Making Cyberbullying a Criminal Offense

In “Phoebe Prince: Should School Bullying Be a Crime?”, an article written by journalist Jessica Bennet addresses school bullying, the outcomes and the consequences that bullies deserve or not. Above all, this article aims the spotlight on bullying, a 15-year-old who took her own life due to harassment, torment, rumors, physical threats all leading it to being bullied by well-known good students. In any case, the process of being bullied has never been taken into consideration nor importance in the school system or by society in general. “It’s even gotten better over the past decade says Dan Olweus, a leading bullying expert”. However, bullying just does not disappear, it is still an issue that humankind does not have any diligence to the cause

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.

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,

“...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

Cyber bullying is becoming a bigger and bigger problem on social networking sites. There have been quite a few teenage suicides in which cyber bullying seems to have played a role. In at least one case, the suicide of Alexis Pilkington, the bullying kept going on her tribute page even after her death. (Glor) “Cyber-Bullying can cause the victim to become chronically depressed and to experience a complete loss of self-esteem. A short exposure to Cyber-Bullying can have long term effects. It can result in Cyber-Bullying Suicides.” (Cyber-Bullying Suicides - Cyber Bullycide Victims ) It has many forms such as degradation, harassment, cyber stalking, impersonation, flaming (using vulgar and angry language to start fights with the victim), password theft and hacking accounts, posting photos or videos, among several others. (Cyber-Bullying Suicides - Cyber Bullycide Victims ) Bullying has been around way before the internet, but now that it is online, rumors, pictures or other forms of cyber bullying make their way around the community much faster so it is easier to humiliate someone in front of more people. “In the Internet era, it appears there are more people interested in spewing hate than in countering it. On the social networking sites and on YouTube, inflammatory, hate-filled content overwhelms the limited efforts to

Imagine if someone was being bullied, and the person felt depressed and started hurting themselves because the bully repeatedly bullies them. Would you like it if the bully didn't get a prosecuted for what he/she has done to the victim? People who cyberbully repeatedly should be prosecuted. They should be prosecuted because they could be threatening someone's life, or they could hurt themselves or worse commit suicide. Even though people believe that the First Amendment gives you the right to free speech, individuals should be prosecuted because it can cause people to have mental issues, depression, etc, because free speech should not be taken too far.

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.

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

Every day, millions of people roam the internet. There has been much discussion on whether or not people should be prosecuted for cyber bullying. I believe that they should. Although many think that prosecution affects the first amendment, cyber bullying promotes getting hurt, affects the targets life, and promotes depression.

This paper addresses a situation in which a student notified this author that she was being subjected to bullying through another classmate’s Facebook page. A discussion of steps required by Oregon’s statutes, the Lake Oswego School District 's board policies and the student handbook, will provide a basis for examining any First Amendment arguments that the bullying has raised, with a discussion of the author 's First Amendment responses consistent with applicable Supreme Court cases.

Cyberbullying is an ever-growing issue that occurs daily. A survey was conducted on 80 random teenagers with the topic of Cyberbullying. The survey consisted of 15.19% of the surveyors being between ages14-16, 45.57% of the surveyed were teenagers between the ages of 16 to 18, 27.85% were between the ages of 18 to 20 and 11.39% of the surveyed were above 20. The survey results showed that 88.75% of people knew someone who has experienced cyberbullying and 58.75% have experienced cyberbullying themselves. The survey also stated that 40.51% of the 10-surveyed said that they know someone who has committed suicide based on the influences online. Out of the 58.75% who

Cyberbullying is a problem that has only come to light in the last few years. It has many different effects on people; it can cause depression, suicidal thoughts and actions, and effects the way students do in school. Cyberbullying is one of the top leading causes of suicide in teens and young adults (Swearer). Cyberbullying is a major problem that this country needs to get under control because it is leading to self-harm and suicide in teens and young adults. It causes an unsafe learning environment, and the victim cannot get away from the bullying because the attackers stalk them through social media accounts and their cell phones. So, how does

“Several states across the United States have been continuously adding cyberbullying on top of harassment laws that have already been in place” (National Conference of State Legislatures). The crackdown on cyberbullying has become a big priority for many lawmakers nationwide. New laws will give power to school officials and prosecutors to make decisions based on the severity of the situation. A school official will have the ability to suspend or expel the bully, while a prosecutor will have the ability to fine the bully and/or up to one year of imprisonment. In the state of Maryland as of October 1, 2013, ‘Grace’s Law’, was passed. This law states that, “It prohibits a person from using an “interactive computer service to maliciously engage in a course of conduct that inflicts serious emotional distress on a minor or places a minor in a reasonable fear of death or serious bodily injury. Violators who are guilty of a misdemeanor are punishable by imprisonment for up to one year and/or $500 maximum fine” (General Assembly of Maryland). ‘Grace’s Law’ was proposed after 15 year old Grace McComas committed suicide in April of 2012, after relentlessly being cyber bullied over Twitter, Facebook, and Email. Seeing cyberbullying laws being passed by states makes it more comforting for victims of cyberbullying because he/she knows that their bully will one day be held liable for their vile behaviors.

In the movie Cyberbully, (Cyberbully. Charles Binamé. Emily Osment, Kay Panabaker, Meaghan Rath, and Kelly Rowan. Muse Entertainment, 2011. DVD.) Taylor Hillridge is a teenage girl who is a victim of a cyber bully and ultimately tried and succeeded in getting a law passed with her mom, making cyber bullying illegal. The laws that support the victims are weak and hardly make the bullies think twice. The amount of kids who take their own lives because of this horrendous act is outstanding and the bullies should be punished. Cyber bullying should have legal ramifications.

The case of twelve year old Rebecca Sedwick, who leapt to her death is a prime example of what bullying leads to when there is not enough done to stop the bullying nor stiff enough penalties to make sure it is prevented from going this far. She was bullied relentlessly at school, on her phone, and through social media by two young girls. Her mother was left to bury her daughter out of her own pocket even though she took all the necessary steps to protect her daughter. With schools and social media becoming a breeding ground for vicious verbal and sometimes physical attacks, who is responsible for such antics that lead to many victims taking their own lives or having to relocate? With no clear cut on who is financially or criminally responsible, the victim’s family is often left to deal with the unexpected finances and no way of having any closure or piece of mind knowing the responsible party was held accountable. Interventions, financial restitution, and criminal charges should all be mandated if it is found that the school system or parents of the bully did little to nothing to stop the bullying.