Cyberbullying : A Beautiful Blue Eyed, Outgoing. Active Girl Who Kept Everyone On Their Toes

In the article, “Girl’s Suicide Points to Rise in Apps Used by Cybullies,” by Lizette Alverez, the author writes about the tragic death of Rebecca Ann Sedwick, and the events that lead her to it. Rebecca was a normal, typical twelve year old pree-teen girl. Because of a disagreement over a boy Rebecca dated, several middle-school children stated bullying her. The bullying started at school, but it esculated to where she was vicously tormented on social media. Even after she stopped dating the boy, the attacks kept coming. Because not much was being done, even though Rebecca’s mother complained to school adiministrators, her mother placed her in a different school. Rebecca’s mother also took her cell phone, and closed her social media

Many would agree that technology has advanced remarkably, in the past decade and has impacted the the as we know it in so many good ways. However, it has come with some downfalls as well. One of these downfalls is, the impact technology has on teenagers especially when it comes to social media and instant messaging. With that being said, there is this epidemic that the younger generations face with the internet. This includes, being harassed over the internet or cyberbullying. Unfortunately, bullying has always been an issue especially among young adolescents. However, now we have the same issue yet the bullies are able to hide behind a computer screen and this has been affecting teenagers in a negative way just as traditional bullying has. According to Merriam-Webster cyberbullying can be defined as “the electronic posting of mean-spirited messages about a person (such as a student) often done anonymously”. Cyberbullying usually results in embarrassment and can sometimes lead to an even worse feeling if continued. According to the indicators of school crime and safety report done in 2013; 6% of students in middle school were cyberbullies and 16% of high schoolers reported that in the past year they have been harassed over the internet. Even though those numbers are smaller than students who get bullied in person, cyberbullying still has negative effects on the victim. The purpose of this paper is to reach out to kids who

“A 14-year-old girl in treatment for depression, reported that she was being bullied in school. She said that girls in her classes constantly made negative comments about her appearance, dress, and behavior. They excluded her from social activities despite her desire to participate. She said that the girls were telling lies about her to boys in the class, which was damaging her reputation. What upsets her the most was that an online site had been created in which students were encouraged to write all the reasons they hated her. She cried and said that she could not avoid the bullying even outside of school. She believed the only way to escape the bullying was to not exist anymore, and she confirmed that she was suicidal.”(Karen 2016) Bullying at the age of 13-19 increases the rate of depression, anxiety, suicide, and other mental health issues. Bullying is plaguing teens across the United States and is causing possible mental health issues later in victims’ lives. Each local community needs to take action to dull the effects bullying has on teens.

In society, cyber bullying is a serious problem. This issue is amplified twofold in today’s culture due to the immense popularity of social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. While they provide communication between people, this communication can sometimes turn dangerous. Threatening and hateful comments are sent to victims daily. One victim, however, made an impact with her society. Grace McCormac, a teenager from Howard County, Maryland, committed suicide after receiving bitter comments from her classmates. This occurrence pushed Maryland legislature to create Grace’s Law; an act that states that bullying minors through social media is a crime and will be punished with a fine of $500 along with a year in prison (1). Grace’s Law is a law that should be supported because before the law, bullying restrictions weren’t effective, cyber bullying has increased the chances of suicide, and the law takes pressure off of the parents of victims.

When Amanda Todd took her life away at the age of 15, she was very kind and an outgoing person who everyone truly admire because of how she always helped out and she was one of a kind person. In October 10, 2012 Amanda Todd had committed suicide at her home in British Columbia, Canada due to the cyber bullying and harassment she had received from the past years. After her video went viral with 17 million views on youtube, people started to get to know Amanda Todd bullying story and it made people mind an impact of what happens when someone gets bullied on social media. Cyberbullying can affect someone by making them hurt themselves or thinking about doing something bad to their health. People still think that the people who bullied Amanda

Through her tragic story, many people became more aware of the widespread problem of cyberbullying that teenagers now face. Amanda Todd's video that was posted before committing suicide, was plastered on every media network for the public to see. Although her story was tragic, it showed others how real cyberbullying is and how others can so quickly destroy one's life. It also brought awareness to teenagers, showing how easy it is for one to take advantage of others online. Regardless of the blackmailing, Todd was greatly affected by the comments and threats that her “peers” would leave on her social networks. Todd’s story also gave a perfect example of why teens that deal with these types of things avoid school. Although most of the bullying occurs online, school forces teens to be face to face with those trying to humiliate them. Many victims end up

This type of bullying can take place 24 hours a day and is brought into the student’s home where it was once considered safe. Cyber-bullying has changed the world's view on this age-old subject, meanwhile the media suggests that bullying is an epidemic by reporting on tragedies that happen among our youth shedding light on the problem. One thing everyone can agree on is that the internet has provided a non-stop opportunity to bully. Nicole Edgington was celebrating her 17th birthday at a concert when it would be turned upside down by cyber-bullying. A senior in California was wrongly accused of turning some students in for coming to school intoxicated. Because the students assumed she had turned them in, they began a barrage of social media attacks along with text message threats. Nicole wrote an article, the girl who got even: A true cyber bullying story, explaining how she rose above the threats and daily negative texts. It takes courage to stand up and face your fears especially when you feel isolated. Nicole’s mom started to speak out on cyberbullying and found that teens wanted to hear other teens. Nicole would face her bully’s by speaking out about the behavior. The media has suggested that bullying is an epidemic, reporting on tragedies that happen among our youth shedding light on an age-old problem. When bullying moves to the internet it becomes more

“Even in death, Phoebe Prince was bullied” (Kennedy). That was the headline when a FaceBook page dedicated to Prince was hacked and filled with hurtful and derogatory comments about her. Phoebe was a regular teen that was cyber bullied to the extent that she couldn’t take it anymore. Her body was found in a stairwell, and at 15 years old, Phoebe hanged herself. Although cyberbullying is a vague concept to many, it should be made a criminal offense because it is causing suicides for youth, government intervention is the only solution, and the bully should be punished instead of the victim.

The playground bully is a classic figure in the life of children. Shoving, pushing, pinching, name-calling, and dirt-throwing are some of its favorite pastimes. In the modern world, however, bullying is moving to another arena, one much more sophisticated and secretive than the jungle gym. Bullying that takes place online, or cyberbullying, is a growing area of concern among the younger generations. Recent events have thrown cyberbullying, rather unceremoniously, into the spotlight. After being relentlessly tormented online for ten months, Rebecca Sedwick, a twelve-year-old girl from Florida, committed suicide by jumping from the roof of a defunct concrete plant on September 10, 2013. Two teenage girls, Katelyn Roman and Guadalupe Shaw,

Megan Meier was 13 years old and struggled with self-image and depression for many years. One day, she met a boy on MySpace and the two became very close. Megan was the happiest she had been in her entire life, and under her parents’ watchful eyes, she continued to flourish. However, on October 16, 2006, Megan became the victim of severe cyberbullying. The boy she was talking to began to say hurtful things to her, which quickly spiraled into a situation where many of her “friends” on social media began posting derogatory comments about her. Despite her parents’ pleas to get off the Internet, Megan continued to read the comments. That night, Megan’s mom found her hanged in her closet (Megan Meir Foundation, n.d.).

With the widespread presence of teen suicides, parents can 't help but wonder and worry, but they never find out where the child’s depression came of. A review of data collected between 2004 and 2010 via survey studies indicated that “lifetime cyberbullying victimization rates ranged from 20.8% to 40.6% and offending rates ranged from 11.5% to 20.1%” (PubMed Central) There are several specific ways that social media can increase the risk for the suicidal behavior. Cyber bullying and cyber harassment are serious and prevalent problems, as “approximately 2000 middle school children that indicated that victims of cyberbullying were almost two times as likely to attempt suicide than those who were not” (PubMed Central). Although cyberbullying cannot be identified as the only factor for suicide between teenagers, it increases the risk by intensifying feelings of isolation, instability, and hopelessness. According to the recent study, “approximately 43% of the students report experiencing cyberbullying during their lifetime, and 15% of students admitted to cyberbullying others during their lifetime” (Patchin, 2015). There are even more statistics showing how cyber bullies affect teenagers’ emotion and push them to self-destruction. Nowadays, social media has created virtual

Amanda was in 7th grade when her cyberbullying story began. One day she met a guy online who talked her into flashing him her breasts, a decision she regretted later. A year later, she got a message on Facebook from him that said “if you don’t put on a show for me, I will send your boobs” to everyone she knew. One day, her picture was revealed to everyone. Shortly after, she suffered from depression, anxiety and panic disorder. She also started abusing drugs and alcohol. She moved to another city, but the bullying continued, especially since the guy had made a Facebook page with her boobs as his profile picture for her new school friends to see. After that, she lost all of her

It all started when she met Josh Evans on MySpace. He was sixteen years old, and Megan developed a crush on him. Out of nowhere, on October 15th, 2006, Josh Evans started insulting Megan and saying, “I don’t know if I want to be friends with you anymore because I’ve heard you are not very nice to your friends.” Josh Evans kept insulting her, saying, “The world would be a better place without you.” That message was the last message Megan ever read. After reading it, she rushed to her room and committed suicide. After the death of Megan, a neighbor came to the Meier’s house to inform them that Josh Evans’ myspace account was a fake account created by adults who lived right down the street. The creator of the account was Lori Drew, who used to be a very close family friend. Tina Meier, Megan’s mother, started the Megan Meier Foundation to raise awareness and help people assess the damage bullying causes. We have yet to find out if Lori Drew will suffer any consequences from her crime. Megan Meier’s anecdote on cyberbullying is just one example that shows how innocent people have to deal with something they do not

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

In December of 2012, a young girl by the name of Rebecca Sedwick began to get bullied by as many as fifteen girls. The bullying began when a fourteen year old started dating a boy that Rebecca had been seeing. The girl however did not like that and started to harass Rebecca through messages on Facebook calling her names such as ugly and telling her to drink black and die. The fourteen year old encouraged her to kill herself on multiple occasions. The bullying escalated from just online message Rebecca was physically attacked at school. The fourteen year old started bullying anyone that were friends of Rebecca’s and eventually turned one of her best friends against her. The result of this bullying was the death of Rebecca and her heart broken