123 Winners Road

Phoenix, AZ 12345
November 13, 2015
DV District Office
1234 Writing Lab Lane
Phoenix, AZ 85026
To whom it may concern:
My name is Morgan Isenberger and I am a sophomore at Sandra Day OConnor High School. I
am writing this letter to tell you my position on what I believe is the most appropriate
punishment for cyberbullying, which is criminal consequences.
Cyberbullying is a serious issue throughout this world and it needs to be handled appropriately.
This type of bullying, and other types of bullying can lead to students taking their own lives
because of it. With that being said, taking legal actions to punish these offenders should be how
these things are taken care of. Forty-five states now have anti-bullying laws; in Massachusetts,
which has one of the strictest, anti-bullying programs are mandated in schools, and criminal
punishment is outlined in the text for even the youngest offenders. (38, Bennett) No matter how
young the offender may be, if the words they say and the actions they do towards someone
causes that person to take their life, they should be criminally punished. They cant just being
given a slap on the back and told to watch what they say online, they need to deal with criminal
punishments to show them how much their harsh words can affect not only someone elses life,
but their own as well.

Although there are counter arguments to my proposition such as, Its one thing to hold bullies
responsible for their own actions, but its trickier to blame them for the chain of events that they
may follow. (38, Bennett) this doesnt make it right for what the bullies did to push that person
over the edge. Just because the people cyberbullying dont know whats is going on with the
person they are bullying at home, does not make it okay for them to justify their actions and say
it wasnt their fault. That person who took their life may had other issues they were dealing with
at the time, but the nasty remarks made towards them by other people only made things worse.
This is why legal actions should be considered when dealing with the consequences of
cyberbullying because you can prevent the loss of many lives of kids across the world.
Criminalizing these punishments would also show other kids that cyberbullying is a serious thing
and should not be committed on a daily basis. I would like to thank you for your time and
consideration of reading my letter.
Sincerely,
Morgan Isenberger