Project 4

Mercyllia Harmon

Amy Metcalf

English 1020

Project Four

Cyberbulling...Part Four

            “Dog Poop Girl”, “Kill Kylie”, “I hate you and wish you die”. These words where actually spoken to another human being. Actually theses exact words were said to torment teenagers. When one sees these words they are forced to feel critical emotion. These feelings can range from happy, sad, or even mad. Usually the people that encounter these words are the target or the person being bullied. Cyberbullying is very hazardous and it should be considered something to watch out for by every human being. It’s very serious, there is many ways to prevent it, and plus it’s the law!

            Cyber bullying is very serious to society. It harms the community because it interacts with the minds of children and teenagers. And they are this nation’s future leaders. It can have horrible results such as death or even psychological dysfunctions. For example teens have committed suicide because the horrible things that people sent through a technology device.

            The Law states that cyberbulling is a federal crime every since so many crimes has been committed. It’s not a final law but people have been prosecuted to the charges.

As children grow their lives change drastically. They become more independent and curious about life. Therefore prevention becomes a struggle. Even though prevention gets hard it’s certainly not impossible. The first step to prevention is recognizing if there is a problem. The second step to prevention is observing the situation. The third step is taking action. Modern parents are unaware of what’s really going on in their children’s lives. This has cause cyberbulling rituals to increase.

For children ages 7-10 parents can monitor their children’s lives by keeping them close by their side because they are still small and attached to their superior. Also they can monitor their everyday lives by interacting with the child and talking to them about their daily activities and understanding how it made them feel. For children this young this young it’s very easy to prevent because they listen very well and they are in their critical learning stage. This means they pick up everything like a sponge. By practicing this action you can actually recognize if there is a problem and you can observe the situation. Therefore you can take action if needed. Their peers can also contribute to because kids copy off each other. That’s why kids come home and say and do things that are not practiced in the household. Kids can talk to their peers and influence them to act a certain way no matter how meaningless the actions is. The school can also get involved because they can incorporate cyberbulling prevention lesions I their everyday activities. They also can set firm punishments that can change early lives because children want to be accepted. For example they can set a firm limit on recess or playtime if bullying occurs. The community can play a big as well. Younger children can attend cyberbulling prevention camp or activities. If kids learn early they will know the horrible outcome of cyberbulling and will be less involved with it. Just like the lesion from right and wrong.

            For children 11-13 it’s a little bit harder for parents to monitor their children because they are so active and they are starting to get involved in outside family and community activities, but it’s still possible. They can also keep a close watch and monitor the child activities and where they are. This is also around the time where children start getting cellphones and interested in the internet. Parents should practice internet safety with their children. Also their cell phones should be checked often. Parents can do this by actually going through the cell phone at random times or even getting a detailed print out of the bill with extended text message and phone call listings. This detailed print out lets the bill holder see every word that was sent in a text message and every call that was made. This is practicing the three steps of prevention with more mature children. Children this age is still capable of interaction and talking about feelings although at this age it starts to become easier to talk to boys than girls. Boys are more likely to stray away from talks with their parents because puberty is starting to set in and they weren’t to develop their male ego. But girls can still be difficult as well. This is where peers come into play because they have a big influence at this age. Also the child is likely to hang out with their peers more than their family. That is why the lesions learned at the ages 7-10 really pay off. Therefore they can live above the influence of cyberbulling.

            For children ages 14-17 it’s impossible for them to listen because they are full blown teenagers. Teens are going through a hard stage in life and they just want to be accepted. Parents can get involved by communicating with their children and welcoming them into their arms. For example maybe they can gain their trust by not judging the person the teen thinks he/she wants to be. The cell phone task can still be practiced and the parent child interaction if the relationship is mutual. Peers can be supportive and start to stand up and gain independence. The community can also get involved because teens are usually involved in organizations or teams and the person in charge can spark up a conversation about cyberbulling just like drug prevention. So next time you think about your children think about it’s the law and it can be prevented because it’s serious.