SHOULD CYBERBULLYING BE TREATED MORE HARSHLY

By: Kendrick Villavicencio

Communication 140W
Digital Communication
Teacher: Ms. Seeley-Case

Kids have been bullying each other for generations, from calling each others names on
the playground, to harassing others on the school bus. Todays technology has allowed them to
expand their bullying techniques. Today they can be involved in cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is
defined by the Stop Bullying government campaign as bullying that takes place using electronic
technology. Examples of cyberbullying might be mean texts messages or emails, rumors sent by
emails or posted on social networking sites, and embarrassing pictures, videos, websites, or fake
profiles. Today adolescents use technology to bully, threaten, harass, humiliate, and hurt their
peers. Many feel it has gotten way out of control. (Stopbullying.gov)
Hinduja ,Ptrchin from the Cyberbullying Research Center stated; There are many
detrimental outcomes associated with cyberbullying that reach into the real world. First, many
targets report feeling depressed, sad, angry, and frustrated. As one teenager stated: It makes me
hurt both physically and mentally. It scares me and takes away all my confidence. It makes me
feel sick and worthless. Those who are victimized by cyberbullying also reveal that they are
often afraid or embarrassed to go to school. In addition, research has revealed a link between
cyberbullying and low self-esteem, family problems, academic difficulties, school violence, and
various delinquent behaviors. Finally, cyberbullied youth also report having suicidal thoughts,
and there have been a number of examples in the United States and abroad where youth who
were victimized ended up taking their own lives (Hinduja,Ptrchin)
Despite the potential damage of cyber bullying, it is alarmingly common among
adolescents and teens. According to cyberbullying statistics from the i-SAFE foundation: Over
half of adolescents and teens have been bullied online, and about the same number have engaged
in cyberbullying. It is thought that more than 1 on 3 people have experienced cyberbullying on

line and over 25 percent of adolescences and teens have been bullied repeatedly through cell
phones or the Internet. Lastly according to the foundation well over half of young people do not
tell their parents when cyber bullying occurs. Sadly, bullying may not stop after high school;
adolescents who are bullied in high school report experiencing similar experiences in their first
two years of college (Adams & Lawrence, 2011; Aluede, Adeleke, Omoike, & Afen-Akpaida,
2008).
In 2006 one of the first cases of cyberbullying took place. Lori Drew used the online
social networking tool Myspace to harass Megan Meier; Megan was a thirteen year old girl who
lived in St. Louis Missouri. The cyberbullying began when Lori Drew used Myspace to make up
a fictitious profile page about a sixteen year old boy named Josh Evans. Drew in reality was an
adult checking up on her teenage daughters friend. During the next few weeks she harassed
Megan Meir until one day she suggested the world would be a better place without her. In
response Megan hanged herself in her closet in September of 2006. This incident brought the
issue of cyberbullying to the publics attention (n.d)
The big debate concerning cyberbullying is what to do to about it? Is prosecuting the
perpetrators the answer or education the better route? Is it a criminal offence to say bad things
about someone? At the present, there are no federal laws directly addressing bullying. Although
they might not exist.in some cases bullying overlaps with discriminatory harassment when it is
based on race, national origin, color, sex, age, disability, or religion. States have the major
responsibility when it comes to enforcement of any kind (Stopbullying.gov)

As far as criminalizing cyberbullying Jessica P. Meredith of Combating Cyberbullying;

Emphasizing Education over Criminalizing, Bullying ranges from inappropriate to morally

reprehensible acts; the challenge of drafting a law that would foresee and include all future
cyberbullying crimes without infringing upon the guarantees of the First Amendment seems
likely to be overcome (Meredith).
Russlynn Ali, the Department of Educations assistant secretary for civil rights said
schools should think hard before turning discipline cases over to police. Its hugely important to
set the (school) culture right and make it safe for all that is different from sending them to jail.
Ali said minority students in districts with zero-tolerance polices are punished more severely
than other students. She noted that new federal data that showed zero-tolerance districts in the
2009-10 school year expelled nearly 30,000 students, 56% were black or Hispanic, though 45%
of students were black or Hispanic (Toppo).
Another argument for not criminalizing cyberbullying is the first amendment right of
freedom of speech. In 2014 a New York highest court said after reviewing a new cyberbullying
law that had been struck down stated that the law designed to criminalize cyberbullying was so
broad that it violated the first amendment to the constitution. The New York civil liberties union
commended the union and called a Victory for free speech. Corey Stoughton, lead council on
the case, said Cyberbullying is a serious concern that all communities must confront, but there
are better and more constructive ways to address the problem then giving the children criminal
records. He went on to say, communities across New York and the nation should take note that
criminalizing First Amendment activity is unlawful and does nothing to address the causes of
bullying or prevent it from taking place (Costa-Lima).

Overall, many feel education is the key. Parents must educate their kids about
appropriate online behaviors just as they convey appropriate offline behaviors. They should also
monitor their childs activities while online especially early in their exploration of cyberspace.
This can be done informally (through active participation in your childs Internet experience, and
formally (through software). Spying on kids and unnecessarily invading their privacy should
only be done as a last resort when there is a significant cause for concern. Honest and open
monitoring is a part of a healthy parent-child relationship. Spying conveys distrust and may
encourage children to go further underground (Hinduja, Patchin).
Hinduja and Patchin conclude; in time, parents will need to give their children more
freedom, privacy, and responsibility. They will not be able to monitor their childs activities 24/7,
nor should they need to do so. As a result, it is crucial that parents cultivate and maintain an
open, candid line of communication with their children, so that they are ready and willing to
come to you whenever they experience something unpleasant or distressing when interacting via
text, or Facebook, or a gaming network. Reinforce positive morals and values that are taught in
the home about how others should be treated with respect and dignity. Point out models to
emulate in society, and use viral mistakes made by other youth and adults as teachable moments
(Hinduja, Patchin). This would probably be better than criminalizing their behavior. In closing
criminalizing cyberbullying doesnt seem to be the answer. Something needs to be done though.
Hopefully education and support of schools can have a positive effect.

WORK CITED:
Toppo, Greg. US Today. 13 6 2013. web. 29 10 2015
Stopbullying.gov. Stopbullying.gov. n.d. web. 29 10 2015.
Merridith (No source Universal source material)
Lima, Beatriz Costa. SPLC. 2 7 2014. web. 29 10 2015.
Hinduja, S. & Patchin, J. W. (2014). Cyberbullying Identification, Prevention, and
Response. Cyberbullying Research Center (www.cyberbullying.us).
Gillespie, A. A. (2006). Cyber-bullying and Harassment of Teenagers: The Legal
Response. Journal Of Social Welfare & Family Law, 28(2), 123-136.
doi:10.1080/09649060600973772
Farrell, L. C. (2012). The Role of Cyber and Face-to-Face Verbal Bullying on Adolescent
Victims. Journal Of The Communication, Speech & Theatre Association Of North Dakota, 252536
Choudhary, Sunil. The open page. 14 September 2015. web. 10 10 2015.