Cyber Bullies On Social Networking

Has Cyberbullying become a new form of bullying? Cyberbullying has become a trend among adolescents today. According to Charlene C. Gianna and Margaret Sagarese from the article “The Newest Breed of Bully, The Cyberbully.” from Our Children, one in 17 children have been threatened online. Since cyberbullying is a new thing to officials, they are still sorting out legal technicalities.

The internet has created an entirely new world of social communications particularly for youths. There are no more barriers. Family, friends, young and old may now stay in touch with just about everyone, anywhere in the world through the use of email, text messaging, web chat, and instant messaging. Although, most interactions are friendly and in good nature, there are some that are not. The use of technology as a tool to antagonize, torment and intimidate others is now a widespread problem. Sadly, this form of bullying like all others is most common among children and young adults. Research done by Cox Communications on children between 13 thru 18 year-olds, 25 percent said they were cyber-bullied whether online or by cell phone (Cox Com. 2009). Also in 2007, the National Crime Prevention Council reported cyber-bullying as a problem that affected approximately half of all American teens. Since it is popular among this group of American teens, then it is safe look at some of possible reason cyber bullies of this age group are encouraged to take part in such activity.

These kind of surveys reveal the necessity of facing cyberbullying logically and prudently, among young people. Schools have very important role in controlling this issue between students. Some people believe that school should suspend students who have perpetrated cyberbullying, but since this kind of punishments can have serious consequences other options should be considered first before any suspension. In this paper we discuss why the suspension should be considered as the last option. Suspension will only result in hiding the fact of the issue and is not an effective solution, because it will not only harm perpetrator, but also will harm victim by preventing her/him from learning how to deal with issue wisely, and it only shows the lack of an elaborate educational system.

This problem has become more pressing and has been a greater focus in the media. Social media has also brought the issue to the forefront in the last several years and, itself, plays a role in today’s age of bullying, cyber bullying. The Matt Epling Safe School Law (2011/2014) was amended in 2014 to add a section specifically directed at cyberbullying. The legislation identifies bullying as anything that is composed, spoken, acted out, or conveyed electronically. These acts are said to disrupt educational opportunity, impart emotional disturbances, influence physical and mental health, and/or impact the daily functioning of the educational institution (Matt Epling Safe School Law, 2011/2014). These definitions demonstrate the severity of the social problem,

Cyberbullying is defined as someone frequently harassing or mistreating someone else using a cellphone or another electronic device. Bullying online is often chosen because these bullies can be anonymous online, making them think they can’t

In addition, Martin makes the subtle claim that technology accelerates the rate of bullying, to the point where it is replacing physical bullying. It is noted that cyber bullying is nearly impossible to oversee due to the fact that children are not only intimidated of the social repercussions they will face from exposing their cyber bullies, but because they also fear that they will no longer have access to the internet. Finally, Martin claims that implementing anti-bully policies is not enough to combat bullying. Martin believes that the quality of these policies must be thoroughly regulated and consistently reinforced in order to have any legitimate effects in practice. The author concludes by repeating the statement that bullies and victims are considerably likely to have behavior problems, and briefly mentioning that a combination of being both victimized at school and home produces a significant chance of developing clinically defined sociopathic characteristics.

Because cyber bullying is a relatively recent issue, legislation around it is constantly changing and evolving. As of April 2014, 49 out of 50 states had laws in place around bullying, and 20 specifically stated “cyber bullying” in the legislation.

Cyber bullying has been around since the creation of advanced communication technology. In the last few years, however, this issue has become more common, more related to sex and most of all more dangerous. It has gotten so dangerous that children have killed each other and/or committed suicide after having been involved in a cyber bullying incident. Little attention and support from school authorities, more access to computers, and the latest cool thing (social networks) are all factors that have contributed to the rising of cyber-bullying practices.

Bullying is everywhere and with the recent stories about the most violent cases it is becoming so public, a new major issue has been found for in our nation. The tolls of years of bullying are effectively pushing victims into two corners. The victims either seek out help and fight back or fall in deeper and resort to self harm. Whatever it maybe be, it's everywhere. Bullying has found a new home on the internet. Cyberbullying is so common in today's society. Teenagers spend most of their time on social media sites and those sites are perfect for potential cyber bullying. One in ten teens go to parents for help when cyberbullying is involved.

Roughly one in five children are victims of cyberbullying (Newswire, 2009). Cyberbullying has resulted in many psychological issues including suicide, which is the number three leading cause of death in the United States (Newswire, 2009). County lawmaker has rewritten his proposal that would make cyberbullying a misdemeanor, to address concerns that it could infringe on First Amendment rights (Gee, 2011). There is currently no Federal Law prohibiting cyberbullying, but some local and state efforts have been made to legally restrict the practice (Gee, 2011).

Cyberbullying is an online harassment of children by others. The works of Patchin, Shariff, and Willard, all prominent researchers in the study of cyberbullying. They found issues related to cyberbullying that can be understood. Most cyberbullying instances happen at home and is often brought to the school campus. School systems are left unsure of how to response to the bullying while balancing legal and ethnic responsibilities. Students across the nation are being bullied online and are bringing to school the residual effects of these personal attacks The issues include traditional bullying, teen social media use and cyberbullying. The issue of cyberbullying cannot truly be addressed unless it is approached reactively. It has become increasingly evident that the Internet has brought to our campuses another threat to student safety. It has come to the point where school districts have zero tolerance policies against bullying to case of cyberbullying. Cyberbullying by federal and state statue definition includes “bullying or harassment by use of an electronic communication device.”

Bullying is intimidating someone by using superior strength or influence. There are three main types of bullying known as physical bullying, verbal bullying, and cyberbullying. Since 2011, the popularity of cyberbullying has increased by 85% because more children have access to social media. Tons of people do not know what cyberbullying is - it is any type of bullying via electronic medium, such as phone calls, text messages, and all social media. When cyberbullying started to become “popular”, it also caused the number of children 12 years old and up that mention self-harm to increase by 50%. There was little that could be done for those who were suffering through cyberbullying for the reason that not many adults understood social media and were unaware that this was happening.

In the news, there have been reports told about school shootings over the last several years. When it comes to these school shootings, most of them were committed by students who were being bullied, and wanted the bullying to stop. This is one extreme example of how bullying in the schools can affect everyone in the school. Cyberbullying is a form of bullying that is becoming more popular. There is a definite need to put a stop to both kinds of bullying in the schools. To begin to do this parents, teachers, and community members must understand traditional versus cyberbullying, along with its effects on children and their learning environment.

Cyber-bullying involves the use of technology to cause distress, harm, and torture to the victim. This involves sending abusive or intimidating messages, emails, and pictures through the use of several technological avenues. Traditional bullying involves physical aggression to a victim through using abusive verbal language and physical beating. Cyber- bullying seems to have surpassed traditional bullying because of the increased advance in the world of technology. Most bullies have turned to technology as their tool of propagating their actions. With the expanse of world-wide-web and technology as a whole, cyber-bullying may reach a point where it is no longer possible to control it. This uncontrollable nature of cyber-bullying makes it more harmful than traditional bullying.

All kinds of bullying are damaging especially cyberbullying. Victims tend to feel frustrated, angry, sad, distracted and unsafe. Cyberbullying is serious and has the potential to lead to very negative outcomes. Cyberbullying Research Center (2013) indicated that “Cyberbullying in particular has shot to the forefront of agendas in schools and communities due to the emotional, psychological, and even physical harm to which victims can be subjected”. The vast audience makes the damaging effects far more reaching and allowing less ability to escape. Cyberbullying is devastatingly and overwhelmingly pervasive because of the created memories and negative reminders that exist for years. Children who are victims are more likely to get into troublesome habits such as alcohol, drugs, skipping school, poor grades and having lower self-esteem. The additional stress caused by the harm can even potentially lead to major health problems. Some believe the effects of