This video above depicts only one of the many cases of cyber bullying which ended in tragedy. Megan, the girl shown above killed herself after she started talking to a boy online. At first everything was fine, but then he started calling her names. It got so excessive that she ended up killing herself. Only after an investigation was done did it in fact show this teenager was being bullied by a grown woman, posing as a boy.
Cyber bullying, which has really started occurring more frequently in the past couple of years, is a new form of torture. This attack can occur either over texting, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, e-mails, etc. Once it is out there in cyberspace, it can be uploaded for the whole world to see. More importantly, it seems to me that cyber bullying stings more than verbal abuse. When you see words in front of you in a document, they are forever etched into your head. First of all, more people can see it and take part in it. It is easier for people to join in on the torment because it is more open to everyone as opposed to just a phone call. Secondly, the information never disappears, as opposed to voice mails that can be deleted.
There needs to be more done in order to stop such atrocities from happening. Whether it would be in forms of stricter legislation or just better regulation of such social networking sites. This is preventable, but we need to take measures to make sure this doesn't happen. Individuals have already taken steps to help eliminate cyber bullying by creating online groups such as "STOP cyberbullying" which discusses why this happens and things that can be done with regards to prevention (http://www.stopcyberbullying.org/index2.html). However, much more can and should be done so that teenagers do not end their lives over something that is said over the Internet. Even though at the time they might think their life is over, they need to realize that it is not.
haha, I have never seen an episode of the Tyra Banks Show, but I'm glad she deals with relevant, important issues. I remember hearing about this case on the news and being horrified. Firstly, the poor girl committed suicide, which has to be the most awful way to die. But the fact that is was a mother and daughter who was behind the whole thing is like a special kind of evil. I think it signals that anyone can do it, adult or child alike, and that it is not seen as serious enough since the mother not only condoned it, but participated in it! I want to think that this happened because people like to think that in cyberspace, words don't mean as much than they do when they are spoken. But we obviously know that isn't the case.
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