Caught Red Handed

If I wanted to, if I really wanted to, I could provide a list as long as this blog would let me write about instances of cyberbullying. Well maybe not. But you get the point. Cyberbullying happens all the time, it can happen to anyone, anywhere.

Bullying has always been around, since before I was born, since before you were born, actually around 1530 (Donegan, 2012). While bullying still takes place in normal face-to-face interaction, since the advancement of society, cyberbullying was coined in 2000s.

"Unlike traditional bullying, cyberbullying allows the offender to mask his or her identity behind a computer. This anonymity makes it easier for the offender to strike blows against a victim without having to see the victim’s physical response. The distancing effect that technological devices have on today’s youth often leads them to say and do crueler things compared to what is typical in a traditional face-to-face bullying situation." (Donegan, 2012, p.34)

  

As online innovations progress, cyberbullying becomes more prevalent not only amongst teens, but young adults, and children. In a study done by Sameer Hinjdu and Justin Patchin of the Cyberbullying Research Center, they found that most forms of victimization occurred in mean or hurtful comments and rumors online via the cellphone or internet (Donegan, 2012). Even though 1 in 5 students are often cyber-bullied, its important to ask whether schools have authority to take action against nonverbal bullying that takes place off of school property?

The common response that kids will be kids, does not necessarily apply. Times are changing and a consistent harassment over the internet, has been shown to cause depression, trauma and potentially suicide. Schools are unsure of what to do because of the potential to be sued for not taking action by the parents of the victim, or sued by the parents of the bully for taking action. It's a sticky situation, which is why a mandate should be created with a set of guidelines on how to move forward in situations like this. Fox News reports that legislation is in the making in Pennsylvania that will take punishment further than school discipline, but given to the jurisdiction of a juvenile court or probation officer (Fox 43 Newsroom, 2015). Doing such takes the responsibility out of the hands of the school, but criminalizes juveniles.

Pros and Cons of Policing Cyberbullying

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Donegan, R. (2012). Bullying and Cyber bullying: History, Statistics, Law, Prevention and Analysis. The Elon Journal of Undergraduate Research in Communications, 3(1), 33-42.