Teen Suicides Linked To Disturbing Trend: Cyberbullying

Black letters flash across the screen, launching an attack of rumors and insults. A text, a Facebook wall post, a blog– a line or two is all it takes to wound someone's self-esteem, to bring tears, to ruin a relationship. With the outburst of modern technology, old-school bullying is out and a new type of bullying has arrived. But while stuffing someone in a locker is an obvious sign of harassment, with no bruises or bloody noses as evidence of abuse, cyber-bullying often doesn't raise alarms until it's too late. While bullying may have an effect on teens, how does cyberbullying have an effect a victim?
Bullying online can harass, threaten, and infringe on a victims personal life not only in the schools but in the comfort of their own home. Cyberbullying is the new trend that follows children where ever they are. This type of bullying can be defined as tormenting a child through technology and communication tools such as cell phones, computers, chat rooms, Facebook and YouTube.
Cyberbullying is put into two categories: Synchronic (real time) and Asynchronic (delayed). Synchronic is "live" bullying. This type of bullying is instant, it happens when both the offender and victim are online at the same time. Synchronic bullying utilizes: chat rooms, texting and instant messaging.
Amanda Todd, a 15 year old girl, used video chat to meet new people and received compliments about her looks. A stranger that she met on the video chat convinced Todd to expose her breast and blackmailed Amanda with threats that if she did not give him a “show” he would expose the topless photo to her friends. When she moved away to live with her mom the police informed her that the photo was circulating on the internet. Todd turned to drugs and alcohol due to the anxiety and panic disorder from the experience. The stranger created a