“When a word is said it cannot be taken back. When it is said at home is heard by a few people; when it is said at school it is heard by a larger group, but when it is said on the Internet there is no limit to the number of people who have access to that information” (Kevorkian, D’Antona, 81). The year 2009 marked the 40th anniversary of the Internet but in the past couple of decades cyber bullying has become a big issue in the United States. This not only leads to more problems in the young generations, but it also leads to an increase of suicides and depression. The Internet has become a part of our daily lives because of its convenience and its connection to the world, but it is because of this connection that cyber bullying is becoming a big issue. There are many different ways people can communicate through the Internet such as chat rooms, blogs, text messaging, social networking, and etc, which brings the opportunity for bullying to a whole new level. It has been proven that females get cyber bullied more than males do, but it depending on a person’s age and maturity level is how they will handle the situation. Ryan Halligan was born in 1989 in Poughkeepsie, New York. There were early concerns with Ryan’s speech, language and motor skills development. His parents described him as a “sweet, gentle, and very sensitive soul” (If We Only Knew). Ryan received special education services through fourth grade but Ryan had improved enough to be able to attend regular school. When he got to fifth grade, Ryan started to realize that he was not as academically or athletically strong as the other kids. During fifth grade, a bullying problem emerged. He was teased for his weaknesses. This bullying problem was an on and off problem throughout his life. The last couple of months of his life, Ryan was beginning to spend a lot of time on the computer. The day after his death his mother logged on to his AIM account she found that the same boy that had been bullying him since fifth grade was now cyber bullying him. Saying things like “Ryan must be gay.” Ryan kept all of the comments bottled up for the last months of his life and on October 8, 2003 Ryan Halligan took his life. Another story from a nineteen-year-old female named Lynda Lopez whose college plans were almost ruined by a girl who she had worked with in an previous job. Lynda had just received news that she was a finalist for a full scholarship to Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. She did what many teens would have done; update their status on Facebook. That same night she had received an email from the foundation offering the scholarship saying that “you wanted to drop out of the program because of the scholarship was a piece of crap” (Lopez). She emailed back saying that the email that was sent to the foundation was nearly identical to her email address but it was not Lynda that sent those emails. She checked her email again and there were twelve messages with the subject “I will kill you.” One of the messages even repeated those words over fifty times in one messages. Weeks went on and Lynda continued to receive death threats. She became cautious of everyone around her. When the girl was identified, her actions only qualified as a misdemeanor in Illinois punishable by up to six months in person and a $1,500 fine. She was not put on trial or convicted of any crime (Lopez). From reading these stories and many others, from both the male and female aspect, I have found that the reaction is based on age. It had very little to do with gender. In Ryan’s story, he was bullied for his disabilities, not because he was a male. A lot of the stories that I found during my research, was that majority of the children that were being bullied, were from the ages twelve to sixteen. All of the children, male and female had virtually the same reaction. Neither of them told their parents or authority figures about the problem because they either feared that the problem would get worse because they “tattled,” or they thought that authority figures would not do anything about the problem. Ryan’s parents had a similar mindset because when Ryan finally told them about the bullies, they thought that this was just the process of growing up. They thought that this was just a phase every child goes through. Lynda’s situation was a little different than Ryan’s because she was older and she knew who she was. Lynda was comfortable with who she was and she was going to fight for what was the right. When a person is in their early teen years, they are just beginning to know their body and mind. Carl, age thirteen was bullied and he said, “I think they chose to try to fit in by making other kids feel on the outside” (Ellis, 16). This is probably the reason why people feel the need to bully other people. I have concluded that gender is not the issue in the case because the Internet is so transparent and people can pretend to be people they are not, the targets they pick are pick to make themselves feel better. It is almost scarier for bullying not to be about gender but about being yourself. This makes anyone a target for cyber bullying.
DePino, Catherine. Real life bully prevention for real kids: 50 ways to help elementary and middle school students. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Education, 2009. Print.
Ellis, Deborah. We want you to know: kids talk about bullying. Regina: Coteau Books, 2010. Print. Garrett, Anne G.. Bullying in American Schools. Jefferson: McFarland & Co., 2003.
Jacobs, Thomas A.. Teen cyberbullying investigated: where do your rights end and consequences begin?. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit Pub., 2010. Print.
Kevorkian, Meline M., and Robin Antona. 101 facts about bullying: what everyone should know. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Education, 2008. Print.
Lopez, Lynda. "How a Cyberbully almost ruined my life: Lynda Lopez, 19, on the vicious e-mails and death threats that nearly sank her college plans--and how she fought back." New York Times Upfront 6 Sept. 2010: 29 Global Issues in Context. Web. 27 Apr. 2011. <http://findgalegroup.com/gic/infomark.do? &contentSet=IAC- Documents&idigest=99dddd52eea38411541c9ad07ff011c&type=rertie ve&tabID=T003&prodld- GIC&docld=A237531929&source=gale&userGroupName=hono17865& version=1.0>.
Willard, Nancy E.. Cyber-safe kids, cyber-savvy teens: helping young people learn to use the Internet safely and responsibly. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2007. Print.
“When a word is said it cannot be taken back. When it is said at home is heard by a few people; when it is said at school it is heard by a larger group, but when it is said on the Internet there is no limit to the number of people who have access to that information” (Kevorkian, D’Antona, 81). The year 2009 marked the 40th anniversary of the Internet but in the past couple of decades cyber bullying has become a big issue in the United States. This not only leads to more problems in the young generations, but it also leads to an increase of suicides and depression. The Internet has become a part of our daily lives because of its convenience and its connection to the world, but it is because of this connection that cyber bullying is becoming a big issue. There are many different ways people can communicate through the Internet such as chat rooms, blogs, text messaging, social networking, and etc, which brings the opportunity for bullying to a whole new level. It has been proven that females get cyber bullied more than males do, but it depending on a person’s age and maturity level is how they will handle the situation.
Ryan Halligan was born in 1989 in Poughkeepsie, New York. There were early concerns with Ryan’s speech, language and motor skills development. His parents described him as a “sweet, gentle, and very sensitive soul” (If We Only Knew). Ryan received special education services through fourth grade but Ryan had improved enough to be able to attend regular school. When he got to fifth grade, Ryan started to realize that he was not as academically or athletically strong as the other kids. During fifth grade, a bullying problem emerged. He was teased for his weaknesses. This bullying problem was an on and off problem throughout his life. The last couple of months of his life, Ryan was beginning to spend a lot of time on the computer. The day after his death his mother logged on to his AIM account she found that the same boy that had been bullying him since fifth grade was now cyber bullying him. Saying things like “Ryan must be gay.” Ryan kept all of the comments bottled up for the last months of his life and on October 8, 2003 Ryan Halligan took his life.
Another story from a nineteen-year-old female named Lynda Lopez whose college plans were almost ruined by a girl who she had worked with in an previous job. Lynda had just received news that she was a finalist for a full scholarship to Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. She did what many teens would have done; update their status on Facebook. That same night she had received an email from the foundation offering the scholarship saying that “you wanted to drop out of the program because of the scholarship was a piece of crap” (Lopez). She emailed back saying that the email that was sent to the foundation was nearly identical to her email address but it was not Lynda that sent those emails. She checked her email again and there were twelve messages with the subject “I will kill you.” One of the messages even repeated those words over fifty times in one messages. Weeks went on and Lynda continued to receive death threats. She became cautious of everyone around her. When the girl was identified, her actions only qualified as a misdemeanor in Illinois punishable by up to six months in person and a $1,500 fine. She was not put on trial or convicted of any crime (Lopez).
From reading these stories and many others, from both the male and female aspect, I have found that the reaction is based on age. It had very little to do with gender. In Ryan’s story, he was bullied for his disabilities, not because he was a male. A lot of the stories that I found during my research, was that majority of the children that were being bullied, were from the ages twelve to sixteen. All of the children, male and female had virtually the same reaction. Neither of them told their parents or authority figures about the problem because they either feared that the problem would get worse because they “tattled,” or they thought that authority figures would not do anything about the problem. Ryan’s parents had a similar mindset because when Ryan finally told them about the bullies, they thought that this was just the process of growing up. They thought that this was just a phase every child goes through. Lynda’s situation was a little different than Ryan’s because she was older and she knew who she was. Lynda was comfortable with who she was and she was going to fight for what was the right. When a person is in their early teen years, they are just beginning to know their body and mind. Carl, age thirteen was bullied and he said, “I think they chose to try to fit in by making other kids feel on the outside” (Ellis, 16). This is probably the reason why people feel the need to bully other people. I have concluded that gender is not the issue in the case because the Internet is so transparent and people can pretend to be people they are not, the targets they pick are pick to make themselves feel better. It is almost scarier for bullying not to be about gender but about being yourself. This makes anyone a target for cyber bullying.
Bibliography
"Bullying Widespread in U.S. Schools, Survey Finds." National Institutes of Health. 24 Apr. 2001. Web. 13 Apr. 2011. <http://www.nichd.nih.gov/news/releases/bullying.cfm?renderforprint=1>.
DePino, Catherine. Real life bully prevention for real kids: 50 ways to help elementary and middle school students. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Education, 2009. Print.
Ellis, Deborah. We want you to know: kids talk about bullying. Regina: Coteau Books, 2010. Print.
Garrett, Anne G.. Bullying in American Schools. Jefferson: McFarland & Co., 2003.
Hayes, Susan. "Cyberbullies R 4 Real ." EBSCO . Web. 27 Apr. 2011.
<http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/delivery?sid=e4ae6c60-74c3-4d66-8cb3-2760f93a3a60%40sessionmgr112&vid=5&hid=113>.
"If We Only Knew, If He Only Told Us." Ryan's Story Presentation. Web. 13 Apr. 2011. <http://www.ryanpatrickhalligan.org/>.
Jacobs, Thomas A.. Teen cyberbullying investigated: where do your rights end and consequences begin?. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit Pub., 2010. Print.
Kevorkian, Meline M., and Robin Antona. 101 facts about bullying: what everyone should know. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Education, 2008. Print.
Lopez, Lynda. "How a Cyberbully almost ruined my life: Lynda Lopez, 19, on the vicious e-mails and death threats that nearly sank her college plans--and how she fought back." New York Times Upfront 6 Sept. 2010: 29 Global Issues in Context. Web. 27 Apr. 2011. <http://findgalegroup.com/gic/infomark.do? &contentSet=IAC- Documents&idigest=99dddd52eea38411541c9ad07ff011c&type=rertie ve&tabID=T003&prodld- GIC&docld=A237531929&source=gale&userGroupName=hono17865& version=1.0>.
Willard, Nancy E.. Cyber-safe kids, cyber-savvy teens: helping young people learn to use the Internet safely and responsibly. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2007. Print.