CYBERBULLYING

Cyberbullying
Tammy A Larson
Digital Communication Legal and
Ethical Issues

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Imagine a girl, a normal girl, just like everyone else. She is always smiling, always going
out of her way to help others, opening doors or offering a shoulder to cry on. As time goes by
this same girl gradually becomes more withdrawn. The smile becomes a site seen less and less
often. Her clothes become duller and baggier in an effort to disappear, until suddenly she does
altogether. Where did she go, and what happened to the girl that was so happy and seemed
invincible just a few months ago?
Unfortunately this story is one that is all too common, and many times the reason is
unseen. The problem is cyberbullying. There are laws against cyberbullying, placed to protect
individuals. According to cyberbullying.org ( July 2015) all states have laws against bullying,
almost all states have laws against electronic bullying, but there are only 22 states with laws
specifically against cyberbullying, only 14 of these states will do anything if it happens off
campus. What this is saying to me is that when you bullying someone at school, the school has
legal right to press charges, but when you are at home you have full reign of destroying
somebody elses life, and have little to no fear of consequences. In Idaho when this law is
broken, you will be guilty of a misdemeanor, and you may be suspended from school. I dont feel
like these are big enough consequences. I believe these laws need to be adjusted with how bad
the bullying gets. The worse the bullying, the worse the charge should be.
The Definition of cyberbullying on dictionary.com (2015) is to bully online by sending or
posting mean things, usually anonymously. Using this definition anyone who comments on a
status saying youre an idiot is being a cyberbully. This person should not receive the same
punishment as somebody who is sending death threats through email. While telling somebody
they are an idiot is rude, it is not necessarily jail worthy. However there needs to be some way to
put a stop to this. Without some sort of consequence this circumstance can easily escalade to
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more abusive terms, and eventually the possibility of death threats or attempted suicide by the
victim.
Why is cyberbullying different than bullying in person? When you are bullied in person
you have an opportunity to get away. You have an escape route and usually have a safe haven
where there are no bullies. Getting out of the situation can really help ease your mind. When you
are being bullied in person, usually it is seen by other people, which makes it easier to find a
support system. Through cyberbullying the only escape is probably deleting your account, and
that may not always work. If you are being attacked on Twitter and you delete that account,
chances are your bully will find you on Facebook and things will continue. Another point is that
in person you always know who you are being bullied by, but on a social network it in usually
anonymous. Many times this bully knows so many details of your life, because they are close to
you and are being two-faced. This destroys a huge part of your support system.
According to StopBullying.gov (2012) the amount of high school teens that are bullied
online had gone up by 6% between 2010 and 2013. Kids who are bullied are more likely to use
drugs and alcohol, have lower grades, skip school, have lower self-esteem, and have worse
overall health. Fund for civility adds that kids who are bullied are more likely to have suicidal
thoughts that carry on to adulthood. In adult life those who were bullied are 3x more likely to
commit suicide. This is a terrifying statistic. Because social media is constantly changing, the
government is having a hard time figuring out how to fix the problem.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (2015) has an article that states that there are so many
new cyberbullies coming up that it is nearly impossible to keep up. This means that many people
are able to give hate speeches, pass around blasphemous statements about others, and distribute
child pornography with no retribution. These actions are hurting more than just the people who
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are being targeted. These actions are setting the norm for the world, and making it easier for
younger generations to not feel ashamed of the negative impact they are having on the world.
They are inviting people to join in, to not fear hurting other people, because they dont know
them. For if somebody doesnt know the person being hurt, does that person really exist?
In a world where it is so easy to remain anonymous it is hard to change things for the
better. It is easy to be a hypocrite. While we may say we want to help the internet become a
friendlier place that is more enjoyable for everyone to use, we may be the trolls that are hiding
behind a fake profile provoking those around us. It is hard to know if our names are being used
against us, or if we are making ourselves easy targets. A few ways to prevent this are listed on
End of Bullying. (2015) They teach us to always think carefully about what we are posting
online, make sure we know what our privacy settings are to keep our unwanted people, and to do
a search for our names to see what comes up.
When we are careful about what we post we should not only be posting positive thoughts,
we should be careful that they cant be taken wrong easily. We should make sure we are adding
to the world, not posting things, including pictures, which can be used against us in the future.
We should check our privacy settings to make sure only the people that we want to see our
profiles are seeing them. I personally have no desire to have some stranger from New York
reading up on what I am doing in life. We should do a google search to check for what is
available to the public about us. This will help us know if our privacy settings are working, and
help us to find any embarrassing information that may have been leaked.
If you are being cyberbullied, or know somebody that is, there are some things you can
do to help end it. First talk to somebody, get your support system established. This could be a
friend, a family member, a teacher, or a counselor. Do not retaliate. This gives the bully a
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challenge. If you dont give them something to go off, they will eventually get bored and move
on. Dont add to it. Block the person who is bullying you. It makes a happier environment for all.
Finally make sure to report the problem, and keep a record of the encounters for future needs.
The world has always been full of bullies, but in the cyber universe it is growing more
common daily. We need to be careful, and watch out for ourselves, but we also need to be
watching out for other people that may not be willing or able to stand up for themselves. Many
people that are having a hard time respond greatly to some stranger giving out a helping hand.
You can never know the impact, positive or negative, that you may have on somebody today.

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Resources
Sameer Hinduja, Ph.D. and Justin W. Patchin, Ph.D. (July 2015) State Cyberbullying Laws.
Retrieved from http://cyberbullying.org/Bullying-and-Cyberbullying-Laws.pdf
Mark Risher, Nicole Ozer, Steven White, Marcia Hofmann, Stefan Savage (Feb. 2013)
Electronic Frontier Foundation.
Retrieved from https://www.eff.org/event/loophole-federal-crimes-not-being-addressed
Cyberbullying. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. (Oct. 2015) Dictionary.com.
Retrieved from: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cyberbullying
HHS Headquarters (March 2012) Stop Bullying.gov.
Retrieved from http://www.stopbullying.gov/cyberbullying/what-is-it/
Rabbi Stephanie Aaron, Edith Auslander, Ron and Nancy Barber, Sheri Bauman, Ph.D. (2015)
End of Bullying.
Retrieved from http://fundforcivility.org/cyberbullying-effects/
Rabbi Stephanie Aaron, Edith Auslander, Ron and Nancy Barber, Sheri Bauman, Ph.D. (2015)
End of Bullying.
Retrieved from http://fundforcivility.org/prevent-cyberbullying/