Cyberbullying

Ryan Halligan was an American teenager who, among other things, was bullied via the spread of rumors, that he was gay. Gail Jones was an English teenager who, at one point received over 20 silent calls in 30 minutes, her father Glyn suspects that a final call in the middle of the night, finally pushed her over the edge. Both took their own lives Both are testament to the spread of, so-called cyberbullying. Cyberbullying can, in some cases, be even worse than physical bullying, just by the sheer number of people who can view something online; Ghyslain Raza otherwise known as the "Star Wars Kid" had to finish school from a psychiatric ward, after a video of him playing with a lightsaber was posted online, it later became the most downloaded video of 2006. Another reason it can be so harmful, is that it is relentless; years ago bullying stopped when the bell rang, now its 24/7 and unlike their parents, teenagers can't just turn off there internet, they rely on it to communicate with there peers, and more often than not; homework. And also the lack of face-to-face contact means that it is harder for the bullies, to get that sense of empathy for the victim, meaning that the bullying can be taken to new heights, and the fact that the victim does not necessarily know who is bullying him/her, it could be anybody - you're best friend, a sibling, or half the school. Measures have been taken to try and stop this trend; several laws, but unfortunately most police departments dont take them seriously, choosing to go after "real crimes". "... it is becoming clear that aspects of online communications encourage people to act aggressively, prompting them to do things they wouldn't dare try in real life" As previously stated the lack of face-to-face contact can make it harder for bullies to understand the consequenses of their actions, but mostly relating to that quote; I think its because, on the web, anonymously - there is no chance of physical retaliation, so that sense of intimidation, that sometimes keeps you from saying things (stupid things) on you're mind - is not there. Everyone has, sometimes, slightly disconnected thoughts and those thoughts often, don't make it out; I think there are to many variables (filters), such as: what are people going to think of you?, will they even listen?, and perhaps im putting this wrong, I don't think the internet has set us free, in the sense that we are always like this and just to scared to say it. Actually I think it's the other way around, the snappy one-liners, mean comments and all that; seem more like a reaction to the fact that it is impossible to have, a prober conversation with people over the internet; it's a lot easier to say something. that will amount to, let's say five lines, than to write it and you don't get the crucial facial expressions or body movements, that you automatically pick up, during a conversation. So it often ends up, to my experience, being rather impersonal, which eliminates the filters. According to survey results based on American teenagers, 39% of the teens using Facebook or msn have been victims of cyberbullying. This is more than one third. Food for thought. However the surveys also shows that 23% non-users af a social network have been victims of cyberbullying, and acccording to an article from BBC news many teachers are also falling victim to cyberbullying, which can, ofcourse, affect their confidence and there professional reputation. The studies show that this is a rising problem, and as we grow more more dependant on the internet for our daily functions; it's not going away on its own. As previously stated; measures have been taken to try and quel these issues; a consortium of European reseachers recently came with a game called FearNot, which shows an animation of a child being bullied, either in the playground or online, and it's the players job to help the victim by typing suggestions in to the computer. The software will be tested in schools in the UK and Germany. More legislative action, have also taken place; such as the 2006 law that Congress passes making it a crime to "annoy, abuse, threaten or harass" another person over the internet. In South Korea a new law was passed making it mandatory for websites to record the identities of the people posting on there domain and to disclose there contact details if someone wants to sue them. It can, unfortunetly, be difficult to persuade people to take these laws seriously and the US law only applies to 18 or over, and many juristictions don't want to investigate or prosecute these cases, again with the "real crimes". On another note; victims of cyberbullying have apparantly gotten a new champion in the form of a