Cyber Bullying Essay

As of 2004, an i-Safe America survey found that 42% of kids have been bullied online, while a greater 53% have admitted to cyberbullying someone else online; even still, 58% have opted to not share such experiences with their parents or an adult. Keep in mind that these statistics were discovered before Facebook and Twitter. The rise of the Internet and its solidified role in our modern lives have led to many discussions and arguments on the web - as well as the insults and harassment they produce. Cyberbullying is extremely pervasive among teenagers and often inflicts more damage than other types of bullying; attackers can be anonymous and strike whenever they please, creating both short-term and long-term problems for young people everywhere.

This toxic byproduct of the Internet is often described as the use of electronic communication to inflict either physical or emotional harm on someone else to compromise their security, often in the form of threats, sexual harassment, public embarrassment, and much more. In some cases, cyberbullying falls under the harassment umbrella - pedophiles, child traffickers and other perverse offenders can use the Internet as a medium and warrant police involvement. In some cases, adolescent perpetrators who are unaware of the brevity their actions carry can also receive severe penalties. Because cyberbullying is usually anonymous and difficult to track, perpetrators are at free will to repeatedly exercise maltreatment on their victims. Due to how prominent and repeatable cyberbullying is, it continues to take a disastrous toll on our youth. Teenagers are usually the major victims of this epidemic, paying with their lives for something largely out of their hands. Sam Laird cites OnlineCollege.org’s infographic in his article, “Cyberbullying: Scourge of the Internet”, stating that “90% of teens who witness cyberbullying online say they ignore it, just 40% tell their parents and 81% of kids say it's easier to get away with bullying online than in person.” OnlineCollege.org’s infographic on cyberbullying continues the discussion with an astonishing statistic, that one out of five cyberbullied teens think about suicide - and one out of ten

We know that cyberbullying can take many forms, all of which are harmful with unchecked repetition. There are appalling statistics that reveal teenagers to be the primary victims of this epidemic, with obvious contributions to the rising number of teenage suicides. Moreover, we now understand that parents have a significant role in how their youth will process these events. With this knowledge, we all must be prepared to bring an end to cyberbullying and usher in an age of love and respect for one another. For the sake of our youth, we must fulfill this duty to