Introduction
The explosion of the modern technology of the digital age has given rise to a completely new kind of bullying: cyber bullying. What makes cyber bullying so problematic is that it most often takes place off school grounds. It is difficult for teachers and school administrators to punish bullies who do not actually bully at school. Teachers and school officials often lack the authority to take action against cyber bullying, or are unaware that it is even going on. With so many electronic mediums today, cyber bullying can take many different forms.
Cell phones are a huge source of cyber bullying among teenagers (Hunter 10). What makes cell phones such a formidable tool for cyber bullying is the various forms of bullying that a cell phone can give rise to. While phone companies do permit a user to block certain numbers, there is no way to prevent all unwanted or unwelcome phone calls from bullies (Hunter 10). Because nearly every young person and teen has their own cell phone, the potential for cyber bullying is magnified. With camera and video capabilities on all of today’s cell phones, cyber bullying can take the form of embarrassing pictures, videos, or group text messages. And once a picture, video, or text message has been sent, it cannot be undone.
But cell phones are not the only electronic means that are available to cyber bullies. The Internet has opened the door for many new platforms of cyber bullying. Instant messaging, chat rooms, and social media sites are highly conducive to cyber bullying. What makes online platforms so conducive to cyber bullying is the anonymity that the Internet affords the user. Many people say things on the Internet that they would never say to a person’s face (Hunter 13). This shield of anonymity that the Internet provides means that a person can never be sure of who he or she might be talking to at the other end. Behind the screen name, it could be a friend or it could be a complete stranger. This anonymity provides many cyber bullies with the ammunition needed to spread hurtful words without the fear of negative repercussions that attach when those same words are exchanged in person.
Social Media Sites
Millions and millions of teenagers use popular social media sites. Because such a large number of teenagers gather and congregate on these social media sites, cyber bullying necessarily results. Cyber bullying on social media sites can take either one of two forms: a cyber bully can post messages on a victim’s personal page or can create a special page devoted to bullying the individual victim (Hunter 15). A horrific example is the case of Kyle Kenney, who required years of professional counseling after classmates created a website called Kill Kylie Incorporated (King 851). These websites spread like wildfire within tween and teen circles. And today for word to get around, it only takes one person to send out a viral email or text message to the entire school. As websites are public domain for all to see, cyber bullies can use websites to distribute and convey harmful and hurtful information to many different people.
As the popularity of social media continues to rise among teen users, the number of cyber bullying incidents has been continually on the rise. Nancy Willard, the Executive Director of the Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use has observed that with the increasing amount of time that teenagers spend on the Internet, cyber bullying and online harassment has become more and more widespread (King 849). As cyber bullying becomes more and more of a problem, policymakers and lawmakers have attempted to address cyber bullying through various legislation and policy reform. Many states have passed statutes that make cyber bullying a crime that is punishable through various fines and sanctions.
Cyber bullying is generally defined as “willful and repeated harm” that gives rise to embarrassment, humiliation, or bullying through some electronic form of communication (Farbish 112). New Jersey is one state that has taken a strong stand against cyber bullying. In 2010, the New Jersey legislature passed the Anti-bullying Bill of Rights Act (Anti-bullying Bill of Rights Act, 2010). What is unique about this Act is that it imposes an affirmative duty on school to adopt anti-bullying policies addressed at prohibiting harassment, intimidation, and bullying. Thus, the onus is on individual school districts to take appropriate action to prevent, detect, and punish those responsible for cyber bullying.
Conclusion
While lawmakers have been relatively responsive to the ongoing needs to enact stronger measures to prevent cyber bullying incidents, cyber bulling remains a tremendous problem among teenagers. When cyber bullying can occur virtually everywhere, it is often very difficult to properly punish those who are most responsible. As it is unlikely that social media use will decline anytime soon, particularly among teenagers, cyber bullying will continue to be a problem that lawmakers and schools will need to actively address.
Works Cited
Anti-bullying Bill of Rights Act, P.L. 2010, c. 122 (2011).
Farbish, Scott. “Sending the principal to the Warden’s Office: Holding School Officials
Criminally Liable for Failing to Report Cyberbullying.” Cardozo Journal of Law
& Gender (2011): 109-139. Web. 22 Feb. 2016.
Hunter, Nick. Cyber Bullying. Chicago: Heinemann Library, 2012. Web. 22 Feb. 2016.
King, Alison Virginia. “Constitutionality of Cyberbullying Laws: Keeping the Online
Playground Safe for Both Teens and Free Speech.” Vanderbilt Law Review
(2010): 845-884. Web. 22 Feb. 2016.
