CYBER BULLYING
Kristoffer Stuvstad
CRIMINAL JUSTICE 1010
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Kristoffer Stuvstad
Gary Cox
Criminal Justice 1010
July 23, 2014
Cyber Bullying
Social Networking has benefitted humanity in several ways. For example, it has
helped many people keep in contact with family and friends, share important life events,
and keep up on current events. However, social media has done as much harm as it
does good. It has opened the door for criminals to harass others over the internet,
despite the fact that they aren’t physically harming others. Unfortunately, this cyber
bullying has led to an increase in suicides. Although every state has some sort of law
that punishes any form on online crime, there have been multiple cases regarding cyber
bullying. In addition, statistics have shown that cyber bullying has hurt many people,
which strongly suggest that cyber bullying must be labeled as a crime. In order to put an
end to cyber bullying, several measures must be taken by parents, teens, and children.
The History of Social Media
Social media had its beginnings as early as 1969, with the invention of
CompuServe, which was the first internet service provider that used dial-up internet (1).
In 1993, CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) donated the World Wide
Web (WWW) to the entire world, making the internet accessible internationally (1). In
1999, the first social networking website, Friends Reunited, was launched, then another
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website, MySpace, in 2003, along with Facebook in 2004, and Twitter in 2006 (1). By
2009, the internet had over 27 billion web pages, and a year later, it was estimated that
the internet had about 1.97 billion users, which was nearly 30% of the world’s
population (1). As of 2013, more and more people were becoming active in social
media. Facebook had 1.11 billion users, Twitter had 500 million users, and Google+
with 343 million users (1). In September 2013, about 90% of young people (ages 18-29)
who use the internet are active in social networking (2). In January 2014, about 74% of
adults who use the internet are active on social networking websites (2). Looking at
these statistics, it is very promising that the number of social media users will rise in the
future.
The Rise of Bullying
The rising number of social media users has showed us that social media is
becoming very popular worldwide. However, this has opened the door for bullies to
attack users over the internet. As of 2014, 52% of young people report that they have
been bullied online, and 33% of those teens bullied, they have been threatened online
(3). Also, 95% of teens admitted that when they have witnessed online bullying, have
ignored such harassment (3). In addition, over half of children and teens bullied, they
never report the bullying to their parents, and only 1 out of 6 parents of teens are aware
of the problems of cyber bullying (3). Most cyber bullying has also come in the form of
insults and hurtful comments, as well as the spreading of rumors (3). Although every
young person of every race has been a victim to cyber bullying, boys are more likely to
get bullied online more so than girls (3). Cyber bullying victims have also shown signs of
low self-esteem, with several considering, or even committing, suicide (3). Sometimes,
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internet users have defended victims of cyber bullying. In a study regarding cyber
bullying, 84% of teens have witnessed others defending the bullied person, with 27%
claiming that they have seen this happen frequently (4). Also, 84% of people have
witnessed the defender asking the cyber bully to stop harassing the victim, with 20%
claiming that they have watched this happen frequently (4). However, 66% of teens
report that when they have witnessed cyber bullying, they have seen others join the
bully in harassing the victim, with 21% admitting that they have taken part in such
harassment (4). Also, 43% of teens ages 13-17 have admitted that they have been
bullied in some way over the internet in the past year (4). About one million children
have been bullied over Facebook over the past year (4). Today, many teens agree that
bullying is a serious problem. In fact, 68% of teens were concerned with cyber bullying
(4). Along with that, 81% of teens believe that online bullying is easier than bullying inperson, and 80% believed that it is easier to hide bullying over the internet than inperson (4). According to cyber bullies being interviewed, the two main reasons they
harassed or threatened others online was because the victim “deserved it” and they
wanted to retaliate for hurting them in some way previously (4).
Although bullying isn’t necessarily done online every day, it is a serious problem
in our modern day and age. According to the CDC, suicide is the third leading cause of
death among young people, with about 4,400 young people committing suicide every
year (5). Approximately 14% of high school students commit suicide every year, and 7%
of them attempt it (5). In a Yale University study, it was discovered that victims of
bullying were 2 to 9 times more likely to commit suicide than those who are not bullying
victims (5). In a British study, girls ages 10-14 were found to have a higher risk of
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suicide (5). In a study conducted by ABC News, 30% of children and teens are either
bullying others or victims of bullying. In addition, about 160,000 children and teens stay
home every day from school because of fear of bullying (5).
Cyber Bullying and the Law
Cyber bullying, in my opinion, is a form of mala in se. According to Larry Gaines,
mala in se can be defined as a criminal act “if it would be considered wrong even if
there were no law prohibiting it” (6). The reason why I believe that cyber bullying is a
crime that is wrong in itself is because people are harassing and bullying others, which
in most cases leads to suicide. Unfortunately, there have been several important
incidents of cyber bullying as of late. In September 2013, 12-year-old Rebecca Sedwick
committed suicide after being bullied online by two girls, who were 14 and 12 years old,
respectively (7). According to Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, the 14-year-old suspect
began dating a guy that Rebecca was seeing frequently. This disturbed the suspect,
who began to harass and insult Rebecca on Facebook. She frequently sent messages
to Rebecca on Facebook, calling her ugly, told her to “drink bleach and die”, and
encouraged her to commit suicide (7). This escalated into confrontations at their school,
Crystal Lake Middle School, with one fight breaking out. However, witnesses reported to
the police that Rebecca did not initiate these confrontations, which strongly suggest that
Rebecca was bullied (7). The 14-year-old suspect then harassed anyone who was
friends with Rebecca, and convinced the 12-year-old suspect, who was friends with
Rebecca, to start harassing Rebecca (7). According to authorities, Rebecca tried to start
at a new school for the 2013-14 school year, but the bullying continued online (7). The
14-year-old suspect was taken into custody for one night, while the 12-year-old suspect
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was released by a judge into the custody of her parents (7). This recent case of cyber
bullying is certainly devastating, and shows us that this needs to stop immediately. In
addition, I believe that federal and state laws must begin to impose harsher penalties on
cyber bullies, even if the criminal is under the age of 18.
Unfortunately, there have been several important cyber bullying cases before the
one involving Rebecca Sedwick. In 2003, a 15-year-old boy named Ryan Halligan got
into a fight with a bully who had harassed him for several years. However, the bullying
stopped because of the fight, and they instead became friends. Later, Ryan shared a
humiliating personal story, which caused the new friend to return to bullying, and started
a rumor that Ryan was gay. Along with that, Ryan believed he made friends with a
popular girl on AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), where he shared several personal stories
with her. However, Ryan discovered that the girl tried to trick Ryan into thinking that she
liked him, but instead shared his personal stories with her friends. This led to Ryan’s
suicide on October 2003. Although there were no criminal charges filed, Vermont
Governor Jim Douglas signed into law Vermont’s Bully Prevention Law (8).
In 2006, Megan Meier struggled with her physical body, as well as depression.
However, she met a 16-year-old boy named Josh Evans on MySpace, where they
became friends and communicated frequently. A month later, Josh informed Megan that
he didn’t want to be friends anymore, and began to insult Megan, and other classmates
followed along soon after. The next evening, Megan hung herself in the closet of her
bedroom. However, her mother was informed that Josh Evans was not a real person,
and that it was a fake MySpace account created by her neighbor Lori Drew, her
employee Ashley Grills, and Drew’s daughter. Although there were no criminal charges
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filed a year later, Drew was charged with one count of conspiracy, and three counts of
violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act for “accessing protected computers
without authorization” (8). In August 2008, Megan’s mother Tina worked with the
Missouri legislature to pass a law that tried to prevent cyber bullying, which would later
be introduced as the “Megan Meier Cyber Bullying Prevention Act” in April 2009 (8).
In 2008, Sycamore High School senior Jessica Logan sent explicit photos of her
body to her boyfriend. After they broke up, the photo was sent to hundreds of highschool students in at least seven Cincinnati-area high schools, according to the
Cincinnati Enquirer (8). Jessica was constantly harassed over social media, and killed
herself after attending a funeral (8). According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, Jessica’s
parents sued Sycamore High School and the Montgomery police because they did little
to prevent the bullying of their daughter. In 2012, Ohio Governor John Kaisch signed
House Bill 116, also known as the “Jessica Logan Act”, which “addresses cyber bullying
and expands anti-harassment policies” (8).
In 2009, Hope Sitwell shared an inappropriate picture of her upper body to her
boyfriend. Later, this photo was shared among many students at six different schools in
Ruskin, Florida. Hope was constantly harassed and bullied, with the addition of a
MySpace page known as the “Hope Hater Page”, where additional bullying continued.
She would later hang herself in September 2009 (8). In 2011, Hope’s parents sued
Hillsborough County school officials for not taking action to put the bullying to a stop
“after learning the teen had suicidal thoughts” (8).
In September 2012, Amanda Todd released a video on Youtube called “My story:
Struggling, bullying, suicide, self-harm”, in which she uses flash cards on how she was
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bullied for several years of her life. The video had over 17 million views on Youtube (8).
When Amanda was in 7th grade, she used video chat to meet others on the internet.
However, one person asked Amanda to reveal her upper body on camera to himself,
and she did so. Later, this person made this picture go viral on the internet, and he used
it as his profile picture on Facebook. Although Amanda moved schools multiple times to
avoid poor treatment, she was constantly harassed. According to Carol Todd, Amanda’s
mother, the person “kept stalking her. Every time she moved schools he would go
undercover and become a Facebook friend” (8). About a month after Amanda posted
her video on Youtube, she committed suicide. Soon after Amanda’s death, it was
reported by CTV News in Canada that lawmakers were thinking about making a law that
would create a foundation for a strategy that would prevent bullying in Canada (8). Also,
the Amanda Todd Legacy blog was created to serve as a website to “serve as a bulletin
board for all special events and initiatives to support anti-bullying education, help young
people struggling with mental health issues and support educational programs that help
people with learning disabilities” (8).
All of the above incidents of cyber bullying aren’t the only ones that have
happened; there are multiple cases worldwide, and the number will only increase if little
or no measures are taken. In the United States, every state and territory has at least
one law that punishes general bullying (9). However, some states, including Utah, do
not have cyberbullying legislation, but they do contain laws that ban certain bullying
practices and can be used to prosecute cyberbullying (9). On the other hand, other
states do have laws against cyberbullying, with some of these states classifying
cyberbullying as a misdemeanor or a felony (9). Although cyber bullying is an ongoing
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issue today and will continue throughout the future, it is a positive sign that every U.S.
state and territory has passed a law that seeks to prevent bullying.
Conclusion
In conclusion, cyber bullying has been, is, and will be a serious issue among
many young adults. However, in order to stop cyber bullying from expanding, several
measures must be taken by everyone of all ages. As for teens, in order to prevent
themselves from becoming a victim of cyber bullying, some good measures include
keeping online accounts secure, such as logging out once finished, setting up privacy
controls, keeping passwords away from others, and not opening messages from people
you don’t know (10). Other measures include thinking about what you post on social
media before publishing it on the internet, and not posting inappropriate images of
yourself (10). As for parents, in order to keep their children from being cyberbullied, they
must have their child’s password for every website that they use, monitor every
electronic device, and teach their children to respond to others the way they want to be
treated (11). If their child is a victim of cyber bullying, parents must look for signs of fear,
stress, and signs of not being interested in social events. Also, parents must not panic if
they discover that their child is bullied, be willing to help their child without punishing
them for being bullied, inform them that their parents can be trusted, and talk to other
parents and teachers (11). As for our law enforcement and government, they are
providing laws that prevent bullying. However, in order to further address cyber bullying,
I believe that the criminal justice system must label cyber bullying as a crime, with its
punishment being either a hefty fine, or extended time in custody, even if the accused is
younger than 18 years of age. To sum it up, with rapid advancements in technology,
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cyber criminals and/or cyber bullies are beginning to have a horrible impact not only in
our country, but around the world as well. However, if parents and children are able to
properly prevent and handle cyber bullying, and the government and the criminal justice
system can start enforcing stricter cyber bullying laws, then I believe that the number of
cybercrimes and cyber bullying incidents can significantly drop.
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Works Cited
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<http://nobullying.com/cyber-bullying-statistics-2014/>.
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Learning, 2013. . Print.
7. Newcomb, Alyssa. "Teen Charged in Fatal Cyberbullying Case of Rebecca
Sedwick to Remain in Jail." . ABC News, 15 Oct. 2013. Web. 16 July 2014.
<http://abcnews.go.com/US/teen-charged-fatal-cyberbullying-case-rebeccasedwick-remain/story?id=20580689>.
8. "Six Unforgettable Cyberbullying Cases." . NoBullying.com, 2014. Web. 16 July
2014. <http://nobullying.com/six-unforgettable-cyber-bullying-cases/>.
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9. "Cyberbullying and the States." . National Conference of State Legislatures, 9
July 2010. Web. 16 July 2014. <http://www.ncsl.org/research/civil-and-criminaljustice/cyberbullying-and-the-states.aspx>.
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<http://www.cyberbullying.us/Top_Ten_Tips_Teens_Prevention.pdf>.
11. Handler, Suzanne. "10 Ways Parents Can Help Prevent Cyberbullying." .
PsychCentral, 2013. Web. 16 July 2014.
<http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2013/12/02/10-ways-parents-can-helpprevent-cyberbullying/>.