Cyber bullying Should be Criminal

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Recommended: Effects of cyber bullying in school aged children

“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” Those words have resounded through the years. According to Kohl-Welles “those words were never true when baby boomers uttered them decades ago on playgrounds across America, and they are no more true now” (as cited in Friedman, 2011, p. 77). This chant was used in response to schoolyard bullies, to let the bullies know that their cruel and mean words cannot hurt. Now bullying has moved from the schoolyard to cyber space. Ever since the introduction of technology in society, such as the Internet, cell phones and with the social media websites on the rise, it has become apparent that the Internet can be a source for good, but can also be an outlet that teens can use to humiliate and harass other teens because of who they are. This type of bully is called a cyber-bully. Cyber bullying is on the rise according to Jacobs (2010), with cyber bulling of American kids between 10-17, increasing 50% from 2000 to 2005 and the number of young people who has bullied others online increased from 14% to 28% in the same period (p. 98). Cyber bullying has a certain amount of anonymity and secrecy. Bullies can cloak who he or she is from the victim by using false information and logging on to a different computer that is not their own. The bullying also continues long after school lets out for the day. The bully is able to reach the victim 24/7 through the Internet or by using his or her cellphone and continue the harassment. Also when mean and cruel posts are posted on the Internet, the victim and the bully are not the only ones that see the words and photos used, but all of the bullies’ friends with access to the Internet can see the humiliating posts. Cyber bullying hurts the...

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... Undergraduate Research in Communications, 3, 33-42.
Education News. (n.d.). Expert say bullying does not lead to suicide. Retrieved from http://www.educationnews.org/k-12-schools/expert-say-bullying-does-not-lead-to-suicide/
Friedman, S. L. (Eds.). (2011). Introducing issues with opposing viewpoints: Cyberbullying. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press.
Hindjua, S. (2009). Cyberbullicide-the relationship between cyberbullying and suicide among youth. Retrieved from http://cyberbullying.us/cyberbullicide-the-relationship-between-cyberbullying-and-suicide-among-youth
Jacobs, T. (2010). Teen cyberbullying investigated. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit.
Palmeri, J. (2011). Cyberbullicide-when cyberbully victims can’t escape.retrieved from New York University, New York, Applied Psychology Opus website: http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/opus/issues/2011/spring/cyberbullicide

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