Technology And Bullying Research Paper

Prof. Ribeiro
English 102-27
16 May 2012
Technology and Bullying Part I – What I Already Know About My Topic I don’t know much about the topic I chose and I have never personally experienced bullying or cyber bullying myself. I have, however, seen on the news and read about cyber bullying and the growing trend it is becoming. I remember a very specific case that happened two years ago at Rutgers University where a closeted-gay college student’s roommate secretly videotaped him performing sexual acts. The roommate then released the video on the Internet and the gay college student committed suicide two days later. The case had just finished last month and the defendant was found guilty of a hate crime and sentenced to 30 days in jail.
According to a study done by the i-SAFE foundation in 2003, more than one in three teens have received and experienced cyber threats, and over 23 percent of teens are repeatedly through their cell phones or the Internet. Cyber threats are when teens post messages about harming themselves or another person and are sometimes followed by actual acts of violence. There have also been reports that cyber bullies will make FaceBook pages or web pages dedicated to insulting and bashing their victim, and 75 percent of teens have visited these sites. According to a UCLA study on cyber bullying, one in five teens report having been cyber bullied by someone they know or a complete stranger, and the study also found that 85 percent of teens that were bullied online are still bullied at school. Still, only 1 in 10 teens who have been cyber bullied tell a parent or adult and only 1 in 5 cyber bullying incidents are reported to law enforcement ("Cyber Bully
First is beginning an educational campaign with children and teens, and informing others what exactly is cyber bullying and the steps to prevent it from happening to them. Teaching youth how not to unintentionally become part of cyber bullying will help slow down cyber bullies. Children need to be taught that being silent while another is being hurt is not alright, and if they stand up with the victims, cyber bullies can be stopped. Another way is keep personal information private. Children and teens should not share passwords with friends or strangers to keep themselves safe. Sharing this personal information can give cyber bullies the opportunity to hack into personal emails and social sites, and post damaging things online. And once things are posted on the Internet, it may be impossible to delete it permanently. Adolescents should also know that if they are targeted by a cyber bully to not respond and instead block the cyber bully and inform a parent or adult that can help them. Checking to see who they are sending messages and emails to is another way of preventing cyber bullying. Making sure that they are sending it to the right person and place will help stop cyber bullies from receiving private messages. Also, teens should know that it is not alright to forward and send other people’s emails and personal information without their permission. Teenagers also should not send emails or post