Cyberbullying: A School Issue Or A Crime?

   Is cyberbullying considered a crime? In many cases, sometimes cyberbullying can be far more disturbing than just bullying itself. Anyone is able to log online and harass someone who is on the other side of the screen, giving them the privilege to say and do whatever they want. Most of these events happen through social media and mobile devices (such as calls or texts). Cyberbullying should be considered a crime because of the many laws it has acquired and because of how much schools stress the importance of the on-going issue.
   
   There have been no laws addressing cyberbullying until the mid-2000s; though legislators notice the increasing public incidents such as suicides and school shootings. Since then, a few laws have been enforced in some states. Many of these events occur in a school setting, allowing school officials to handle most of the cyberbullying issues. People tend to treat cyberbullying as more as a civil matter instead of criminal. Though, prosecutors have used past laws to prosecute suspects of cyberbullying. There are charges in extreme cases, and usually some EXTREME criminal charges have been brought in where the event has occurred in either suicide or another tragic event. Now just about every state has a law against cyberbullying.

   Most states have brought up an anti-bullying legislation and now it includes cyberbullying. The federal law can be compromised in incidents that are related to cyberbullying, especially when a student's speech is restricted or their civil rights has been violated. Schools find it hard to address cyberbullying issues online while avoiding any civil liability. In southern New York, a young high school student was harassed based on the color of his skin. Even when the school took the disciplinary action to the harassing kids, the behavior still continues. The student then sued the school and was given over 41 million because the court ruled that the school did not try hard enough and was "deliberately indifferent". This just continued the harassment even more. 

   Because most cyberbullying activities happen around a school setting, many tend to believe that it is not a big deal because it is just mainly happening IN school. Does that not mean it's a crime? Maybe because it's just 15-16 year olds who are harassing others online? This on-going issue of cyberbullying needs to be shown as a more serious issue and is needed to be shown as more of a crime, rather than just a law that can be "easily fixed" in a school setting. And even then, it is not just a school issue. It is rather an issue that is found everywhere, and should be addressed more rather than in one particular area.


Comments

  1. UnknownApril 15, 2018 at 1:23 PM

    Cyber-bullying is an act which has presented itself time and time again throughout the school system across America. I fully agree as well that the issue of cyber-bullying may be taken lightly at times due to the immaturity of youth, which is a misconception. The source that highlighted the case story of the student who sued the school was very informative, as i am curious of other cases which have followed. Cyber-bullying is not only morally wrong, but a crime to the face of society.

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  2. AlbertoooApril 15, 2018 at 5:47 PM

    Cyber-bullying is something that can cause stress and hurt someone with access to a computer or phone. I agree with the point that you made that cyber-bullying needs to have more attention drawn to it. It was very interesting to find out that no legislation had been passed in the early 2000s on cyber-bullying. A question regarding this post is if cyber-bullying is as popular in a work setting as a school setting? Very good use of sources to add supporting details to your post. Heres a link you can check out to add to your post on the consequences that cyber-bullying can bring to a person. http://fundforcivility.org/cyberbullying-effects/

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