Social media have become a great source of entertainment
and communication today. With its easy communication and instantaneous posting
online, many individuals have already regarded it as a crucial role in their
daily lives. However, along with the many benefits, social media has brought negative
impacts. The revolution of social media has caused people to lose touch with
the conventional ways of communication. It has also created a virtual platform
for people to fight verbally without being identified easily. Bullying is no
longer isolated to classrooms or playgrounds but rather has spread to
harassments through mobile phones and social media sites. This is known as
cyber-bullying. This essay will describe cyber-bullying in the United States of
America (USA) and address the existing and potential solutions.
Cyber-bullying is a form of verbal harassment, which occurs
through social networking sites or by any form of online communication means
(No Bullying, America, 2014). Unlike traditional bullies, cyber-bullies use the
Internet to defend and protect their identity giving them the power to defame
and harass others on social sites. Such cases have been rather prevalent in the
United States with an alarming result of 52 percent of students reported being
bullied online (Ibid). Sunburn (2014) states in his article that suicide is the
third main cause of death among youths and teenagers with many cases being
associated to cyber-bullying. One such case that took place in Lakeland,
Florida that has gathered national or even global attention, is the Rebecca
Sedwick’s suicide case. According to Wallace (2014), Sedwick was a victim of
bullying, be it online or
offline. She had received messages from two Florida teens inciting her to
“drink bleach and die”. On top of that,
according to the sheriff’s department, they also physically attacked Sedwick. Just a month after Sedwick’s death, the two
teens were reportedly charged with
aggravated stalking and accused of being the main culprits that led to the
death of Sedwick (Ibid). This shows that, sadly, cyber-bullying has been a real
problem that can cause substantial damage to victims of it.
Many states in the United States have implemented federal
and state legislation that criminalizes any forms of harassments, be it in or
out of the cyber space to diminish the frequency and severity of cyber-bullying
(Wired Safety, 2011). Theoretically, victims would not need to be afraid since
they are now protected and covered by the law. Although some states have
successfully passed laws that protect children from bullying and harassment, the
resulting legal actions taken against the bullies have failed to apprehend the
cyber-bullies let alone address the issue of cyber-bullying. In the Sedwick’s
case, the two teens that were charged, were released just a month after their
arrest, due to a lack of concrete evidence to convict them (Wallace, 2014). This
clearly shows that the laws did not truly help in alleviating the problem. The
government should have imposed laws that specifically address cyber-bullying.
With specific laws towards cyber-bullying, it would force cyber-bullies to be
more cautious of their words online and possibly remove past cyber-bullying
content. The main challenge however is the detection of cyber-bullying where
high percentages of cases are left unnoticed. According to No Bullying (2013), a
survey conducted by Trolled Nation in 2013, an estimated number of 37 percent
of cyber-bullying cases are left unreported. The fact that many such acts are
still occurring online and left undetected shows that laws lack proper reach
and proper effectiveness to solve the problem. Since most cases involve mainly teenagers,
the first step to detection and deterrence of cyber-bullying should start with
school compounds.
In order to address the problem more efficiently, there are
a few things schools should do. Firstly, schools should enforce clear
guidelines and policies to ban the misuse of technology within school compounds.
Schools could install blocking technology on all school computers restricting
the usage for educational purposes only (Langhorst, 2012). Not only would such
restriction destroy platforms where cyber-bullies commit their acts during
school hours, but would also promote the use of computers in an educational
manner. Secondly, schools can engage anti cyber-bullying speakers who can then
educate staff and students by disseminating informational materials to explain
cyber-bullying, how to use the internet safely and provide information as to
where they would be able to find help should anyone of them become victims. Finally,
schools can also establish schemes or methods for reporting of cyber-bullying
cases, whether they are a victim or suspect of someone being victimized, with
relevant counseling and responses to help (Ibid). With these steps taken in
school compounds around United States, the detection of cyber-bullying cases
would greatly increase and counselors could then stretch out their helping
hands to the victims.
Cyber-bullying is a socially unacceptable behavior. There
can never be a comprehensive “remedy” to cyber-bullying. However, with
continuous effort and commitment, not only cyber-bullying, but also all forms
of bullying can be successfully identified and addressed, minimizing number of
victims that falls into the hands of bullies. With the combined effort from
legislators, schools, teachers, parents and children to work towards creating a
cyber-bully free society, the vision of having a cyberspace free from bullies
may no longer be a distant reality.
865 words
Reference:
Langhorst, P. (2012, October 1). Cyberbullying: How Technology Can Be Used to
Battle Its Effects. Retrieved from
http://www.cyberbullyhotline.com/10-01-12-edtech-digest.html
No Bullying. (2013, April 28). Bullying Statistics, The Ultimate Guide!
|NoBullying|. Retrieved from http://nobullying.com/bullying-statistics/
No Bullying, America. (2013, April
21). Cyber Bullying in America.
Retrieved from http://nobullying.com/cyber-bullying-in-america/
Sanburn, J. (2013, October 16). A Florida Tragedy Illustrates Rising Concern
About Cyber-Bullying Suicides | TIME.com. Retrieved from
http://nation.time.com/2013/10/16/a-florida-tragedy-illustrates-rising-concern-about-cyber-bullying-suicides/
Wallace, K. (2014, April 21). Rebecca Sedwick suicide: Police file raises questions about bullying
- CNN.com. Retrieved from
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/04/18/living/rebecca-sedwick-bullying-suicide-follow-parents/
WiredSafety. (2011).
Cyberbullying/Harassment/Stalking Federal
and State Legislation. Retrieved from
https://www.wiredsafety.org/toolkitmedia/files/file/Articles/Cyberbullying-Harassment-Stalking_State_Legislation.pdf
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