Cyberbullying is the act of bullying and harassing a person with the use of electronic technology. These electronic technological devices include the use of the internet, and gadgets like cell phones, computers and laptops and tablets, etc. Over the internet, cyber bullying takes place through social media websites, emails, online chat rooms, text messages and various other websites. Cyberbullying can take place in the form of stalking someone over a period of time, harassing them through text messages and emails, spreading rumors about them and posting inappropriate and personal information about a person on social media websites. The reason why it is a serious problem in the present day is because cyberbullying affects a large number of children and teenagers in the present day. About 40% of the kids using the internet have been bullied online (DoSomething.org). About one in four has experienced it more than once in their life. Moreover, 68% of the teenagers agree that cyberbullying is a serious issue which affects a lot of teens in their lives (DoSomething.org). Also, the victims of cyberbullying are about 9 times more liable to committing suicide at the hands of cyberbullying (DoSomething.org). All these reasons and statistics considered, it is claimable that the Unites States government needs to pass laws which declare cyberbullying a felony and a major offense to commit.
Cyberbullying is a generally newer form of bullying. Back in the days, children used to bully other children by methods of physical abuse like hitting, kicking or chasing another kid away. It was also the name calling and abusing which was a common form of bullying. However with the emergence of the internet and the extensive use of social media, cyberbullying is spreading and getting more aggressive by the day (Bullying Statistics). The basic difference between bullying and cyberbullying is that bullying is done in person, usually face to face, and the bullied knows who the bully is. On the other hand, cyberbullying is done through anonymous means and the bullied can never be sure who bullied them. The bully can post and spread absolutely anything about a person they can get the hand of and spread rumors and messages about them that circulate at the speed of light on social media and all other sources such as texts and emails. The internet connects everyone so that piece of information can be forwarded to hundreds of people all at once which can be very hard to reverse (Ncpc). Many people will even believe what is posted about a person because the bully will post it in such a manner that people might think that a person is exactly what is being told to them. This makes cyberbullying a very dangerous act as it can damage the reputation and image of a person and leave a scar that is hard to eliminate.
Before it can be determined whether cyberbullying is a crime or not, it is important to establish its effects and repercussions. When an immature child or teenager is cyberbullied by an anonymous source, it completely shakes them. This is because it is something they would be least expecting and the bully knows things about them that are personal and true, and they threaten to reveal them to everyone (Ncpc). The motive of the bully may not be clear, but their intent surely is. People want to harass another person mainly out of hatred or jealousy. It means that they will do anything they can, even to the extent of publicly humiliating another person, in order to avenge their dislike for that person (Ncpc). Many young people, usually those in schools and colleges, tend to cyberbully their classmates or one particular classmate they are not in favor of. Thus, they will resort to the meanest and nastiest things they can think of in order to humiliate that one person. Cyberbullying can lead to one person feeling bullied and mentally tortured by the constant burden of defamation. Within minutes, thousands of people are misled and made to believe the false news about an individual. It is very easy to steal someone’s picture off their Facebook page or their Instagram and post it on a page for pornographic or explicit material. With the additional help from Photoshop, it is even easier to edit pictures and post them on various pages in order to disgrace and humiliate a person. Also, what many people commonly do is to use another person’s picture and make a fake profile on any of the social media platforms like on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and begin using these to add the wrong kind of people, for example, if it is a girl being cyberbullied, then her profile would probably include a lot of males, all unknown and they would be viewing the pictures and whatever content is going to be posted online.
At times, there is not just one person doing the cyber bullying rather that one person can be in the form of a group, and they can then join with them thousands of people that can support them in their process of harassing another individual. This is done by the cyber bully so that they can feel safe and comforted in the fact that they are harassing another person. It’s a very common practice nowadays when there are so many people using social media and almost everyone in their contacts is also online.
While there are many children and teenagers who are not concerned about what the cyber bully says or does, there are others, the more sensitive ones, who are prone to taking this matter seriously and are greatly affected by it. They obviously care about their image and what others think of them. This is damaged by the misuse of their pictures or leakage of any videos etc. that might reach their family, friends or teachers and damage their reputation.
In the light of this, there are great risks associated with cyberbullying. Firstly, it is the self-esteem which plummets. Usually, when on social media, people look for others’ acceptance and praise so that they can be liked by others and other people would think highly of them. With the large sum of followers, friends and ‘likes’ and positive comments that people receive on social media, they are bound to post such content which brings them positive feedback and makes others feel they are acceptable and likable people. On the other hand, when the same person is cyberbullied by another person or people, and their own content is used to make them look bad in front of other people, then it greatly damages their self-esteem and brings it to a very low level. This can be very stressful, especially for young girls who do not know how to cope with such a situation. Moreover, cyberbullying is dangerous because it can happen at any time and any place and these young people are greatly stressed at how they would deal with a situation which would occur at any time (NoBullying.com). For example, it can happen when they are sitting in class when everyone receives a video or a picture that is disgracing one person and has abusive content mentioned with it. At that point, everyone would laugh, point their fingers at that bullied, and whisper into each other’s ears, spreading the news further. This is very stressful and psychologically harmful for the individual as they would be very ashamed and embarrassed. Many times, in such a situation the bullied individual’s friends might leave them as well because their image and impression is also being affected by the content posted and they are worried that the bully might target them too if they stay with that person.
In such a case, there are many individuals who feel so helpless and ashamed that they may lose control and commit suicide. There have been numerous cases where cyberbullying has been the leading cause of suicides amongst teens and individuals who could not take the pressure
It was after this event that the parents of the dead girl began protesting for legislation to be made regarding cyberbullying a crime and then to be considered a felony. Although the bullying itself is not the main cause of suicide, but it is the effects of bullying which cause an individual to feel depressed and have suicidal thoughts which are sometimes turned into reality. A crime which can cause a young person to take their life is worthy of being taken as a serious offense. Like mentioned above, cyber bullying can happen to any person, at any time and it is
usually done by an anonymous source. However, latest technological advances don’t say it is impossible to track a person’s IP address and locate their position at a certain place. Usually, those who bully others are known to the bullied, and it can be a close friend or a close former friend. Therefore, it is not very hard to track down the source of cyberbullying. Numbers are easily traceable, and the involved authorities can recognize the culprit within seconds (Ncpc).
Cyberbullying should be made into a felonious act because it is responsible for ruining the lives of so many people. Firstly, it is unethical and immoral (Ncpc). To tease someone without revealing who a person is and to subject them to mental torture and humiliation is the worst thing that a person can do to another. Many adolescents end up getting rejected by their friends at school and feel they are no longer acceptable. They lose the ‘peer approval’ they have so dearly sought on social media and that makes them even more depressed (Ncpc). This friendlessness and humiliation lead them into losing interest in school and their performance flags down. They are not able to concentrate on their education, and they get the rest of the class. They are also teased and bullied in real life as well where people ridicule them over what they saw about them on social media. Some cyberbullied children even drop out from school and begin to spend time outdoors on their own (Clark).
Moreover, technology needs to be taken into account when cyberbullying is in the picture. There are so many words that are used for acts that were once limited and not as frequently mentioned as they are in the present day. Texts and language used in the electronic media are harmful enough, and they can damage the other person very easily. Words are what hurt the most, and when they are reiterated and spread amongst the public, the hurt is hard to bear. This is when children feel they have nowhere to go, and they begin to take the stress off their shoulders by
turning to drugs and alcohol. They wind up joining the company of others who make them forget how badly they are being treated, and they refuse to join those whom they were with, in the process of bullying.
The fact that cyberbullying is so rampant, and it has become so common in the past years is evidence enough for making it a felony in the States. About 81% of the youth in the States believe that it is easier to harass or get back at someone through social media and cyberbullying than doing it in person (DoSomething.org). Also, 70% of the students report they have seen people getting bullied online. These statistics prove that youth harassing youth is not taken as a serious matter nor are the repercussions ever considered by these bullies (DoSomething.org). They know their identities are concealed, and they can get away with the bullying easily. Hence, they are not willing to stop or consider giving it a second thought. Moreover, as almost every teenager has a cell phone in hand, it makes it even easier for them to bully others on the go. Therefore, if cyberbullying is made a felony in the country, then it will help to bring down the rate of cyberbullying in the States. The basic purpose of imposing a punishment on something is to make it a crime and make the do-er a criminal (NoBullying.com). The punishment will serve as a means of deterrence for the society, and others will think twice before committing the act, now knowing the consequences. Many teens create fake profiles of their friends or others jokingly. However, that can be harmful as well. There do exist laws in the form of several anti-harassment laws in several States. However, it needs to be made a felony so that it is taken seriously and treated more than just a childish attempt to scare another person (NoBullying.com). From the rampancy of cyberbullying in the country to the amount of people taking their lives in severe depression, it is not an offense that should be taken lightly.
On the other hand, there are people who believe that cyber bullying is not a felonious act. It is said that adolescents just commit it out of foolishness and immaturity, and they needn’t be punished severely for it. It is a heinous deed, but it should not be taken to court and discussed as it is not that serious. There already exist so many crimes which are so serious in nature that there is no room to add more into the list. Moreover with additional crimes, the burden on the quota set for crimes and punishment increases where millions of dollars are needed to compensate for it. Also, many feel that simply if teens are educated about the effects of cyberbullying and the repercussions it has on the bullied, then that might suffice for them and prevent them from doing such a thing. If teens are punished and sentenced for cyber bullying then it might lead to many wasted years for them (The Forensic Files).
However, then there is the deterrence that needs to count. These individuals need to realize that their actions cost so many lives as well. If the bullied commits suicide, then their entire family has to suffer. For this, they are supposed to suffer from the consequences of their act of cyberbullying and be treated as criminals so they can learn a lesson and their punishment will prevent others from doing so as well. Furthermore, many cyberbullies commit identity theft where they can gain advantages by using the personal data and pictures of another person. If this can cause damage to one’s personal life and property, then it is no less than a felony (The Forensic Files).
In conclusion, the United States government needs to pass laws that make cyberbullying a felony and a serious offense. The main reason for this is the high suicide rate amongst teenagers and adolescents who are so depressed that they end their lives to curb their mental suffering. If they don't commit suicide, then they will fall prey to drug addiction or alcoholism to deal with their condition. Looking at the effects and damages caused by cyberbullying, it should be treated as a felony in the country and those committing cyberbullying must be given a due punishment, so others learn from the consequences, and the rate of cyberbullying can step down.
Work Cited
Bullying Statistics. Stop cyber bullying. N.d Web. 11 May 2016.
http://www.bullyingstatistics.org/content/stop-cyber-bullying.html
Clark, Maggie. Criminal case puts focus on cyberbullying laws. The Pew Charitable Trusts.
2013. Web. 11 May 2016.
http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2013/11/04/criminal-case-puts-focus-on-bullying-laws
DoSomething.org. 11 facts about cyberbullying. 2016. Web. Web. 11 May 2016.
https://www.dosomething.org/us/facts/11-facts-about-cyber-bullying
Ncpc. What is cyberbullying? 2016. Web. 11 May 2016.
http://www.ncpc.org/topics/cyberbullying/what-is-cyberbullying
NoBullying.com. Is cyberbullying a crime? Hopefully soon! 2015. Web. 11 May 2016.
http://nobullying.com/is-cyberbullying-a-crime/
The Forensic Files. Resolved: Cyberbullying should be a criminal offense. 2010. Web. 11 May,
2016.
https://sfcdebate.wikispaces.com/file/view/PFD_December_2010.pdf
