Suicide and Bullying

A major concern in today’s society is the continuous growth in suicide in our youths. The Center for Disease Control and prevention reported that suicide was the third leading cause of death among adolescents in 2004. Due to bullying and cyberbullying adolescents are starting to feel depressed, hopelessness, loneliness, and are having a decrease in self-worth. There have been several high-profile cases involving teenagers taking their own lives because of them being harassed and mistreated over the internet. There is a recent phenomenon termed called cyberbullicide which is when suicide is indirectly or directly influenced by experiences with online aggression.

Due to the anonymity cyberbullying is especially insidious and the opportunity to reach a much larger number of victims without a significant threat of punishment. The social networks play a critical part in the lives of the children and youths social and emotional maturation. They learn the importance of being social, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills getting feedback from their peers with whom they interact with. Cyberbullying is a recent phenomenon that takes one of two forms direct bullying and indirect bullying by proxy. Due to the anonymity it fosters a sense of disinhibition and invincibility because the bully remains faceless. 

Cyber stalking is somewhat like regular stalking in the form that an individual enters another’s individual’s life and threatens and intimidates them. It is done through electronic means like chat rooms, blogs, and other forms of online abuse. Cyber bullying is interaction between two minors using the internet using a cell phone or any type of digital technology. It includes harassment, humiliation, and embarrassment of a minor. Cyber bullying has expanded from bullying in the schoolyard to the internet for everyone to see. Confrontation is less likely because it can be more vicious than traditional bullying. Unfortunately, the current punishment for this crime is only expulsion and suspension. But some states track down the parent of the bully to hold them liable for their child’s action. Survey OutcomeShould parent be punished due to their child cyberbullying others, and in what ways and why? I believe they should be held accountable for the actions of their children. They should show them how to treat others with kindness and respect.

They should be told how precious one’s life truly is and one should not be able to decide how they will ruin it. In my survey I learned that a lot of people agreed with what I had to say. While others thought that one should not be punished for what they have said to another minor. Some people thought that being expelled or even put in probation was too harsh of a punishment. While others thought that it all depended on how critical the situation was. For the most part everyone agreed with the fact that we have a problem with cyberbullying amongst our youth. Two thirds of the people thought that the schools should be able to monitor what they are sending to one another during the time they are at school. Everyone thought that we should keep an eye on what our child is sending on their phones. I had asked if the victim was to become mentally unstable should the bully have to pay for therapy and only a third of the people thought that it depended on the severity of the child while the others agreed. If the child is pushed to commit suicide everyone agreed that they should be charged as an adult for taking another person’s life. While most thought that one to two years was good enough others thought that they should spend more than five years behind bars. People also agreed that once they were released they should be monitor at all times when they are on the internet so they can not harm anyone else. 

References:

Hinduja, Sameer and Justin W. Patchin. “Bullying, Cyberbullying, and Suicide.” Archives of Suicide Research, vol. 14, no. 3, July 2010, pp. 206-221. Academic Search Complete, http://kidd.blinn.edu:2093/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=15&sid=9db6bc8d-d4f4-46cc-a39e-0cecc75bb596%40sessionmgr103 

Snakenborg, John and Richard Van Acker and Robert A. Gable. “Cyberbullying: Prevention and Intervention to Protect Our Children and Youth.” Prevention School Failure, vol. 55, no. 2, 2011, pp. 88-95. Academic Search Complete, http://kidd.blinn.edu:2102/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=6&sid=cdbb9f9f-cd21-4843-8d28-7731ae4ed8a1%40sessionmgr4009 

Wayne, Anderson L. “Cyber Stalking (Cyber Bullying)- Proof and Punishment.” Insight to a Changing World Journal, no. 4, Dec. 2010, pp. 18-23. Academic Search Complete, http://kidd.blinn.edu:2102/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=4&sid=3a9c5c02-1b18-49af-943a-c23b9f20f370%40sessionmgr4008

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