In a perfect world a child returns from school everyday with no issues that need to be addressed. The reality is however, that children especially teenagers face conflicting encounters in their day to day interactions. For instance the age old issue of bullying has taken a giant leap from what it originally was. Reason being supported by research that modern technology has given bullies a way to harass others at the easy click of a mouse through the internet. This can also be done through the short message service (SMS text messaging).
Some argue that this new virtual type of bullying is just a classic case of 'sticks and stones',implying that words don't bruise. It would be natural to quickly assume that they've never had children go through cyber bullying, so how could their opinions count?Studies have backed up my belief that cyber bullying is an issue worth looking into. For some it is a waste of time but there have been deaths and arrests involved with this matter. The infamous 'Megan Meier' case became an eye opener for many as it would have raised awareness amongst those who didn't think it was a big deal. What was more monstrous, was that it wasn't the 13 year old victim's classmate who targeted her. Instead it was her mother, pretending to be a boy in a vicious attempt to find out the victim's thoughts of her daughter. This low act led to the unfortunate suicide of Megan Meier.
Internet based problems are easily ignored, (like on Facebook and Bebo online communities) when young people attack each other on it because parents may assume that only face-to-face or physical abuse leads to harm. But as I mentioned earlier, the advance in technology has only paved the way for advances in bullying causing a rise in social hardships in school interactions. This often follows students back to their sanctuaries; their homes. For a teen this may be the final straw because if they don't feel safe at home as their last resort then where else can they find peace? I rest my case - cyber bullying is far more impacting than the traditional kind. This is because it creates room for a greater number of people and word gets around very rapidly. The anonymity of the internet makes it an even more dangerous tool when abused.
A case study showed that cyber bullying can get out of hand with ways of protecting itself through this very thing we know of as freedom of speech. This study was an in-depth look into the consequences faced by Maxwell Zucker as he and a group of other senior male classmates made a disturbing website dedicated to ruining the lives of the girls in the school’s freshman year. Why? Because freshman Gretchen declined his invitation to be his partner in the school’s formal event. This was enough reason for him to feel as though every female student in Gretchen’s year needed to be punished. It’s clear to see that suspending the male students was a natural decision for the principal to make. From the Zucker family’s prospective, it’s no surprise either that they would rush to drastic measures involving legal action, because he does have a reputation to protect. But it also doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realise that the Zucker family used the First Amendment right to free speech as a reason to excuse Maxwell’s unacceptable behaviour. Gretchen’s family, along with other victims’ families would feel that naturally the female population involved are the only victims in this whole mess. Reason being that despite the Zuckers’ lawyer claiming harmless internet usage, the environment these freshman girls would face at school every day would become unsafe as rumours spread at rapid speeds. But because of parts of the law protect cyber bullies, there will always be complications in situations such as removing damaging websites of victims like that which was covered in the ‘Zucker VS Gibbons Prep School’ case study.
Because many still don't take this seriously, it is no shock many pre-teens, teens and their families continue to deal with the ongoing struggle. Research has found that the required education in and out of school on cyber bullying is an effective treatment on it. But even so, this is just the easy part. The difficult task is the first step, convincing the general public or the greater population that this is an issue so that we have a case. Only then can society start being productive on the matter, and in conclusion we can finally get somewhere.
