Cyber-Stalking
and Bullying, it is All Around us
Leslie
K. Penny
Course
Project Part II
Chancellor
University
Abstract
The following essay opens up with the sad and unfortunate
suicide of a cyber-bullied teen victim, Amanda Todd. Just one example of the many adolescents that
have ended their lives due to bullying.
The essay then moves into a definition of both cyber-bullying and
cyber-stalking as well as a theory that seems useful for this crime, offense
prevalence and weather cyber-bullying is state wide issue or global issue. A
couple specific cyber-statutes from New York state that prohibit cyber-bullying
and cyber-stalking is explained, whether juveniles can commit the offense, as
well as one legal case regarding cyber-bullying and, lastly, prevention tactics
for those who find themselves in a situation where they are being bullied.
Cyber-Stalking and Bullying, it is All
Around us
"Every
day, I think, why am I still here? I'm
stuck. What's left of me now? Nothing
stops. I have Nobody. I need someone" (Ng, 2012). Those are the words of 15 year old, Amanda
Todd. Words that will live on forever
via the internet, her family, and those that will never forget, as her unfortunate legacy. After years of cyber-bullying and several
moves to new school districts trying to escape her tormentors and the
regrettable nude picture she let a stranger take of her over the internet years
previously where she says in distress "I can never get that photo
back...It's out there forever", she took matters into her hands,
permanently ending the hold her aggressors had on her life by committing
suicide (Ng, 2012).
Amanda's
story is just one of many innocent youths that have taken suicide as a route to
escape their cyber-bullies/cyber-stalkers and the pain they faced each day. This epidemic of bullies and stalkers using
the internet as a tool for destruction continues to escalate at an alarming
rate and will be discussed in more detail later in this essay. A definition of cyber-stalking and cyber-bullying will be provided as well as a theory for the reasoning behind the
behavior of cyber-bullies and stalkers, offense prevalence will be explained
along with the offense limitations, either it be solely in the US or globally,
any specific cyber-statutes from New York state that prohibit the conduct,
whether juveniles can commit the offense,
and one legal or investigative issue regarding cyber-bullying and
cyber-stalking will be given. Lastly,
prevention of cyber-bullying and future trends will be covered.
According
to the book, Digital Crime and Digital
Terrorism, the behavior of cyber-bullying cannot always be defined but the
book credits the National Crime Prevention Council for defining cyber-bullying
as "when the internet, cell phones or other devices are used to send or
post text or images intended to hurt or embarrass another person", which
applies to text messages, emails, instant messaging and social networking sites
such as Facebook (Robert W. Taylor, 2011). Cyber stalking can be defined as when an
individual repeatedly contacts another via any of the online devices mentioned
above to the point where it turns into harassment and continues to follow that
individual no matter where they are physically by using the internet as means
of communication . (Roome, 2011). Characteristics of cyber-bullying and stalking
behavior includes manipulation and control of the bully over the victim; the
bully constantly picks out faults and picking people out on inconsequential
matters; the bully undermines the victims ability and worth, their professional
status by demeaning them, the bully repeatedly criticizes the victim by
distorting facts and with the use of threats (Roome, 2011).
Speaking of
a cyber-bully and cyber-stalker
characteristics leads to the question of the behavior and why they do what they
do. One thing to bear in mind is that much
of the cyber-bullying we see today is coming from adolescents directed at fellow
adolescents and this essay concentrates on that age group. There are theories that surround why youths
attack other youths. Perhaps, adolescents
find it fun or attackers are reaching for the attention it provides and
negative camaraderie with others who jump on the bullying bandwagon, for
retaliation purposes or simply, as the saying goes, misery loves company
mentality (Veenstra, 2009).
There is a
viable theory, called the Routine Activity Theory, that may provide some answers as to why
adolescents behave this way (Veenstra, 2009).
According to Cyber-bullying: an
explanatory analysis, the theory "assumes that for deviant behavior to
occur there must be a convergence in time and space of three minimal elements:
a likely offender, a suitable target and the absence of a capable
guardian" (Veenstra, 2009).
With that being said, and it is very obvious as we make our way into
2013, that the more access adolescents have to the internet and more time they
spend on it, the higher the prevalence of cyber-bullying and cyber-stalking is, especially
where social networking sites and chat rooms are concerned, mainly because
"youths seem to be suitable targets" and the need for more parental
intervention is a must to help detach the victims from the world that the
internet has on them (Veenstra, 2009).
Ways to detach the victim and even the instigator is just one click away
and it's called blocking, which can apply to emails, IMs or text messages;
limiting the access to adolescents media devices (as hard as that may sound but
their safety is paramount in these situations); by becoming more aware and
involved in the cyber world our youth live in; and by utilizing the web for
resources and support information (Cyber-bullying, 2012)
As
mentioned previously, the prevalence of cyber-bullying and cyber-stalking is
extensive and for one to assume it is limited to just one particular part of
the world is asinine. This is happening
all over the world where there is internet capabilities. According to cyber-law expert, Parry Aftab,
who works to spread cyber safety, "at least 40 percent of high school
students have been cyber bullied while in high school, and that figure is
nearly double among middle school students (Koebler, 2011).
Further proof coming from a 2010 government report called
"Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2010, gave the estimate of 4% of
students ranging in the age from 12-18 admitted to being cyber-bullied in 2007
and another government report claims that roughly 18% of high school
administrators have confirmed that they had to deal with cyber bullying as much
as once a week or more (Koebler, 2011).
And as with any offense, many of these instances aren't reported,
meaning the stats could potentially be even higher.
Thankfully,
the law is beginning to catch up with the cyber world in regards to those that commit cyber-bullying and cyber-stalking. In the
state of New York we have the "Dignity for All Students Act" which
says "all students in public schools have an environment free of
harassment and discrimination based on actual or perceived race, national
origin, ethnic group, religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender or sex (Patchin, 2012). The article goes on to say that " harassment shall mean the creation of a
hostile environment by conduct or by verbal threats,
intimidation or abuse that has or would have the effect or unreasonably and substantially interfering with a student's
educations performance, opportunities or benefits,
or mental, emotional or physical well-being; or conduct, verbal threats, intimidation or abuse that reasonably
causes or would reasonably be expected to cause a student to fear for his or physical safety; etc. (Patchin, 2012).
The article
states that "Dignity for All Students Act" will be taking effect in
July of next year and that legislature "recognizes that most cyber-bullying
originates off-campus, but nonetheless affects the school environment and
disrupts the educational process, impeding the ability of students to learn and
too often causing devastating effects on students' health and well-being,
including behavior that occurs off school property and creates or would
foreseeably create a risk of substantial disruption within the school
environment..." (Patchin, 2012).
New York
also has the Commissioner's Regulation 100.2 (1) and Education Law 2801-a witch
"requires each board of education to adopt and enforce a code of conduct,
which includes disciplinary measures to be taken in incidents involving the use
of physical force or harassment.
Requires school safety plans to contain strategies for improving
communication among students and between students and staff and reporting of
potentially violent incidents, such as creating a forum or designating a mentor
for students concerned with bullying or violence and establishing anonymous
reporting mechanisms for school violence" (Patchin, 2012).
Returning
back to the sad journey and unfortunate end of Amanda Todd, there might be a
smidgen of light at the end of her tunnel.
With her death comes those that want to cease cyber-bullying and the
death of the innocent in full force. There
are a few reports online that the individual who harassed and sexually
exploited Amanda Todd has been identified but there is no proof of that at this
time. It seems like a needle in a
haystack, investigating who the bully is behind her suicide but the outcome
could be a lot more positive in the future as cyber-bullying and cyber stalking
laws become more prevalent in our society.
Which leads
me to a young man by the name of Tyler Clementi who, in Sept of 2010, jumped to
his death from the George Washington Bridge after learning his University
roommate had secretly used a laptop web cam to record him having relations with
another individual and then distributed it online for all to see and comment on
(Dhaurn Ravi, 2012) .
The offender, Dharun Ravi, was charged not with Tyler Clementi's death but
instead with "tampering with evidence and witnesses for
tying to change Twitter and text messages in which he encouraged others to
watch the webcam" (Dhaurn Ravi, 2012).
He was only sentenced to 30 days in jail, those of which he only served
20, three years of probation, 300 hours of community service as well as
counseling for cyber-bullying and a $10,000 probation fee (Dhaurn Ravi, 2012).
Along with the preventative measures mentioned earlier in
this essay, there are many ways to assist in handling and stopping bullying
over the internet, one being by just not responding. According Debbie Roome's article, What is Cyber-Bullying and Stalking,
simply not responding to emails, texts and messages via social networking sites
will thwart the bully and if not, then keeping all record of communication such
as messages, emails and texts in a document file with dates and times will be
very beneficial to investigators if that is deemed necessary (Roome, 2011). In the very least, letting someone know of
what's going on or asking for help is essential in rectifying the situation and
giving the victim the quality of life they should be living.
To conclude, as we further advance in our technology,
this writer believes we will advance in cyber-bullying and cyber stalking laws
as well. This subject has already gained
great momentum over the past few years but it is very unfortunate that it is
mainly because of the suicides so many of our youths have committed. More programs will be formed, adapted,
altered to perform the best for all cyber-bullied victims out there and to possibly
help reform bullies themselves. But most
of this quest is in the hands of the adolescents. They have to be ones to reach out and we have
to be available in their time of need.
Works Cited
Cyber-bullying. (2012). Retrieved 12 21, 2012, from KidsHealth:
http://kidshealth.org/parent/positive/talk/cyberbullying.html#
Dhaurn Ravi. (2012, 06 21). Retrieved 12 12, 2012, from The New York
Times:
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/r/dharun_ravi/index.html
Koebler, J. (2011, 06
03). Cyber Bullying Growing More Malicious, Experts Say. Retrieved 12
21, 2012, from US NEWS:
http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/high-school-notes/2011/06/03/cyber-bullying-growing-more-malicious-experts-say
Ng, C. (2012, 10 12). Bullied
Teen Leaves Behind Chilling YouTube Video. Retrieved 12 21, 2012, from ABC
NEWS: http://abcnews.go.com/International/bullied-teen-amanda-todd-leaves-chilling-youtube-video/story?id=17463266#.UNSkTHedzRh
Patchin, S. H. (2012,
November). State Cyber-bullying Laws. Retrieved 12 21, 2012, from Cyber-bullying.us: http://www.cyberbullying.us/Bullying_and_Cyberbullying_Laws.pdf
Robert W. Taylor, E.
J. (2011). Digital Crime and Digital Terrorism. Upper Saddle River:
Perason/Prentice Hall.
Roome, D. (2011, July
12). Retrieved 12 21, 2012, from
http://suite101.com/article/what-is-cyber-bullying-and-stalking-a379505
Veenstra, S. (2009). Cyber-bullying:
an explanatory analysis. Retrieved 12 21, 2012, from
http://www.cyren-jeugd.nl/files/Veenstra,%20S.%20%282011%29%20Cyberbullying%20-%20an%20explanatory%20analysis.pdf
