While bullying has always been a problem, new forms of technology such as social media, have made it a much larger and complicated issue. When someone is bullied online whatever is said is out there for anyone to see which amplifies amount of people who see it and can make everything worse for whoever is targeted. Although it may not seem like a prevalent issue, cyberbullying is a fairly widespread problem. In a poll of high schoolers in the south 16% of boys had been cyberbullied and 25% of girls had been a victim of cyberbullying. (doc A) A big problem with cyberbullying is that anyone can make accounts online which often leaves the bully anonymous. In another poll in a british school 44% of people didn’t know who the perpetrator was. While free speech is a …show more content…
In one case, K.K v. Berkeley County Schools (doc C) a student was suspended for 10 days and had a social suspension for 90 days. The student created a myspace page attacking another student and invited several other students in the school. K.K sued the school on the grounds that her free speech was unrightfully violated when she was punished, however it was ruled that the punishment was fair and for the benefit and protection of the student body. In another court case, Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District, two siblings Mary Beth and John Tinker wore black bands on their arms a form of protest against the war in Vietnam(background essay). The school then put a rule in place which would force the children to remove the armbands. When this was challenged, the court decided that the students have “rights that do not end at the schoolhouse door”. The court also decided that if students actions disrupt the class work or infringe on other students rights they are not protected by the amendment. Cyberbullying is an action that disrupts the learning environment and therefore shouldn’t be