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Cyberbullying

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Cyber-bullying and Social Networking Sites
Cyber-bullying is when a child, preteen or teen is tormented, threatened, harassed, humiliated, etc.. by another child, preteen or teen using technologies even mobile phones. Cyber-bullying just doesn't happen with a one time communication it is a constant communication. Cyber-bullying is committed in two different way. Direct attacks and by proxy. Direct attacks include internet polling, blogs, interactive gaming, sending malicious code, stealing passwords, websites, sending pictures through email and cell phones. Cyber-bullying by proxy is when a cyber-bully gets someone else to do their teasing and taunting for them cyber-bullying by proxy can be the most dangerous because most of the time it will involve an adult who can cause more harm then a child or teenager. Not only does the government need to make and pass a law immediately but parents also need to take their own steps to prevent cyber-bullying.
In 2006 a beautiful young girls names Megan Meier was a 13 year old girl from Missouri. She was a “bubbly, goofy” girl and loved hanging out with her friends. She took her own life October 16,2006. According to the Today show this all happened because of two adults and a child. The mother of Megan's friend and the 18 year old girl set up a fake MySpace account. The account was of a 16 year old boy who they named Josh Evans. They set up the fake MySpace account because Megan and her friend had a falling out and they wanted to see if they could get her to say anything about the daughter. So they got her trust and Megan thought she was talking to a 16 year old boy and she happened to pretty much fall in love him. Once they knew she trusted him they started to send her mean messages calling her names, saying she was a slut and that she was fat. The very last message that was sent to her
Coolidge 2 said that she was a bad person and the world would be a better place without her. She then took her own life. If someone makes up a fake profile on any social networking site and that person starts harassing another person then that person that is being harassed commits suicide because the the harassment then the person that set up the fake profile should be held accountable due to their actions. They should have a mandatory sentence of at least 2 years in a federal prison if not longer, especially in the Megan Meier's case. According to Conan “ Not only was there a mother of Megan's friend involved but there was also an 18 year old involved to. Who admitted to coming up with the fake account”(705). She also admitted to sending most of the messages including the very lat message that pushed Megan over the edge, the message stated “the world would be a better place without you.” The 18 year old should have been charged with a crime. This was a viscous attack on a helpless child. The sad thing is that the mother should have stepped in and taken control of the situation but instead she left it go on and contributed to it. The mother should have been charged and convicted of conspiracy. According to Boyd and Ellsion “ Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship.” They define a social networking site as one to construct a public or semi-public profile withing a bounded system, two articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and third view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others with in the system(654).There are many ways you can take a social networking site. You can take it to just to catch up with friends you have not seen in awhile or you can use social networking sites to bully other people. Most people in todays world if they are not on a social networking site to contact old and new friends they are on to bully others. To me if you can not say something to that person face to face then you are a coward and need to stay off the networking sites. According to North lake Travis log 58 percent of teenagers admit someone has made a hurtful online comments about them. 75 percent of adolescents have visited a web site that allows student-bashing. Girls are also twice as likely to be victims.
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There are many steps parents can take to prevent cyber-bullying. According to www.cyberbullying.us parents need to establish that when interacting with a person online is the same as interacting with someone in person or over the phone. Also parents have to make sure that their school has a Internet safety educational program. If the school does not have the program then the parents need to make sure that this program is put in place, even if they have to go to the school board. The program needs to make sure that it does not only cover sexual predators, but it also needs to include how to prevent and respond to online peer harassment. For parents they need to educate their children about how they need to act on the internet with other peers. Inform that if they act in an inappropriate way then it could damage their reputation, they could get in trouble with their school and even the police. Parents also need to monitor their child’s activities online. Parents need to be careful though to make sure while they are monitoring their child’s activity that if the parent starts to spy it could do more harm then good. Also parents need to make sure that they model the right behavior to show their children the right way to act online. Parents should also get filtering and software it alone will not keep children safe from online bullying but will help with the situation. Parents show also include a “Internet use Contract” that stats a crystal-clear understanding about what is appropriate and what is not. The parent should also place the contract in a visible place so that they are constantly reminded of the rules. If you just write this contract and place it in a draw then the child will just forget about it. One of the biggest things you can do as a parent is make sure you teach and reinforce positive morals and values with your children. They need to know how others should be treated with respect and dignity.
Cyber-bullying affects so many adolescents now of days. Megan Meier was not the only teen that has committed suicide from cyber-bullying. There was Phoebe Prince who was 15 and had recently moved from Ireland to Massachusetts. Phoebe was called an “Irish slut”, she had been bullied on her
Coolidge 4 way home from school and had red bull cans thrown at her. She could not handle it anymore so that day she was on her way home and being bullies she walked in her home and hung herself in the stairwell.
The bullying did not stop there they girls continued to leave nasty messages on her memorial page. This should not be happening to our young children. If you were a parent, sibling even an aunt or an uncle you would not want your child to be harassed and you would not want your children to suffer from it. We need to step up and start making sure the government makes laws and the school officials need to make sure that they take the right steps to make sure that the ones who are bullying are stopped even if is not done at school. We have a zero tolerance rule about harassment and weapons in school and this should be no exception to that law.

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Works Cited
Aftab, Parry. "Stop Cyberbullying." Stopbullying.org. Web. 1 Dec. 2010.
Boyd, Danah M., and Nicole B. Ellison. "Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship." Everything's an Arguement. Boston: Bedford/St.Martins, 2010. 653-68. Print.
Celizic, Mike. "Parents of MySpace Hoax Victim Seek Justice." Todayshow.com. Today Show, 19 Nov. 2007. Web. 03 Dec. 2010.
Conan, Neal, Kim Zetter, Andy Carvin, and Callers. "Is Creating a Fake Online Profile a Criminal Act?" Everything's an Argument. Boston: Bedford/St.Martins, 2010. 699-714. Print.
Hinduja, Sameer, and Justin W. Patchin. "Preventing Cyberbullying." Cyberbullying.com. 2009. Web. 30 Nov. 2010
Lind, Lori.”We can prevent cyber-bullying” Northlaketravislog.com. 25 Aug 2010. 1 Dec. 2010 "Ten Tips to Prevent Cyberbullying." Hotchalk.com. 25 Aug. 2008. Web. 05 Dec. 2010.

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