Cyber Bullying

A child, only fourteen years old, is sitting in the back of class. She has a pencil between her index finger and thumb, and nibbles on the eraser thoughtfully as the rest of the class writes in silence. She has a thin, pretty face and dark hair that dances around her shoulders when she walks. Like every other child in that room, she craves excellence. She wants to be popular. She wants to have friends. Just like everyone else. On the outside, these adolescents are all the same. They are average. To rise to the top, they must push their competitors down. They bully. The snarl at each other and bite at each others' tails. They put their peers down. Now that we're living in the twenty-first century, they have two things to their advantage: cellular phones and the internet. To use these two things to bully is called 'cyber bullying'. Studies show that 43% of today's teens are being cyber bullied. Cyber bullying is just as hurtful as real-life bullying. This 'average' girl is harassed and verbally attacked at school every single day. When she goes home, she checks her text messages. "Go on facebook; You have to see this!" from a close friend. She turns on her computer and as it loads, closes her eyes and hopes it isn't as bad as yesterday's. When she opens her eyes, her computer is fully loaded and it's patiently waiting for her to use it. She logs onto Facebook. It's worse than she thought. As soon as she logs on, three chat windows spring up from the bottom of the page. Three upperclassman boys. Each has a smile that makes her heart flutter. Football team. Basketball team. Wrestling team. Three different swearwords and insults are implemented. Feeling crushed, she closes their chat windows and takes a deep breath. She clicks on the little red number on the corner of the screen. More. From boys she doesn't know. From girls she doesn't know. But they all seem to know her. They relentlessly badger her about rumors that aren't true. Some of her friends don't even bother to find out the truth; they call her a 'slut'. 'Worthless'. 'No one cares about you, why don't you go kill yourself?' She slams her laptop shut and crosses her arms. When will it stop? Her world is spinning before her eyes and all she sees is hateful words and curses. And every day she endures this. Sometimes the pain feels good; the insults that she now believes to be true have deteriorated her self-respect and self-esteem to nothing. She feels like she deserves the pain, so she reads them over and over again, even saving the worst of them. These hateful, harmful words are slowly destroying her from the inside out. Eventually, this poor girl becomes the nothing she comes to think that she is. These bullies will incessantly torture her. Their hunger for her pain is insatiable. They're fueled by jealousy and anger. Maybe she'll learn a lesson; maybe this will make her stronger. Or maybe she'll break. Depression threatens to consume her as this harassment wears her down. As a result, she could begin to cut or burn herself. Her self-respect and judgement have been severely damaged. Cyber bullying must be made a criminal offense.
'Cyber bullying' is a term that means to use the internet or other technological resources to support hostile behavior and intentionally put harm upon the victim. Cyber bullying includes but is not limited to libel (falsified information that is spread widely over the some sort of publication), unwanted cyber sexual harassment (undesired sexts or come-ons), outing (forwarding of private, personal, or sexual texts, instant messaging chats, or emails), and flaming (to use vulgar language and capital letters with the intent to start a fight). While school ends at three for most teenagers, the internet is always there. Bullying can happen to anyone, and they are just as susceptible to cyber bullying. The effects of cyber bullying are long-lasting as well; it can lead to depression, anxiety disorders, and dangerously low self-esteem. Those poor children who suffer from cyber bullying will be scarred for the rest of their lives. These bullies cannot just be turned away from or ignored. They will always be there.
Some may say that the computer can be turned off and the cellular number can be blocked. Furthermore, when this girl joined Facebook or Myspace, she was accepting that whatever happens will happen. However, one cannot think that merely because the computer is off, the bully will not continue to destroy this girl's reputation online. Cyber bullying is an issue that must be addressed, and definitely not one that can afford to have a blind eye turned upon it. The victim has no control over what is happening. They joined Facebook to connect with their friends and family, not be torn to shreds every day. Everyone, including both the victim and the bully, have a right to be on the internet. In spite of that, everyone also has a right to feel safe while on the internet. There should be some sort of large, major consequence for cyber bullying; something for the attackers to take into consideration before they strike. If cyber bullying were turned to a criminal offense, the outcome of their actions could mean possible jail time or worse.
The effects of cyber bullying can be detrimental and will forevermore scar the victim. It can gradually worsen to the point that the victim begins to suffer from mental illnesses like depression. Some could begin to lash out or behave irrationally, while others turn to self-mutilation to soothe the anger and sadness inside. In rare cases, a child may decide to take their own life. One such example is the 19 year old Abraham Briggs. He was a young man struggling with depression. He blogged often and most of the time, receiving many heartless comments and insults. People used vulgar words to insult him, and encouraged him to kill himself. Briggs had discussed his suicide on his blog before (describing what he was to use: opiates and benzodiazepine, which are drugs used for the treatment of insomnia and depression). He was streaming the video live. People cruelly commented on the video and his blog: "What a coward." "You want to kill yourself? Do it. Do the world a favor and stop wasting our time with your mindless self-pity." He took a lethal amount of the two previously named prescription drugs while the videocamera was still running. He laid down on his bed and didn't move for hours. Even after he died, people continued to insult him, saying that the whole thing was a hoax. The most disturbing part is that in his suicide note, he forgives these people for their wrongs and says that it is he who messed up and made mistakes, not them. He says that he hates himself for being a failure, and assures his mother and father that they did nothing wrong and that he loved them. The cyber bullying preceding his death had eaten up his pride and esteem. It made him feel as if he was only a burden to those who did care. He thought his life was not worth living anymore.
In conclusion, I ask this one favor of you: before you send that text or that message, thank about what you're about to say. Take a moment and cool down. Your actions will affect a great many of people. It could possibly save the life of an insecure, broken child. Think of that fourteen year old girl; your actions could only help further erode her self-esteem, or it could help her realize that her life is just as valuable as everyone else's.