Dicks

Dicks

Cyber bullying and online harassment has become a large problem among the youth of the digital generation. With the pervasion of online social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace in modern culture, adolescents have been able to find a great many new and creative ways to make each other, and others, simply feel bad about themselves. The anonymity provided by usernames and avatars lets many teens feel they are able to hurt others with no repercussions, and the omnipresence of this media in the lives of today’s youth make such comments difficult to hide from. While high school students used to simply “talk shit” to each other in the hallways, in person, they’ve now taken to the Internet where there are no principles or teachers to put a stop to it. The question is, should the schools where these cyber bullies go be able to intervene, despite the bullying and harassment not actually taking place on school property?
The answer is neither yes nor no, it is a question of circumstance. As document D shows, this is a tricky issue because it concerns whether or not student’s right to free speech will be infringed upon, and document F brings up a good point in that bullying has always been a problem, and why should we take such new and drastic measures such as limiting free speech when the problem isn’t new at all? What has to be remembered is that it wasn’t okay then, and it’s not okay now. Bullying may have always been a problem, but that does not mean we didn’t try and stop it. The difference between then and present times is that before, any bullying off-campus was simply a matter of he-said-she-said, with no real record of way of “catching” the bully. But now with online forums there is a record of what is said, and despite the anonymity and other barriers that the internet may provide, bullies can now be held much more accountable for what they say and do. The problem is that the schools can’t simply intervene in student’s private lives the way they can...

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