The first reason is that cyberbullying is physically and mentally harmful to the victim. Victims of cyberbullying are susceptible to “depression, low self-esteem, anxiety, alienation, and suicidal intentions.” (King 851). In her article “When a Bullied Kid Grows up,” Elizabeth Landau interviews Mike Sarkany who explains how victims can suffer from these effects of bullying for the rest of their lives. Some people believe that cyberbullying doesn’t harm the victims since it isn’t actually physical; however, this is far from the truth. Physical effects of cyberbullying could include headaches and nausea. (Woods) More serious physical effects are exemplified in the situation of Kameron Jacobson, a fourteen year old who killed himself in Orange County, New York. He had been repeatedly bullied over Facebook, a social network, because other students had insulted him because of his sexual orientation. (Manuel) Sadly, this case does not stand alone. Adolescents who have been bullied online are three times more likely to attempt suicide than adolescents who were not bullied. The data also found that bullying that happened offline doubled the risk of suicide, making cyberbullying a more dangerous threat than traditional bullying. (Boschert) Other physical effects of cyberbullying occur when the offender manipulates the victim’s social status to incite or encourage a physical attack on the victim by a third party. During an interview with National Public Radio, Professor Naomi Harlin Goodno related an example of a man who impersonated his girlfriend online and publicly claimed, “I like to be gang raped.” He also posted her telephone number and home address. Six men went to her house. This information leads us to conclude that stopping cyberbullying may help save lives, and keep people out of dangerous situations caused by the
The first reason is that cyberbullying is physically and mentally harmful to the victim. Victims of cyberbullying are susceptible to “depression, low self-esteem, anxiety, alienation, and suicidal intentions.” (King 851). In her article “When a Bullied Kid Grows up,” Elizabeth Landau interviews Mike Sarkany who explains how victims can suffer from these effects of bullying for the rest of their lives. Some people believe that cyberbullying doesn’t harm the victims since it isn’t actually physical; however, this is far from the truth. Physical effects of cyberbullying could include headaches and nausea. (Woods) More serious physical effects are exemplified in the situation of Kameron Jacobson, a fourteen year old who killed himself in Orange County, New York. He had been repeatedly bullied over Facebook, a social network, because other students had insulted him because of his sexual orientation. (Manuel) Sadly, this case does not stand alone. Adolescents who have been bullied online are three times more likely to attempt suicide than adolescents who were not bullied. The data also found that bullying that happened offline doubled the risk of suicide, making cyberbullying a more dangerous threat than traditional bullying. (Boschert) Other physical effects of cyberbullying occur when the offender manipulates the victim’s social status to incite or encourage a physical attack on the victim by a third party. During an interview with National Public Radio, Professor Naomi Harlin Goodno related an example of a man who impersonated his girlfriend online and publicly claimed, “I like to be gang raped.” He also posted her telephone number and home address. Six men went to her house. This information leads us to conclude that stopping cyberbullying may help save lives, and keep people out of dangerous situations caused by the