How Should Cyberbully Be Prosecuted

In the ophelia project fact sheet 60 % of targets said that their online experiences as a target of cyber bullying affected them at school and at home by causing them intense anger. Cyber bullies are very mean and should be prosecuted. Cyber bullies cause mental and physical harm as well as the message the bully is relaying can be viewed by a much bigger audience and the message will forever be in cyberspace. Even though some people believe that prosecuting cyber bullies violates the 1st amendment, individuals should be prosecuted for cyber bullying because cyber bullies are making threats which violates the 1st amendment.

Cyberbullying is an everyday situation for teenagers around the world. Many teenagers suffer from bullies that are treating them badly and differently than other people. Individuals should be prosecuted for statements made on social media because of the impact that it has on the victim. The cyberbully should be prosecuted because of how the victim reacts to the situation, how the bully harrasses them, and how it spreads around the internet.

  Did you know that nearly 1 in 3 teens have admitted to being a victim of cyberbullying? That’s an absurdly large number of teens! But what really is cyberbullying anyway? Well, the Cyberbullying Research Center defines it as “willful and repeated harm inflicted through the use of computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices”. Congresswomen Linda Sanchez is currently sponsoring a bill that would make bullying through an electronic means a federal crime and I wholeheartedly support it! Individuals should definitely be prosecuted for statements made on social media.

Typically, the person that is doing the cyberbullying is generally a victim of bullying themselves. How is cyberbullying done? Normally, the use of electronic devices to send messages that tend to emotional hurt someone feelings. Social media can lead to many negative outcomes when communicating to others. For example, if a teenage boy responds on a girl’s photo stating she is “ugly” is considered online bullying. One popular social media site is Facebook that over millions of people use for communicating. Facebook can be a positive source to communicate with family and friends that you may not see often. Also, it can be a very negative source that a lot of people use to criticize one another. Therefore, cyberbullying occurs nationwide

What is cyberbullying? Cyberbullying is, “Writing hurtful statements on a social media site or website” according to “What is Cyberbullying?” published by the Ophelia Project. Regular bullying is usually face-to-face and usually ending with someone getting physically harmed. Cyberbullying is only hurting someone’s feelings not physically harming them. “If the child in question can’t handle... [their feelings getting

“...1 in 3 teens [have] admitted to being a victim of cyberbullying…” says child psychologist, Eden Foster, in reference to a survey, talked about in “The Dangers of Cyberbullying” by Brett Warke, that shows the absolute significance of cyberbullying in this day and age. Cyberbullying on social media is everywhere and it’s about time that someone took some action against it, and, in this case, taking legal action via prosecution may be the best way to go. Let it not be said that cyberbullying and bullying are different, infact, the only difference is the platform they take place on. Cyberbullying is done with the same malicious intent as face-to-face bullying is done with: the intent to hurt a victim in a psychological or physical way- showing

Not to mention with everyone being connected throughout social media makes it easier for the word to get around faster and make it worse for that person. Cyberbullying might not involve physical abuse and the words said will not make it hurt any less, but the posts someone puts up will be there for anybody to see and might not ever go away. Cyberbullying is no better than bullying because it can still lead to psychological or emotional problems many kids have to face. In some serious cases it can lead to depression or even worse suicide. It can be prevented by social media websites censoring any harsh or mean comments before the posts are even posted. Although it is not their fault, that is how the problem starts and continues.

Initially, cyber bullying promotes getting physically injured as stated in the article “The Danger of Cyber bullying”. Nearly 1 in 3 teens have admitted to being cyber bullied. This is a big problem that is only going o lead to bigger problems later on in life. If it isn’t stopped now, then it might never be stopped. However, cyber bullies think this is funny, but clearly you can get physically injured.

Furthermore, prosecuting individuals for statements made on the internet would squander taxpayers’ money. As “The Dangers of Cyber bullying” noted, “Congresswoman Linda Sanchez is sponsoring the Megan Meier Cyber Bullying Prevention Act.” Although some may say that financing the court system for the prosecution of “social media bullies” is necessary, it is proven that will also waste money and time. Surely, individuals should not be penalized for statements made on the internet.

Bullying has been around since the beginning of time. Parents may remember when they were kids and the bully would pick on them or their friends by stealing lunch money or just getting beat up, and that was the end of it. The victims remember the hurt, frustration, and sadness it caused. However, these days, bullying is not just happening on the playground or at the bus stop, it is happening on the Internet and on cell phones, making it possible to bully a child 24 hours a day with multiple bullies and thousands of kids watching. Cyberbullying follows children nonstop and into the safety of their house. Sometimes kids are afraid to inform their parents about the cyberbullying that they will think its there fault. Or that their parents will call the bullies parents or other parents, making the bullying worse. However, the effect and pain that comes from cyberbullying is real. People underestimate cyberbullying, just because it is happening online and not in person. Cyberbullying can lead to many different factors like drinking, and drugs, poor grades, depression, eating disorders. Many students have even taken their own lives because of another student saying something to them online. Cyberbullying has been taking place a lot more in middle and high schools because of the increased usage of social media networks and technology. Cyberbullying is worse and more harmful than traditional bullying.

Although cyberbullying is something that should be prevented I admit that it has caused many incidents over the years. People made unthoughtful actions as being the victims of this and committed suicide or hurting themselves. “Although cyberbullying may seem insignificant in the big picture, in a survey conducted in 2006, nearly 1 in 3 teens admitted to being the victim of cyberbullying. Cyberbullying can also lead to kids getting physically injured.” Teenagers should not be punished criminally because of their

The victims can harm themselves over what the bully has told them, insulted them, anything. Source 3: fact sheet, states “60% of targets said that their online experiences as a target of cyber bullying affected them at school, home, and with friends, and reported experiencing feelings of frustration, anger, and sadness.” Cyber bullying can affect people in so many ways by harming themselves, etc. In source 1: radio interview, it states, “In 2008, Lori Drew was convicted of violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act after creating a fake Myspace account. Assuming the fake identity of a teenage boy, Drew used the account to flirt with, and then later break up with, Megan Meier.” See the bully can not only be someone people have met, it can be people they have never met.

For this reason, it is difficult to even have a witness/bystander to speak when someone has been bullied, to help the victim. The issue with cyberbullying is that technology can be used as an advantage in many ways, compared to traditional bullying where the bully is at the eyes of everybody but the cyberbully only at eyes of the screen. There are a great number of tools and methods to cyberbullying.

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.

Cyberbullying occurs around the clock and everyone is able to witness the harassment when it is published online.