End Cyber Bullying

For decades, school yard bullies and the weaker kids they beat up have been common place among schools. That physical violence was something that can be seen by everyone and prevented by the people around the situation. But today, in our technology ridden world, a new form of bullying has formed: cyber-bullying.

Cyber-bullying is defined as harassment or stalking that occurs over the internet, e-mail, or even text messaging. This type of bullying is something that often cannot be seen by onlookers, as it is hidden in a childs Facebook page or in cell phones. By not being able to see how or when this type of bullying occurs, the effects are more detrimental to the victim.

Cyber-bullying can include mean or threatening text messages, internet posts, or e-mails. This is the type of bullying-that follows a child home from school; this makes home no longer a safe haven for students. Many kids and teenagers dont know how to handle this type of bullying, they dont tell parents or teachers about it and try and handle the issue on their own. This, as we have seen in the news, only causes more problems. It has been shown that kids who are bullied online have a higher depression rate than the school yard victims; these adverse effects have been flooding the media over the past year.

These victims of cyber-bullying have no advocates for them, no one who can stand up for what is happening to them. School officials feel they have no grounds to punish the offenders because the torment happens off of school grounds. This seems unfair to the victims because, often times, they will be forced to face their abusers in school, only making the situation worse. Not only does the school not have authority to handle the situation, but they have no way to protect the students from what they are facing since technology is involved in every move a student makes.

Not only schools, but local authorities have difficulty dealing with cyber bullying. Cyber bullying can be cruel and dangerous, to the point that students and parents cant deal with it alone. Then the question comes up about who will be there for the next steps. The local and state authorities such as the police and investigators as well have difficulty proving the harassment that can occur between students and an even harder time discovering who the perpetrator is. When the bullying turns into a crime, which is when the bullying starts having any type of adverse effect on the victim, there needs to be a respected, powerful influence to help stop that situation.

That comes to the purpose of the petition: there needs to be a law to prevent cyber bullying and to punish those who participate in this action. As can be recently seen, cyber bullying has turned fatal, because the victims dont know where to turn. This petition calls for a law to be created in New York State to turn cyber bullying into a crime to prevent it from becoming fatal. This law should give schools the authority to punish students who become cyber bullies, despite the fact that the bullying may occur outside of school. The proposed law should also require junior high schools in the state to teach, to both parents and students, about how to prevent and deal with cyber bullying. Finally, this law should have a strict legal punishment for any bully, despite their age, who has caused physical harm to be inflicted upon the victims. Too often, this type of bullying has caused suicides and physical pain, emotional struggle and depression. This law aims to help all victims from having to deal with this harassment on their own, to stop this wave of bullying that has become so detrimental to society.