Sunday, April 26, 2020
The Link Between Cyber-Bullying and Suicide free essay sample
When people hear the word â€Å"bully†they often think of the tough guy in school who seems to push and shove his peers into lockers and take away their lunch money. The idea of this type of bully has become popular and many people today would consider it a means of toughening up and is also widely known as an inevitable part of growing up or a phase in a child’s life. Recently there has been a rise in a new form of bullying; cyber bullying. With the fast acting rise of technology and the expanding power and popularity of the internet there’s a new bully in town and it exists in your child’s computer. This type of torment is extreme, causing young people to take their lives. Additionally to the adolescents who successfully take their life, many of them still attempt and continue to strongly think about suicide. We will write a custom essay sample on The Link Between Cyber-Bullying and Suicide or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Teenagers have easy access to dozens of social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr, which allow other individuals to hide their true identity. Many of these websites have the option to make yourself anonymous where you can send any user a comment without them knowing who send it. It is also very easy for an individual to make a fake profile and attack other individuals that way. Individuals don’t always keep their identities a secret, many times groups of students target another student and send them harsh comments like â€Å"go kill yourself already†and â€Å"the world would be better off without you†. Amanda Todd, a Vancouver-area teenager who posted a story to YouTube last month about being cyber-bullied, was found dead Wednesday night in Coquitlam, Canada. Authorities believe she committed suicide (Grenoble, Ryan). This 14 year old girl committed suicide on October, 11, 2012 due to cyber bullying. Previous to her death, Todd posted a video on YouTube telling her story with a series of flash cards. The torment began, according to Todds YouTube video, after she flashed a man onlinewhen she was in seventh grade. One year later, she said, he tracked her down onFacebook and forwarded her topless photo to everyone. She was bullied at each schoolshe went to, beat up by angry girls and attempted to kill herself by drinking bleach(Grenoble, Ryan). Even after Todd attempted to commit suicide by drinking bleach bullied still targeted her by writing things like â€Å"you should’ve drank more bleach†on her Facebook wall. Individuals still continue to target her by posted negative comments on her R. I. P fan page. Another teenage girl who continues to receive negative comments even after her death is Phoebe Prince who committed suicide in 2010 at age 15. â€Å"Girls at Phoebes school reportedly called her a wh**e and a bi**h, viciously harassing her in person and on Facebook. At least one student gloated after Phoebe took her own life, I dont care that shes dead. †(Holladay, Jennifer)†Cyberbullying has spread so quickly with the wide spread of internet. According to the 2009 AP-MTV Digital Abuse Study done by Janice Gatti, 50% of people age 14-24 have experienced digitally abusive behavior. Surprisingly enough we might be a cyber bully without even knowing. Many individuals post some negative comments on YouTube or Tumblr without even knowing or thinking about how the other person might feel but certain individuals do this regularly and these are the cyber bullies. Another suicide linked to cyber bullying is the death of 16 year old Jessica Laney. Laney being bullied on a website called ask. fm where users interact by asking each other questions is what caused her to commit suicide. Posts on Laney’s page range from the innocent – â€Å"What class do you like the most? †to the shockingly cruel – â€Å"Why are you so ugly? and â€Å"Just kill yourself. You’re worthless†(Murray, Rheana). Close friends to Laney spoke about their friends death. â€Å"You get compliments sometimes, but it’s those negative comments that bring youdown,†close friend Cheyenne Ellsmore told local station. â€Å"There are just things yous houldsay and things you shouldn’t,†said another friend, Lisa Arthur. â€Å"And on Ask. fm,none of that should be said†(Murray Rheana). Laney’s parents spoke briefly about their daughter’s death as well and mentioned that their daughter also had a history of mental health issues but the cyber bullying is what pushed her over the edge. It is impossible to ignore a cyber bully when all they want to do it attack you as an individual. We go on our social networking sites to enjoy and express ourselves not to have ourselves attacked by anonymous people or our classmates. According to the Cyber Bullying Research Center, Even though less than 10% of middle-school students reported being cyber bullied in the previous days, approximately 43% reported experiencing one of the several experiences that could be defined as cyber bullying. Among the most commonly experiences included: receiving and email that make them upset (18. %, not including spam), receiving an instant message that made them upset (15. 8%), and having something posted on their MySpace that made them upset (14. 1%). Everyone at one point receives at least one negative comment aimed towards us but these individuals who commit suicide over these cyber bullies are extremely targeted and are hit with something that may easily affect them or have been targeted fo r a long amount of time. Victims of cyber bullying who commit suicide have negative comments aimed at them daily. From their looks to how they are to what they do, comments involving any of these are not easily dealt with. An individual whose homosexuality was targeted by a cyber bully was Tyler Clementi, an 18 year old who committed suicide in 2010. His college roommate streamed a video live from their room while Clementi was with another boy. Just a day later, at 8:42 p. m. , Clementi posted this terse status update on Facebook: Jumping off the gw bridge. Sorry†(Nadine, Shabeeb). Homosexual individuals are a big target for cyber bullies. A 2005 Harris poll found 90 percent of gay and lesbian teens say theyve been bullied inthe past year. And nearly two-thirds of these students feel unsafe in school, according to a2009 survey by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network. In September alone,three other teens took their own lives after homophobic taunting (Nadine, Shabeeb). A second target to cyber bullies because of his homosexuality was Seth Wash, who committed suicide at age 13 in 2012. On Oct. 1, 600 people crammed the First Baptist Church in Tehachapi to remember SethWalsh, a 13-year-old who liked Pokemon, dance music and reading the Bibleand whohad (somewhat reluctantly) acknowledged to understanding family members and friendsthat he liked other boys. Seth had been teased relentlessly; it started when he was infourth grade, according to his grandmother Judy Walsh. By sixth grade, kids werestarting to get mean, she says. By seventh grade, he was afraid to walk home fromschool†(Cloud, John) According to Gay Bullying Statistics, gay and lesbian teens are two to three times as more likely to commit suicide than other youths. About 30 percent of all completed suicides have been related to sexual identity crisis. Students who also fall into the ay, bisexual, lesbian or transgendered identity groups report being five times more likely to miss school because they feel unsafe after being cyber bullied due to their sexual orientation. About 28 percent out of those groups feel forced to drop out of school altogether. Although more and more schools are working to crack down problems with bullying, teens are still continuing to bully each other due to sexual orientation and other factors. Today only a few stated have laws against cyber bullying but there is more that needs to be done. It’s not okay for people to attack other individuals online forcing them to commit suicide. Our laws are not keeping pace with technology, Klein said in an interview with CNN. No longer is bullying only confined to the schoolyard. It is now piped in an instant through victims computers and onto the devices they carry in their pockets. This legislation will help provide protections to those who need it, as well as send a strong message about the seriousness of this destructive behavior†(Cyberbullying Crackdown). Parents and teenagers can help prevent cyber bulling. Parents can talk to their children advising them the negative and positive effects of writing about someone online. If you see your friend posting a comment on someone’s social networking site, stop them, even if it looks like it can do no harm, it may cost a life. If you see a case of cyber bullying tell someone else, when you see something it might not seem so damaging but it’s after someone takes their life away when the regret starts to hit them and them it’s too late. If you are experiencing cyber bullying stay off your computer for a while, don’t go on your social networking sites because the more you read them the more it will affect you. Don’t take part in cyber bullying, you might think your just posting a few innocent comments but you are going to affect someone. There is definitely a connection between cyber bullying and suicide. Other factors like mental disorders can also increase the risk of suicide but in cyber bullying, one small push is enough to take someone over the edge. For example, a girl with major depression who might already have suicidal thoughts and is starting to become cyber bullied, being cyber bullied would be that push to commit suicide. Individuals sometimes aren’t aware that their words can cost a life. You might think that you’re just giving your opinion but to the other person those are harmful words, and after a life is taken apologies don’t bring the person back. A negative comment could mean the difference of one more life being taken away. Young teenagers need to be taught that saying things online can have huge consequences. Targeting some online means no escape for the victim. You might think that just because you’re not saying this one negative comment to an individual in person doesn’t mean it’s not going to affect them.
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