Cyberbullying In Public Schools

Attention Getter: According to Caralee Adams a school official states in her article Cyberbullying: What teachers and schools can do from the Scholastic Inc. in 2014, “42% of kids have been bullied online—1 in 4 have had it happen more than once”.

The purposes of schools include protecting and educating its students. Therefore, naturally, when a student is cyberbullying someone else, the school seeks to intervene. However, many argue that a school’s intervention of its students’ online speech is in violation of their First Amendment rights. Should schools be allowed to limit students’ online speech? That is, should schools be allowed to punish the things its students post online, even if they are done outside of school, and from their personal devices? The answer is clearly yes. From the concept, to the precedence, to the data, to a letter from the US Department of Education, evidences everywhere supports limiting students’

About 97% of today’s youth are connected to the internet in some way, and about 20-40% have experienced some form of cyberbullying at least once.1 This means that about 200-400 million people between the age of 15 and 24 have been cyberbullied. Cyberbullying has been an issue since the internet was first introduced for public use, and it is still a rising issue today. That is why it is our job to fix it.

On the issue of whether or not schools should be allowed to limit students’ online speech, I firmly believe that they shouldn’t. Doing so directly infringes upon the student’s first amendment rights to the freedom of speech, and for what? Numerous surveys have shown that cyberbullying isn’t a huge problem. Further, one document affirms the conclusion that cyberbullying is just another phase in the long-running evolution of bullying. With this essay, I aim to convince you that schools should not limit their students’ online speech, using my vast knowledge as well as cold hard facts.

By limiting online speech, schools will be able to create an amiable atmosphere and keep students focused on school work. Confining speech will also legally protect students' and teachers civil rights to prevent violation of the Fourth Amendment. Lastly, schools should restrict online speech to avert emotional agony in teachers and students and even prevent causalities such as suicides caused by cyberbullying. With increasing technology, it's crucial to develop school policies limiting online speech to keep students focused on their future without the anxiety and fear of being

Schools and the public are wasting time and resources on the over-exaggerated issue of cyberbullying. Today, schools are wasting much of their time worrying about cyberbullying and in popular media it’s mentioned too much. Schools should not be allowed to limit online speech. It’s not needed since most students haven’t been cyberbullied, cyberbullying hasn’t been proven to be very disruptive and online gossip is not common.

Cyberbullying is a relatively new threat, and it is very similar to traditional bullying. Despite the fact that cyberbullying and traditional bullying both share the common goal of harassment, cyberbullying differs from traditional bullying in that it does not stop at the schoolyard, and can continue when the victim is far away from the aggressor. It is just as devastating as common bullying, and sometimes is even more damaging. Professors Sameer Hinduja and Justin W. Patchin note in their journal, “Cyberbullying Creates Dangerous Stress and Anxiety”, that cyberbullying affects anywhere between 10-40% of students (contingent on their age group) (par. 1). J.D. Kelly A. Albin, in her article “Bullies in a Wired World”, defines cyberbullying as “…the ‘willful and repeated harm inflicted through use of computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices’” (157). It is caused by the fact that children feel their actions are mitigated when they use social media, as it creates the illusion of indirectness, and its effects range anywhere from mild depression to suicide.

Schools today are constantly updating their code of conduct due to cases involving cyberbullying. The average teenager has a social media account and can easily access the account at any given time. Many teenagers rely on social media for various reasons which then increases the potential for cyber bullying to occur. Cyberbullying can be seen on such media like, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat. Cases of cyberbullying between teenagers have created a great dilemma upon parents and school districts. Since online bullying is not done face to face, the bully feels more daring and aggression towards the victim. Most of these cases have ended in tragedy and were not taken care of correctly by administration at schools. Bullying and harassment

Cyberbullying affects middle schoolers and middle school faculty which forces them to address the issue although some believe they should not. Counselors are sometimes confused on how to help the person who is being cyberbullied and the bully because it does not happen during school hours and it could violates the student's rights. Teachers have also said that they can not tell when it is happening and do not plan to baby sit it. This is understandable because teachers are there to teach. Some do not feel it is necessary to spend more time watching the students than to teach them. Counselors now are taking the time to have group discussions with students to talk about various ways of bullying. Counselors main goal should be pointing out the importance of treating everyone equally and

Amanda communicated via social media and became a victim of cyberbullying. She moved, changed schools three times, suffered from depression, anxiety. Had been stalked, beaten, threatened and humiliated. She turned to drugs, alcohol and cutting herself and unsuccessfully committed suicide twice. In September 2012 she made a documentary on YouTube called “MyStory: Struggling, bullying, suicide, self harm”: Amanda’s YouTube video to make others aware of what happens on social media when pictures or words go out, you can never get them back. On October 10, 2012 Amanda was successful this time (Real Life Stories). Having examined the First Amendment arguments of students charged with cyberbullying, this paper will now look at Markesan School District’s First Amendment

This study presents findings that emphasize the need for effective implementation of policies and procedures to address cyberbullying in middle schools. The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of middle school administrators about cyberbullying in a large urban school district in Texas. Although this data added to the limited research about cyberbullying in middle schools, impending studies should include high schools and possibly elementary schools. High school administrators could potentially provide a different viewpoint for each category included in this study. Also, future research should include staff and students providing their perception and completing a cyberbullying survey. It is also probable that different

who were close to the victim may also be bullied because other kids might bully them, because they believe that since the victim was weak, their friends must be weak as well. In Australia there was a sibling issue with twins, one of the twins, brought a belt up to his room,and hung himself, but he realized that it would hurt and tried to claw his way out. This suicide devastated the entire community, psychologists were brought up into the school, months of psychological counseling, consequences spread through entire school as well as other schools throughout the community. Principal had to do intervention all throughout the school community, taking pills. The victim who committed suicide was only a 3rd grader.

Your life is so busy, you do not have time for anything. You come home from work and coming from your kid’s room is a noise. You walk closer and try to listen and see if you can hear it better. As you listen, you hear your child crying. You try to open the door it is locked. You knock and you hear go away! Your heart is breaking; your child is hurting and you can't help them, how can you they will not let you in. What do you do? Do you walk away and let them get their selves together or do you try to fight your way in? Most parents or even teachers just walk away not knowing their child or student is being bullied. If they would have just fought harder to

Growing up as a child that experienced weight issues and bullying, high school was not a place I looked forward to. When high school began for me, cyberbullying had undoubtedly affected my academic performance, self-esteem, and reputation. The "friends" I became closest with was not fond of me as they would spread terrible rumors about me. Being the obese kid that I was, I could not do anything about it. This lead to my days of desolation and depression that kicked in extensively. The problem that was in all of my complications was my body physique; therefore, it became mandatory for me to take action. During the summer of sophomore year, I had taken a serious training regimen that settled all my complications. I made the most significant change

Yes, schools should most definitely punish students for cyber bullying on or of school campus but to a curtain extent. Cyber bullying is just as serious, if not, more serious, than physical bullying.