Cyber-Bullying: A Federal Crime

The first amendment of the United States Constitution is the right of free speech. So, should people get prosecuted for cyberbullying, even though it violates the first amendment? Although cyberbullying is wrong it shouldn’t be charged as a federal crime because it is not physically hurting someone it is emotionally hurting them.

Whether it be through written, text, typed or spoken; words are words and it could possibly hurt people. So why do these bullies bully and why do victims allow themselves to be in this place? This article will present the reasons for the current cyber-bullying in our society and how it affects it.

Have you or anyone you know was a victim of cyberbullying? Many people around the world has been a victim of someone bullying them online. Many young teens get bullied online.

Cyberbullying is the use of electronic communication to bully a person, typically by sending messages in an threatening nature or tearing down an individuals character based on religion, gender, ethnicity, or disability. In terms of effects overall, cyberbullying has increased the use of communication via technology and has become more common among teenagers (Cabral 3). Technology has made it easy for bullies to find individuals via social media in the privacy of their on own homes., which has allowed them to express how they feel anonomously. This has become an issue that is occurring more and more in High Schools and Middle Schools across America. One of the biggest discussions when dealing with bullying and cyber-bullying would be how do we stop this epidemic to save the soul of our youth? Education is key, we have to educate one another on the effects of bullying to know that this is real and affects so many people to this day. Much of cyberbullying is the

The general public has known for a few years now that cyberbullying has affected our children all over the nation through social media. Thousands of young adults have retaliated from being cyberbullied in various ways, but does cyberbullying affect the school’s faculty and staff as well and how does cyberstalking affect our school officials? Also, does North Carolina have any laws against Cyberstalking? If so, what are the penalties if you are convicted of being a Cyber Stalker?

People who are involved in this or have started a conflict with someone over the internet are called cyber bullies. Cyber bullies harass teens and kids online by saying rude or nasty things about them. Three out of four cyber bullies do this to feel powerful and the other one fourth say that they do it for fun. The bullies start rumors about their victims and if their victim posts a bad or inappropriate picture then the bully will pounce on the chance to make their life hell. Sometimes the bully will get other people or students to join in on the harassment, just making things two times worse. The bullies do not care how bad their victim’s life is. This has caused suicide and some of the bullies will still say that they do not care or that they “deserved it” . In the United States, 42% of teens and kids have been cyberbullied and one in every four have had it happen more than once in their lives. “21% of victims have received threatening e-mails or messages online or over text”(Scholastic).

Cyberbullying has been on the rise in the past years because of the rise in the usage of social media. People tend to go to social media with positive intentions, but not everyone’s intentions are positive. Social media can bring what usually takes place at school to the household. For bullies, cyberbullying requires less physical contact and their bullying

Cyber bullying is worldwide and many problems are created like depression, fights, and even suicides. 65% of teens agree that cyber bullying is a serious problem, bullying victims are 2 to 9 more likely to consider committing suicide. This shows how dangerous cyber bullying is because the choice of any of the problems listed above are raised for kids who don’t understand how to escape. (i.e. kids) Also, it’s not like kids can report the bully so others aren’t bullied. Websites like youtube you can’t do anything but take the insults. This may be true but, people can complement the victim to neutralize the negative effect. Although this may help, the negativity won’t be neutralized because humans think more of the stuff they don’t know, like the insults they might not know are false or true, instead of the things they already

A person “can just post something nasty… instead of risking an unpleasant confrontation face to face” (Banks 14-15). Different psychological studies show that when there is a conflict and people try to fix the problem, face to face, it is often resolved. Usually when the person being demeaning or harsh sees the other person becoming emotional, they back down; with communicating online, a person’s reactions are not seen, so there is no mental filter. They do not see or hear that what they are saying can be hurtful so they continue with it (Kang 58-61). To make matters worse, apps and social media sites are being created that are completely anonymous. These apps create an atmosphere in which people can say anything they want to another person and not receive any punishment. Because of technology, more people are becoming victims of cyberbullying by not only people they know, but people they do not know. About “nine of ten teen users said they have witnessed ‘mean or cruel’ actions aimed at peers online” and very few people were reprimanded for their behavior (Kang 49-50). There are no set restrictions as to what can be posted. Although some sites and apps claim to have age restrictions, or places where one could ‘report’ or ‘flag’ posts, these are hardly ever enforced or used (Kang 46-47, 67-68). Technology has taken away the human filter and the online ones; without these, bullies will just continue to bully.

Cyberbullying is the abuse of an electronic source to degrade and devalue others. It is cruel and immoral but unfortunately unavoidable in today’s age.

There is an ongoing argument in the United States about whether or not cyber bullying should be illegal. Citizens of the United States of America, land of the FREE, should not have to be faced with prosecution for what they say on the internet because of the fact that bullying is legal in real life, the First Amendment allows people to speak freely, and people should be allowed to choose who is in their online groups.

Should cyber bullying be prosecuted? WellI I agree that civilians should be prosecuted for online cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is becoming a common event on online social media in today's world. Recent studies show that 10 to 20 percent experience it regularly. Cyberbullying mainly focuses on the percentage of deaths due to bullying, how you can be protected from online bullying, and how cyber bullying begins in the first place.

Cyberbullies have used this to their advantages by threatening people anonymously by calling them names or by sometimes by telling them to not show up at school, or to die and kill themselves. (Shah 1-2). This type of behavior is unacceptable because by bullies being able to go undercover people who might have been afraid to say something can now do so being without having to worry about being discovered. Social media is the key to all of these bullies, without the use of social media most of these bullies wouldn't even bother anybody. They would realize that they will most likely get caught or get into a fight. Most people are too afraid to do this.

There are several ways that young people bully others online. They send e-mails or instant messages containing insults or threats directly to a person. They may also spread hateful, sexual, and/or pejorative comments about a person through e-mail, instant messaging or postings on Web sites and online blogs.

I am writing this essay as I have been extremely moved by the recent suicide of a teenage girl in Ireland. Erin Gallagher a 13 year old girl from Donegal took her own life because of vicious online bullying. Her recent suicide adds to the growing number of teenage suicides not just in Ireland but worldwide that have been caused by bullying and cyber bullying or a combination of both. The issue of cyber bullying is something that needs to be addressed immediately both in the home and in schools. UNICEF carried out a study on bullying in Ireland and the results were staggering to say the least. 55% of children questioned admitted to being bullied in one form or another (Changing the Future, 2010). This