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Ekaterina Egorova
Professor McGriff
ENC 1102
August 7, 2016
Is it Possible to Protect the Children of High-Tech Generation from Cyberbullying?
We live in the world where technology plays an important role in our lives. Checking
email on our computer or a smart phone become everyday tasks. New generations are born in
this high-tech world. Children of this new generation start using electronic devices at a very early
age. It is a part of their everyday lives. You can see kids browsing the internet, chatting on the
phone, or updating their status on social media all the time. Unfortunately, one thing in this
world stays the same, the anger and aggression are still very prevalent. The aggressive behavior,
we know it as bullying, is part of something that usually happens on a schools territory, moves
to a different realm. Dr Kate D. Simon and Dr Yvette P. Bynum of Auburn University
Montgomery, authors of Cyberbullying: Six Things Administrators Can Do, state with
advancements (and lower costs) in technology, a new type of bullying, cyberbullying, has
emerged that possesses a real danger (2). In other words, Simon and Bynum say that bullying
carries itself over to the virtual word of the internet. They suggest that cyberbullying possesses as
much harm as an actual physical bullying. In addition, children spend so much time on the
internet these days, that the problem of cyberbullying becomes more pressing. Although, there
are people who believe that controlling cyberbullying destroys freedom of speech, cyberbullying
endangers our children, victimizes them, and our society needs to fight it more efficiently.
So what is the definition of cyberbullying? The author of the article Cyberbullying
defines it as the use of the Internet, cell phones, or other electronic communication devices to

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spread harmful or embarrassing information about another person (1). Basically, the
Cyberbullying article is trying to say that bullying can be conducted through an electronic and
internet medium. The article explains that when such conduct occurs it is considered
cyberbullying. It also to be noted that cyberbullying as the term is used in particular to
describe online harassment of teens. Del Siegle, a professor in gifted education and Department
Head of Educational Psychology in the Neag School of Education at the University of
Connecticut, in his article Cyberbullying and Sexting: Technology Abuses of the 21st Century
defines eight cyberbullying categories: flaming, harassment, denigration, impersonation,
outing, trickery, exclusion, and cyberstalking. What these actions have in common is the
attempt to put down the victim through such pitiless behavior (qtd. in Simmons and Bynum 2).
This kind of heartless treatment can be painful and damaging to adult psyche, let alone it can
really hurt a child.
Our society should really focus on a problem of cyberbullying because kids cannot
adequately defend themselves. Online medium puts our children in a vulnerable position by
providing open access to a social media world without enforcing the rules of conduct. Unlike
with cases of traditional bullying, usually there are never any witnesses who can help victims
prove an assault. Moreover, according to Simmons and Bynum cyberbullying, unlike traditional
face-to-face bullying, gives the aggressor more time to attack their victims, due to the ability to
attack beyond school grounds through the use of cyberspace (2). What Simmons and Bynum are
trying to say is that cyberbullying is more dangerous than usual bullying. They say that online
medium gives the offenders a chance to plan the bigger hits on a victim. Lack of online
supervision and unaccountability make the perpetrators not feel any guilt from the act of
cyberbullying.

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The danger of cyberbullying is real, and we, as adults, have to protect our young from its
harm. We have a lot of statistic to show how many kids are exposed to cyberbullying. According
to Tim Cushing, a regular contributor to techdirt.com, the author of The Cyberbullying
Problem Is Overhyped, we now know that 42% of kids have been bullied while online, which
is a pretty impressive number, in addition 35% of kids have been threatened online, but what is
more bothersome is 58% have not told their parents when such conduct occurred (2). These
statistics are very alarming. It should make us question an online safety of our children. These
assaults on our kids can damage their emotional and mental health.
Christina S Moyer, who covers health and science for American Medical News, a
publication of the American Medical Association, the author of Physicians Should Screen For
Cyberbully Victimization writes a 2006 Pediatrics study of 1,500 Internet users found 38% of
10- to 17- year- olds who were the target of Internet harassment reported emotional distress
(3). What Moyer means is that the large group of teens experienced online bullying in 2006. She
notes that such an experience caused them to have a lot of anguish. The problem is, kids at this
age are not fully matured emotionally to be able to handle such situations properly. Very often,
they keep it to themselves and do not consult adults about it. Which can lead to all kind of
problems. According to Moyer, for adolescents who have a less stable sense of their identity,
including individuals with mental health issues and those who are perceived as outsiders by their
peers, cyberbullying can drive them deeper into depression(3). In other words, Moyer is saying
that cyberbullying can be very damaging to vulnerable teens. She points out that it can worsen
psychological problems for some.
Cyberbullying affects the kids sense of self-worth. It can deteriorate their performance in
their everyday activities and study (Simmons and Bynum 1). The impact of bullying can be very

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devastating. Tormented by the bullies some kids do a horrible thing to themselves. Michael
Ollove, senior editor for the journal Health Affairs, the author of Bullying Increases The Risk
Of Teen Suicide informs us that in several cases teens reportedly committed suicide to escape
the intense and unrelenting bullying they endured, giving rise to the term bullycide (1). What
Ollove is trying to say is some youth reacts painfully to being bullied. He implies they cannot
handle the pressure and can take their life, such occurrence leads to the creation of a new word
bullycide. The act of suicide alone should be like a loud alarm to our society. The fact that the
amount of suicides caused by bullying developed a new term like bullycide should make us
outraged and prompt us to do something to prevent it from happening again!
We, as a society, should look at the problem and realize that cyberbullying victimizes our
children. It puts a big amount of pressure on the parents who are trying to protect them. The
overall problem creates a big burden to our community! Unfortunately, because kids spend so
much time communicating with their peers online, they may be losing the social skills needed for
real interactions with others. According to this view, the Internet makes friendships seem more
like abstractions or commodities than real human relationships. In these circumstances,
cyberbullies can regard their behavior as a casual thing without consequences in the real world
(Cyberbullying 2). In other words, the Cyberbullying article is trying to say that kids this day
have separate online lives. Because of that they dont know how to have normal human
interactions. Kids dont appreciate the value of friendship. They dont know the elementary rules
of communication. The article tries to explain that cyberbullies just dont feel that they cause
real harm to anyone. They dont see any consequences of their actions. As a result, it is hard to
deliver to our youth how important it is to be more humane and stop online bullying. The

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outcome of such behavior can be devastating. Constant nagging, humiliation, harassment, and
embarrassment can push young defenseless kids into self-distractive mode.
According to Ollove, Kids who have been bullied have different facial expressions,
They look humiliated, devastated. That's not the result of conflict between people of equal
power who merely have a disagreement (3). In other words, Ollove is trying to say that victims
of bullying take it very close to their harts. He believes the effect of bullying shows through their
appearance. The hurtful acts are more than just peer conflicts. They create a permeant negative
effect on a childs psyche. Furthermore, if a child is in any way different then the norm of the
crowd he or she has more chances to be bullied. If you are female, member of the lesbian, gay,
bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities you have greater chances to be a victim of
cyberbullying (Cyberbullying 1-2). Such cruel disregard of peoples feelings is an alarming
trend, especially when it makes some kids go to extreme as taking their own life.
For example, Brian Fraga, a reporter for SouthCoastToday.com, in Cyberbullying Is a
Serious Problem for Youth, writes that in 2003, Ryan Halligan, a 13-year-old Vermont boy,
hanged himself after being the target of brutal instant messages (2). What Brian Fraga is trying
to deliver is that young man was a victim of cyberbullying. He was so distraught that he
committed suicide. Indeed, if it was a single case, we would not have to be alarmed.
Unfortunately, this is a growing trend among teenagers. More and more cases like this one are
grazing headlines of the media. Shocking details of such incidence provoke many to pay
attention to what is happening to our children in cyber space. Teens fragility and openness to
online harassment that can lead to horrible outcome makes conversation about online childsafety an impending matter. As a result, people talk more and more about ways of controlling

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cyberbullying. Our society is ready to put a stop to victimization of our youth. The question is, is
it even possible?
So can we protect our children from cyberbullying? Can we fight it more efficiently?
Everyone knows that this problem is not exaggerated. Parents should worry about this issue
every day when they let their kids go on the internet or text on the phone. Epidemic of
bullycides prompts a community and legislators look into ways of controlling and punishing
the perpetrators of cyberbullying. Many suggestions emerge on how to more efficiently fight the
issue. The main point everyone can agree upon is communication with the youth is the key in
preventing cyberbullying. Be it at home or at school, informing the young about cyberbullying
dangers and means of handling it are the most important ways of preventing it.
There are campaigns that teach kids about cyberbullying. They urge children and teens
not to pass along cyberbullying images, texts, or e-mails and to speak up against it among their
friends. These campaigns also encourage victims to report cyberbullying to a teacher, parent, or
other trusted adult (Cyberbullying 3). In other words, the Cyberbullying article is showing us
how kids can protect themselves from cyberbullying. They should also try to protect others from
harmful messages. It suggests that children should reach out for help. It implies they should be
more verbal about assault. These campaigns are implemented at schools where the issue of
cyberbullying is very significant. Schools become a forefront in fighting cyberbullying. They use
educational programs and rules of conduct in attempts to control it.
To punish perpetrators schools implement civil rights laws. In her article Federal Law
Requires Schools to Protect Children from Cyberbullying, Wendy J. Murphy, an adjunct
professor at the New England School of Law in Boston, suggests using Title IX to prevent
cyberbullying in the context of gender discrimination. She believes in the creation of good anti-

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bullying laws. Her article tells us that school code of conduct should connect bullying with the
laws against harassment (1-2). Such rules can make offenders think twice before doing anything
harmful.
Sadly, not everyone agrees with such regulations. John O. Hayward, a senior lecturer in
law at Bentley University, in his article Anti-Cyberbullying Laws Are a Threat to Free Speech
argues that schools should let youth practice free speech, and should create a tolerant and
respectful environment for it. He believes these laws to be unconstitutional, and that they take
away constitutional rights from students (2-3). Although, freedom of speech is an important
issue, harmful and offensive words have no place on school grounds or the internet. Everyone
realizes that there will be issues with implementation of the laws and its interpretations, but the
process will smooth itself out with time. Like with anything new, it takes trial and error to get it
right. As long as we can protect our children from harassment and abuse.
Unfortunately, some people disagree. There are many opponents of cyberbullying laws.
These people are especially concerned when it comes to controlling social media and the
internet. For example, Emma Teitel, in her article Bully for You, Free Expression for Me,
suggests that variation of cyberbullying existed on the internet for years. It just never had such
publicity in the past and did not cause so much distress. The author shows concern with a new
focus on fighting cyberbullying, as she believes it kills self-expression. She suggests that by
taming it down on major media outlets it creates new online sources for cyberbullying (1-2).
Though Teitels point of view is very understandable, we all can agree that internet and social
media should have some sort of regulations. Everyone should abide by the law. The internet
should not be a playground for lawless and abusive. When we have such a big problem on our
hands. When even mental health professionals are urging primary care physicians to address

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this mounting problem with their young patients by educating them on the topic and screening
for possible victims and perpetrators (Moyer 1). In other words, Moyer means that doctors think
cyberbullying is a big issue. She suggests that by questioning young people about their online
behavior doctors can identify victims and perpetrators and take adequate actions. Moreover, we,
as a society, should take imminent action in protecting our children.
We all can agree that cyberbullying is a big and serious problem. It threatens our kids
emotional wellbeing, psychological health, and safety. There are many ways people are trying to
control it. Unfortunately, not all of them work. The problem of cyberbullying brings a very
important topic to a discussion. Is it ever morally appropriate to humiliate, harass, belittle
another person? Why is it happening in the first place? We can create million laws, implement
various programs to control cyberbullying. However, as long as we have people who feel that
they are morally entitled to conduct such behavior we will always lose. In further attempts to
control cyberbullying we should focus on healing moral side of our society. We should teach our
children how to be kinder, more thoughtful to others. It should start at home, but transfer to a
school environment. Schools should create better programs. We all know they teach math,
history and such. They also have programs to fight drugs and other issues. What schools are
missing are programs to teach kids emotional intelligence and humility. Schools should start
fighting indifference as hard as they fight drugs, and they should start teaching empathy on the
same level they teach math. To protect our children, we should focus on raising our children
right. Such efforts will help us build more civil society, which in turn will benefit our youth and
their future offsprings. Improving moral health of our community should be an ultimate goal that
will help control cyberbullying, and possibly destroy it!

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Works Cited

Cushing, Tim. "The Cyberbullying Problem Is Overhyped." Bullying. Ed. Noah Berlatsky.
Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press, 2015. Current Controversies. Rpt. from "The
Exaggeration of the Cyberbullying Problem is Harming Anti-Bullying Efforts."
techdirt.com. 2013. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 19 July 2016.

"Cyberbullying." Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection. Detroit: Gale, 2015. Opposing

Viewpoints in Context. Web. 23 July 2016.

Fraga, Brian. "Cyberbullying Is a Serious Problem for Youth." Media Violence. Ed. Noah
Berlatsky. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2012. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from
"Cyberbullying Is a Growing Problem Among Youngsters." SouthCoastToday.com. 2009.
Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 17 July 2016.

Hayward, John O. "Anti-Cyberbullying Laws Are a Threat to Free Speech." Netiquette and
Online Ethics. Ed. Noah Berlatsky. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2013. Opposing
Viewpoints. Rpt. from "Anti-Cyber Bullying Statutes Threat to Student Free Speech."
Selected Works of John O. Hayward. Vol. 3. 2010. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web.
19 July 2016.

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Moyer, Christine S. "Physicians Should Screen for Cyberbully Victimization." Cyberbullying.
Ed. Louise I. Gerdes. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2012. At Issue. Rpt. from "Cyberbulling
a High-Tech Health Risk for Young Patients." www.ama-assn.org. 2010. Opposing
Viewpoints in Context. Web. 17 July 2016.

Murphy, Wendy J. "Federal Law Requires Schools to Protect Children from Cyberbullying."
Cyberbullying. Ed. Louise I. Gerdes. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2012. At Issue. Rpt.
from "Suing School Would Shine Light on 'Suicide by Bullying,'." Patriot Ledger 13 Feb.
2010. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 17 July 2016.

Ollove, Michael. "Bullying Increases the Risk of Teen Suicide." Teen Suicide. Ed. Christine
Watkins. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press, 2014. At Issue. Rpt. from "Bullying
and Teen Suicide: How Do We Adjust School Climate?" www.CSMonitor.com. 2010.
Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 17 July 2016.

Simmons, Kate D., and Yvette P. Bynum. "Cyberbullying: six things administrators can do."
Education 134.4 (2014): 452+. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 17 July 2016.

Teitel, Emma. "Bully for you, free expression for me." Maclean's 29 Dec. 2014: 23. Opposing
Viewpoints in Context. Web. 23 July 2016.

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