At many universities, over half of the population has reported knowing someone who has been cyberbullied. When a student gets cyberbullied, regardless of age, it affects them mentally, and may cause them to harm themselves because they feel weak, and like they cannot escape cyberbullying due to the permanence of the internet. The destructive cycle of cyberbullying is complicated and difficult to prevent because of the socio-economic constraints and the lack of federal and school-site laws and policies cause victims of cyberbullying to feel trapped, especially when perpetrators are unintentionally being supported by their anonymity and by legal loopholes.
Perpetrators usually harass the people whom they feel are easy targets, often times they …show more content…
A main cause of harassment is the invincibility that the bully feels when they hide behind their computer screens. Victims may feel vulnerable to the bullies because “cyberbullying does not provide the victim with the same opportunities to confront the bully face-to-face because cyberbullies often hide behind the cover of anonymity” (Washington 22). Many cyberbullies don’t even realize that they’re bullying because they can’t see the reactions of the victim on the other side of the screen. Anonymity is a main reason that victims feel like they can never open the door into a world without cyber …show more content…
As of now there are no federal laws that specifically relate to cyberbullying. There was an Act that was introduced in 2009 called the Megan Meier Cyberbullying Prevention Act, but, unfortunately,it failed to gain support in the U.S congress. (Washington 25). The girl named after the act. Megan Meir, was a girl who committed suicide because of cyberbullying, and this law was meant to imprison or fine cyberbullies on a federal level. To prevent cyberbullying, imprisonment might be what helps the problem deteriorate. Also, bullies have found legal loopholes such as stating that their comments are freedom of speech. Once federal laws and school policies are set, cyberbullying may finally start to decrease and the internet may be safe for high school and college students. Cyberbullying is a major issue in today’s society because of the impact it has on a victim 's mental health, and because of the number of students who get cyberbullied each year. In addition to that, victims are generally of a lower socio-economic status, meaning that their lives are already tough enough. This is why there needs to be strict school policies and federal laws to help bring awareness to the severity of cyberbullying, and to prevent it by taking legal action against the
Perpetrators usually harass the people whom they feel are easy targets, often times they …show more content…
A main cause of harassment is the invincibility that the bully feels when they hide behind their computer screens. Victims may feel vulnerable to the bullies because “cyberbullying does not provide the victim with the same opportunities to confront the bully face-to-face because cyberbullies often hide behind the cover of anonymity” (Washington 22). Many cyberbullies don’t even realize that they’re bullying because they can’t see the reactions of the victim on the other side of the screen. Anonymity is a main reason that victims feel like they can never open the door into a world without cyber …show more content…
As of now there are no federal laws that specifically relate to cyberbullying. There was an Act that was introduced in 2009 called the Megan Meier Cyberbullying Prevention Act, but, unfortunately,it failed to gain support in the U.S congress. (Washington 25). The girl named after the act. Megan Meir, was a girl who committed suicide because of cyberbullying, and this law was meant to imprison or fine cyberbullies on a federal level. To prevent cyberbullying, imprisonment might be what helps the problem deteriorate. Also, bullies have found legal loopholes such as stating that their comments are freedom of speech. Once federal laws and school policies are set, cyberbullying may finally start to decrease and the internet may be safe for high school and college students. Cyberbullying is a major issue in today’s society because of the impact it has on a victim 's mental health, and because of the number of students who get cyberbullied each year. In addition to that, victims are generally of a lower socio-economic status, meaning that their lives are already tough enough. This is why there needs to be strict school policies and federal laws to help bring awareness to the severity of cyberbullying, and to prevent it by taking legal action against the