Finding the Cure for Cyberbullying The age of technology has provided the world with a number of inventions that have altered the ways of society. Cyberbullying has quickly become very prevalent amongst the adolescent population, as it allows bullies to victimize their peers through the safety of their computers and smartphones, and they don’t have to directly see the effects of their actions. It has become far too common, despite the fact that it can be a matter of life and death in some cases, such as that of Megan Meier. Meier, a young girl from Missouri, became a helpless victim of cyberbullying after conversations with a boy on MySpace, a social networking website, were shared with her schoolmates. After receiving a multitude of cruel
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Research suggests that around 72 percent of teenagers have encountered harassment online (Subrahmanyam and Greenfield), and there were 2.2 million reported cases of cyberbullying in 2011 alone (“Cyberbullying and Social Media”). Cyberbullying is very closely linked to suicide, and the Journal of American Medical Association Pediatrics suggests that between five and eight percent of bullied adolescents attempt suicide, with twenty percent considering suicide (Van Geel). Far too many innocent, young lives are lost are the hands of their juvenile, reckless peers, and it is time put an end to it. Numerous prevention proposals have been made to reduce the prevalence of cyberbullying, but it has been to no avail. There is one obvious solution to cyberbullying that has yet been proposed, and that solution is to reinstitute the practice of child labor as it was utilized during England’s Industrial Revolution, as giving the youth an opportunity to spend their days being productive and contributing to society will result in the elimination of cyberbullying while simultaneously improving the overall condition of American …show more content…
Currently, around 5 million Facebook users are under the age of ten, and parents rarely monitor their accounts (“Cyberbullying and Social Media”). This leaves a great opportunity for these children to not only engage in hostile behavior on the Internet, but to be victims of it as well. Additionally, out of all the cyberbullying cases every year, only 1 in 6 parents know that their child is being bullied (“Cyberbullying and Social Media”). If more parents knew that cyberbullying was an issue for their child, they would do something to put an end to it and prevent it from happening in the first place. Parents simply showing support for their child could also make a big impact. A 2010 study conducted by Dr. Charisse Nixon and Stan Davis found that in bullying cases where the victim came to an adult for help, almost 50 percent reported that their situation improved (Davis and Nixon). A strong parental presence is important for children regardless of their experience with bullying, and it could be even more beneficial to a child who is a victim of bullying. If parents monitored the activity of their children on social media and asserted their support for their children, and thousands of children could be saved from the clutches of their dishonorable
Research suggests that around 72 percent of teenagers have encountered harassment online (Subrahmanyam and Greenfield), and there were 2.2 million reported cases of cyberbullying in 2011 alone (“Cyberbullying and Social Media”). Cyberbullying is very closely linked to suicide, and the Journal of American Medical Association Pediatrics suggests that between five and eight percent of bullied adolescents attempt suicide, with twenty percent considering suicide (Van Geel). Far too many innocent, young lives are lost are the hands of their juvenile, reckless peers, and it is time put an end to it. Numerous prevention proposals have been made to reduce the prevalence of cyberbullying, but it has been to no avail. There is one obvious solution to cyberbullying that has yet been proposed, and that solution is to reinstitute the practice of child labor as it was utilized during England’s Industrial Revolution, as giving the youth an opportunity to spend their days being productive and contributing to society will result in the elimination of cyberbullying while simultaneously improving the overall condition of American …show more content…
Currently, around 5 million Facebook users are under the age of ten, and parents rarely monitor their accounts (“Cyberbullying and Social Media”). This leaves a great opportunity for these children to not only engage in hostile behavior on the Internet, but to be victims of it as well. Additionally, out of all the cyberbullying cases every year, only 1 in 6 parents know that their child is being bullied (“Cyberbullying and Social Media”). If more parents knew that cyberbullying was an issue for their child, they would do something to put an end to it and prevent it from happening in the first place. Parents simply showing support for their child could also make a big impact. A 2010 study conducted by Dr. Charisse Nixon and Stan Davis found that in bullying cases where the victim came to an adult for help, almost 50 percent reported that their situation improved (Davis and Nixon). A strong parental presence is important for children regardless of their experience with bullying, and it could be even more beneficial to a child who is a victim of bullying. If parents monitored the activity of their children on social media and asserted their support for their children, and thousands of children could be saved from the clutches of their dishonorable