Internet responsibly. Critics say that "Cyberbullying is not a problem for the courts, but a dilemma best solved by schools and parents" ("Prosecuting" 2010). Clearly, cyberbullying is not as common of an issue as it sounds to some individuals.
Although some people may think that cyberbullying is not that common of an issue, it actually is a very serious issue. Cyberbullying is typically more hurtful than traditional bullying because it can cause more emotional damage to the victim. The emotional harm of cyberbullying can extremely interfere with the victim's school performance due to how traumatizing it is. Prosecutors need to charge cyberbullies under criminal law because there is no constitutional right to be a bully. Bullying can destroy any innocent person's life. If a victim of cyberbullying takes their life, it can also lead to permanent emotional scars for the victim's family. If it affects the victim, their family, or both in any way, the cyberbully should definitely be charged under criminal law. In many states, cyberbullying is illegal. Cyberbullying should be illegal worldwide because of the emotional damage that it results in for the victims and their families. Cyberbullying may not sound so common of an issue to some, but clearly, it is very serious.
Even though some people may say that cyberbullying is not bad, research shows that cyberbullying has a very negative effect on its victims. Cyberbullying affects its victims so badly that it can lead to serious emotional damage. Cyberbullying can make a victim so depressed that they end up dying by suicide. Victims of cyberbullying can be harassed twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week causing it to be impossible to get away from it, where traditional bullying can happen in school with the bullying ending at school's dismissal time. So, therefore, since it is harder to get away from cyberbullying than it is to get away from traditional bullying, cyberbullying is typically the most harmful type of bullying. If a victim of cyberbullying dies by suicide, the cyberbully caused their victim to do so. Killing their victim may not have been their intention, but their victim's suicide is still their fault based on the circumstances of as to why it occurred. Therefore, the cyberbully should be seriously punished. Cyberbullying is a big threat causing it to fall into the law, so cyberbullies should be charged by prosecutors. The impact that all types of bullying have on victims is significant and worthy of legal consequences.
You might also gain a better understanding of bullying prevention by reading:
If you are affected by bullying and/or suicide/suicidal thoughts, remember that you are not alone and there is hope. If you or someone you know needs support right now, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or text "HOME" to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 if you live in the USA or text "CONNECT" to the Crisis Text Line at 686868 if you live in Canada.
You can also visit The Mighty's hotline resources page by clicking on this link: https://themighty.com/suicide-prevention-resources/
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Citations
1. "By the Number: Prosecuting Cyberbullies." Issues & Controversies. Infobase Learning, 6 Dec. 2010. Web. 7 Apr. 2015. <http://icof.infobaselearning.com/recordurl.aspx?wid=17301&ID=5920>.
2. Megan Meier Foundation. Pinterest. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/134685845079318054/. (N.d.).
3. "Cyberbullying Increases Risk of Self-Harm, Binge Drinking And Violent Behavior." World Today, The (ABC) (n.d.): Points of View Reference Center. Web. 6 Apr. 2015. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=pwh&AN=P6S246650232915&site=pov-live
4. "INSPIRING ANTI BULLYING QUOTES + MESSAGES." DarlingQuote.com. (3 August 2021). https://darlingquote.com/anti-bullying-quotes/
5."Prosecuting Cyberbullies." Issues & Controversies. Infobase Learning, 6 Dec. 2010. Web. 7 Apr. 2015. <http://icof.infobaselearning.com/recordurl.aspx?wid=17301&ID=1682>.
6. Uhls, Y. T. "Cyberbullying Has a Broader Impact than Traditional Bullying." Cyberbullying. Ed. Louise I. Gerdes. Detroit: Greenhaven Press 2012. At Issue. Rpt. From "Is Bullying Going Digital? Cyber Bullying Facts." PsychologyinAction.org. 2010. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 20 Apr. 2015. http://ic.galegroup.com
7. Willard, N. "Schools Have the Right to Punish Cyberbullies." Cyberbullying. Ed. Louise I. Gerdes. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2012. At Issue. Rpt. From "There Is No Constitutional Right to Be a Cyberbully: Analysis of J.C. v. Beverly Hills Unified School District." J.C. v. Beverly Hills Unified School District. Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use, 2009. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 7 Apr. 2015. http://ic.galegroup.com.
8. Wilmore, K. "Cyberbullying." Junior Scholastic. 22 Nov. 2010: 6+. SIRS Discover. Web. Apr. 2015. http://discoverer.prod.sirs.com/discoweb/disco/do/article?urn=urn:sirs:US;ARTICLE;ART;0000309882
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