Preview

The Link Between Cyber-Bullying and Suicide

Best Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1985 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Link Between Cyber-Bullying and Suicide
The Link Between Cyber Bullying and Suicide

When people hear the word “bully” they often think of the tough guy in school who seems to push and shove his peers into lockers and take away their lunch money. The idea of this type of bully has become popular and many people today would consider it a means of toughening up and is also widely known as an inevitable part of growing up or a phase in a child’s life. Recently there has been a rise in a new form of bullying; cyber bullying. With the fast acting rise of technology and the expanding power and popularity of the internet there’s a new bully in town and it exists in your child’s computer.
This type of torment is extreme, causing young people to take their lives. Additionally to the adolescents who successfully take their life, many of them still attempt and continue to strongly think about suicide. Teenagers have easy access to dozens of social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr, which allow other individuals to hide their true identity. Many of these websites have the option to make yourself anonymous where you can send any user a comment without them knowing who send it. It is also very easy for an individual to make a fake profile and attack other individuals that way. Individuals don’t always keep their identities a secret, many times groups of students target another student and send them harsh comments like “go kill yourself already” and “the world would be better off without you”.
Amanda Todd, a Vancouver-area teenager who posted a story to YouTube last month about being cyber-bullied, was found dead Wednesday night in Coquitlam, Canada. Authorities believe she committed suicide (Grenoble, Ryan). This 14 year old girl committed suicide on October, 11, 2012 due to cyber bullying. Previous to her death, Todd posted a video on YouTube telling her story with a series of flash cards.
The torment began, according to Todd 's YouTube video, after she flashed a man online when she was in



Cited: Cloud, John. “Bullied To Death?.” Time 176.76 (2010): 60-63. Academic Search Complete. Web. 6 Dec. 2012. “CYBERBULLYING CRACKDOWN. (Cover Story).” Current Events 111.5 (2011): 4-5. Academic Search Complete. Web. 6 Dec. 2012. "Cyberbullying Research Center." Cyberbullying Research Center - Cyber Bullying Examples, Cases, Laws, Articles, Stories, Presentations, Videos, Facts, Statistics. N.p., Feb. 2010. Web. 6 Dec. 2012. Gatti, Janice. "2009 AP-MTV Digital Abuse Study." A Thin Line. N.p., Oct. 2010. Web. 6 Dec. 2012. "Gay Bullying Statistics." - Bullying Statistics. N.p., Nov. 2009. Web. 6 Dec. 2012. Grenoble, Ryan. "Amanda Todd: Bullied Canadian Teen Commits Suicide After Prolonged Battle Online And In School." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 11 Oct. 2012. Web. 6 Dec. 2012. Hinduja, Sameer, and Justin W. Patchin. “Bullying, Cyberbullying, And Suicide.” Archives Of Suicide Research 14.3 (2010): 206-221. Academic Search Complete. Web. 6 Dec. 2012. Holladay, Jennifer. “Cyberbullying.” Education Digest 76.5 (2011): 4-9. Academic Search Complete. Web. 6 Dec. 2012. Mosbergen, Dominique. "Erin Gallagher, Irish Teen, Commits Suicide After Battle With 'Vicious ' Cyberbullying (PHOTO)." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 29 Oct. 2012. Web. 6 Dec. 2012. Murray, Rheana. "Cyber-bullying, Social Media Blamed After Florida Teen Commits Suicide." NY Daily News. N.p., 12 Dec. 2012. Web. 12 Dec. 2012. Nadine Shabeeb, et al. “Tormented To Death?.” People 74.14 (2010): 56-58. Academic Search Complete. Web. 6 Dec. 2012.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    6. "Cyberbullying." Gale Student Resources in Context. Detroit: Gale, 2011. Student Resources in Context. Web. 21 Feb. 2013.…

    • 286 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Phoebe Prince Suicide

    • 362 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Statistics show a strong link between suicide and bullying. Bullying takes on many forms: physical, cyber, indirect, and verbal. Phoebe’s case was specific to verbal and cyber bullying, but they are all equally hurtful and cause much…

    • 362 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    CAESAREAN

    • 1626 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Cyber bullying is bullying that takes places using electronic technology (Willard, 2006). Electronic technology includes devices and equipment such as cell phones, computers and tablets as well as communication tools includes social media sites, text messages, chat, websites to harass threaten or intimidate someone. Cyberbullying is often done by children who have increasingly access to these technologies. The problem is compounded by the fact that a bully can be hiding behind disguising she/her identity.…

    • 1626 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    ace hoods a journey

    • 644 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In Michael Friscolahti’s article, “Shunned in life, remembered in death: Can B.C. teen’s tragic story help foster needed change?”, he discusses the story of fifteen year old Amanda Todd, who committed suicide October 10, 2012, due to excessive bullying. In Friscolahti’s article, he states, “Repeatedly, Todd told her own mother that she wanted to die.” This was the effect bullying has on Todd, eventually becoming tragic. This is only the beginning. Statistics today show a drastic rise in the suicide rate among teens. A quote from www.bullyingstatistics.org/ says, “Suicide is the third leading cause of death among young people, resulting in about 4,400 deaths per year, according to the CDC...” Bullying has bought pain to so many families and there is nothing positive to say about it. The attention is definitely warranted and bullying must stop.…

    • 644 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Worrying about what other students or people think about them, eats at them, and in some cases, devastatingly leads to them taking their own lives. In Britain a study was conducted and it was found that half of the deaths of young people from suicide resulted from bullying (Bullying 2014). A sophomore at Clay-Chalkville Alabama overdosed on 40-300 milligram aspirin after receiving a text from a fellow student telling her to ‘go kill herself.’ The girl did survive the lethal overdose. Her mother said that she always wanted everyone to like her and when they didn’t it was hard for her daughter to accept that (Dingle 2016). Hannah Smith of Lutterworth, England, hung herself in her bedroom after receiving anonymous messages on ask.fm. These messages included being bullied about her weight and the recent loss of a family member (Real... 2013). The teen was also told to ‘drink bleach’ and ‘cut herself’ (Quoted in Real... 2013). Angle Green was repeatedly called ‘slut’ and ‘whore’ and teased about her father who was in jail for abusing her. She hung herself from a tree where her tormentors would find her, next to their school bus stop. Angle left a note for her mother, at the end of the letter she wrote “P.S. it’s bullying that killed me. Please seek justice” (Quoted in Goad 2015). Similar stories of…

    • 836 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Shaw, Beth. "Alexis Pilkington Facebook Nightmare: Cyber Bullies, Teen Suicide (Video) » Right Juris." Right Juris. 24 Mar. 2010. 18 Feb. 2011 http://law.rightpundits.com/?p=1370…

    • 1749 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The methods used in cyber bullying by children are only limited to one's access to technology and imagination. Children always change roles either as the bully or as the victim. At one time, a child can be the bully and shortly after become the victim (Jacobs, 2010).…

    • 2153 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Hip Hop Research Paper

    • 2016 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Being bullied leads to suicide, this is like murder. One factor that has been linked to suicidal ideation is experience with bullying. Youths that have bullied and bullied others are at an elevated risk for suicidal thoughts, attempts, and completed suicides. Research shows that experience with peer harassment (most often as a target) leads to depression, decreased self-worth, hopelessness, and loneliness; all are precursors to suicidal thoughts and behaviors. There have been several high-profile cases involving teenagers taking their own lives in part because of being harassed and mistreated over the internet, cyberbullicide- suicide indirectly or directly influenced by experiences with online aggression. “We search to determine if suicidal ideation was also linked to experiences with cyberbullying among offenders and targets” (Hinduja, pg.1). research says that approximately 2,000 randomly-selected middle schooler’s from one of the most populous school districts in the United States, 20% of respondents reported seriously thinking about attempting suicide for females is 19.7% and for males is 20.9%, while 19% reported attempting suicide for females is 17.9% and for males is 20.2%.…

    • 2016 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Bullying happens everywhere, and unbelievably, we see it every day, but with the advancements in technology, there is bullying that is happening from behind the screens of teenagers everywhere. Individuals anywhere between the ages of 11 and 18 have been victims of cyberbullying. 60% of victims say that their experiences online have affected them at school, home, and with their friends and they experience frustration, anger and sadness. It’s not fair to these innocent students to be victims of such an awful game.…

    • 351 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Another reason young girls have been taking their own lives is due to bullying, there has been a number of stories already being allotted. The most recent is Stephanie Clark who committed suicide due to the months of bullying she experienced. Another story is Amy Joyner-Francis who was killed after a fight in the restroom of Howard High School of Technology. It’s sad that people use violence to express themselves and now that someone died there isn’t much sympathy for the people who use violence which causing possibly more…

    • 419 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Cyberbullying In Canada

    • 1966 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Cyberbullying is a form of bullying that presents a new challenge for young people due to the complexities of growing up in the digital era. They are navigating a cyberworld of ever-changing frontiers and possibilities while parents and caregivers are often unaware of the significant role that the Internet and mobile devices can play in their lives. Each new generation faces challenges that the older generation struggles to comprehend.…

    • 1966 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Teen Suicide

    • 1116 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Over the last 15 years teen suicide has significantly increased in the United States due to cyber bullying. Teen suicide in the United States has been relatively high in the 15 to 24 age group with 4,000 suicides since 2004. Teen suicide is the 3 leading cause of death in the United States.…

    • 1116 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Bullying Virus

    • 618 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Teens that are singled out by their peers and bullied are more likely to attempt to take their lives. A study by the center for Disease Control and Prevention shows that nearly 1 in 6 high school students has seriously considered suicide, and another 1 in 12 has seriously attempted it. In fact, the suicide rate among teens has climbed from 6.3% to 7.8% in just two years; that’s a whole 1.5% of the teenaged population! With just one spiteful word or insult, a child can unknowingly end another’s life. The bullying virus uses verbal abuse to its advantage, and words could surely bring death as easily as they could create.…

    • 618 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Persuasive Speech Outline

    • 1233 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Evidence: Seeing how horrible the victim’s life is makes them believe that they shouldn’t even be a part of this world. They see in their eyes that the world would be a better place without them. Being depressed and having suicidal thoughts can lead up to the actual death of the victim. While researching this topic I came up on an article about a TEN YEAR OLD GIRL COMMITING SUICIDE! According to nydailynews.com there was a girl named Ashlynn Conner who was being bullied at school, she told her mom and her mom said “I will talk to the school’s principle.” Two weeks later everything was still the same; except for on Friday night Ashlynn was found hanging in her closet. Ashlynn’s mother said “they called her a slut, ugly and fat.” Someone so young taking their own life away and the bullies not knowing what they have done is just…

    • 1233 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    A few months ago 14-year-old committed suicide due to cyber bullying. And eight-year-old took his own life as well by hanging himself.…

    • 617 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays