Everyone uses Facebook, MySpace, instant messaging and texting as forms of convenient and immediate communication. In fact, the privacy of such digital mediums are more in depth than they appear. They exploit hidden secrets of the most vulnerable at young people. Digital media has been known as the last straw for several teenagers and the reason for ending their own lives.
By Tiffany Gilbert
Senior Staff Writer
Everyone uses Facebook, MySpace, instant messaging and texting as forms of convenient and immediate communication. In fact, the privacy of such digital mediums are more in depth than they appear. They exploit hidden secrets of the most vulnerable at young people. Digital media has been known as the last straw for several teenagers and the reason for ending their own lives.
Online harassment is well-known as cyberbullying. Teenagers are often found guilty of harassing and tormenting their peers through online social networks, text messages, instant messaging or any other digital media. Cyberbullying isolates teen victims from their perpetrators through the vastness of the Internet. As large as the World Wide Web is, victims are cornered and targeted with vicious remarks and humiliating rumors. The Internet also provides easy access for bullies to gather others for group harassment. In a few extreme cases, victims have ended their lives.
Recently, 15-year-old Phoebe Prince, a teenager from Massachusetts and recent Irish immigrant committed suicide in her home. Pending investigations are leaning toward online harassment as the reason for the young girl to ending her life. Her received text and Facebook messages were ruthless and callous which is assumed as the main result of her suicide. However, the cruelty did not just stop there. After her death, Facebook wall posts read, “accomplished,” as her tormentors still showed no remorse at the tragic death of their classmate.
Thirteen-year-old Megan Meier from Missouri was another who hanged herself in her bedroom in 2006 after a former friend’s mother posed as a 16-year-old boy through MySpace. Meier could not handle all of the crude remarks and messages and chose to end her life as a solution.
Ryan Halligan of Vermont, another 13-year-old also hanged himself after being bullied and tormented through an instant messenger. He received messages from a girl who pretended to like him to obtain personal information about him. He was harassed for his learning disability and bullies began spreading rumors that he was gay.
The Internet allows bullies to remain anonymous to make an effective but cowardly approach to those susceptible to harassment. Teens are more likely to hide behind a fake profile and torment their peers as opposed to face-to-face and schoolyard bullying.
The perpetrators believe they are less likely to be caught with their sly behavior; however, it is very possible to track down an online bully. In the Megan Meier case, Lori Drew was acquitted of three felony charges of violating the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
According to a survey of 1,500 students from 1-safe.org between grades 4-8 reported
• 42 percent of kids have been bullied while online. One in four have had it happen more than once.
• 35 percent of kids have been threatened online. Nearly one in five had had it happen more than once.
• 21 percent of kids have received mean or threatening e-mails or other messages.
• 58 percent of kids admit someone has said mean or hurtful things to them online. (More than four out of ten say it has happened more than once.)
• 58 percent have not told their parents or an adult about something mean or hurtful
• that happened to them online.
Cyberbullying is becoming an increased and severe issue among teenagers around the country. With the advancement of digital media and the expansion of the Internet, cyberbullying will continue to increase. With cyberbullying laws and preventions still in their infancy, the foundation to establish punishment for such acts remain rocky.