Bibiche Ehounou

English 2010-009
April 14, 2016
PEER PAPER FINAL DRAFT
Sixteen year old Miya an African girl came to the United State with all her family. Her
dad was killed in Congo and her mom was raising them alone, until they got opportunity to
migrate to the US. Miya did not know anything about cyber bullying, she never heard about
cyber bullying before, when she began to receive threatening email messages from a
mysterious cyber bully. The threatening messages continued and continued until Miyas in
box held nine messages. The messages ranged from merely rude to downright frightening.
Once the messages escalated into things like, Im going to rape you, Miyas family decided
to take the issue to the police. The police were quickly able to trace the messages back to
Miyas classmate and surprisingly best friend. She was traumatized because this cyberbullying
experience was something that she was not prepare for. The courts required the cyber bully to
attend counselling sessions and to write Miya a formal letter of apology. Though, Miyas
family felt that this punishment was likely too lenient, they were glad that their action did
result in a positive outcome.
Cyber bullying has proven to be one of the most destructive of bullying tactics in
recent decades. The prevalence of cyber bullying is a result of how easily cyber bullies can
have access to their victims. Many people do not realize the extreme effects that cyber
bullying can have on children and teens. Reading this story of actual cyber bully victim can

help individuals understand the consequences of this most destructive form of abuse. It is
actually real life story of bullying and cyber bullying that brings how harsh these can be.
Another example of cyberbullying I read that happened in 2006. Megan Meier was a
13 year-old female from Missouri who was cyberbullied to the point that she hung herself in
her closet in October of 2006 (Porkin, 2007). Megan thought that she was talking with a 16
year old boy named Josh on Myspace. During the six weeks they were talking, Megans mom
kept a close eye on the conversations. On October 15 th 2006, Megan received a message on
Myspace from Josh which said, I dont know if I want to be friends with you anymore
because Ive heard that you are not very nice to your friends. The next day, students were
posting bulletins about Megan, and Josh had sent her another message which read,
Everybody in OFallon knows how you are. You are a bad person and everybody hates you.
Have a shitty rest of your life. The world will be a better place without you. That day,
Megans parents found her hanging in her closet and rushed her to the hospital, where she
died the following day. The cyberbullied was convicted, and this conviction was the countrys
first cyberbullying verdict which was ruled on November 26 th, 2008(Steinhauer, 2008).
These examples of cyber bully story does make it clear we have problems with how the
internet is used, how social media is used and how victims feel or react. Before researching
this paper my position in this issue was that the person being bullied will be noticed when one
appears to be angry, depressed or get frustrated after using electronic device or computer. The
person gets to be uneasy about going to social places or events, avoids discussions about what he
or she is doing, may even withdraw abnormally from usual friends or family members. Either
unexpectedly stops using computer or other electronic devices. Cyberbullying continues to occur
more frequently as technology becomes more readily accessible by the masses, especially

students, by parents overestimating their childrens awareness of cyberbullying, There are no

simple answers to explain why adolescents attempt suicide, just as there are no simple solutions
that will prevent its occurrence; The biggest challenge to combating cyberbullying, is leaning
which students are dealing with cyberbullying because it is seldom reported. Deputy Trevor
Fowler, President of the Missouri School Resource Officers Association said, "The problem
is...only about half of the bullying incidents are ever reported...once we know about them, we
successfully resolve 90 percent of the issues." Anonymous bullying reporting solutions like the
Cyberbully Hotline should serve to compliment these programs. We created the program as a
means to combat reporting fear. Schools should strive to create a climate in which students feel
comfortable reporting face to face, but certain situations will be better served by an anonymous
reporting system.
One of the earliest cyberbullying victims in North America was Ryan Halligan, who died
by suicide in 2003 after being tormented with homophobic instant. Messages. Cyberbullying was
soon described as an emerging threat to young Canadians the always on generation. (Law
journal January 1, 2015) The sensationalization of cyberbullying incidents by the media led to
the public cry for accountability, prompting different parental, educational and governmental
responses. But are the responses even helping? Why is there still an ongoing search for solutions
to cyberbullying? The growing number of cyberbullying victims dying by suicide, coupled with
the fact that young people are now perceiving cyberbullying to be "routine, inevitable and an
unfortunate feature of their online interactions," raise concerns about the preventive and
ameliorative efforts that have been put forward so fare. I think that parents are not really aware
of their childs online activity in my opinion, nor did parents have a full understanding of their
child as a victim of cyberbullying. Not much has changed since then. A 2013 study found that

parents continue to have an inaccurate view of their childrens online experiences (online
Experience 2013).
Rather than overestimating, parents often underestimate whether or not their child has
been a victim of cyberbullying. In fact, the study revealed that "thinking ones child is smarter
than others while online...contribute to the increasing likelihood that parents underestimate risky
online behaviors". This was the case for Tera Murphy, who found out that her daughter had been
cyberbullied for two years only after she attempted to die by suicide (Supra Note 1).
Do parents really care for their children? If yes, how can parents be aware of their childs on
lines activity after two years! Parents really need to monitor their children, make sure they are
safe when using on lines activity. What other ways can it be prevented and monitored? Because
cyberbullying occurs so extensively in the schools, teachers and administrators need to address it
schoolwide. School administrators must implement a comprehensive prevention plan that has the
support and cooperation of parents, the school, and community members if students are to be
free from cyberbullying. Combating cyberbullying is mission that requires administrators
teachers, counselors, parents, and students to work together to ensure that all students are
afforded a safe and fear-free learning environment. In my personal opinion bullying and cyber
bullying are two major problems that young teens and adults have. These two things are not the
same, but they do in fact intersect one another. Lots of people are committing suicide every year
just because of this problem. It starts online then it can lead to neighborhoods or even at your
own house. An important key to know if youre being bullied, is to talk to someone about it,
dont keep it to yourself. Cyber bullying happens on many of the common places online. This
includes places like Myspace or Facebook, but its also common in chats, instant messaging, and
emails and on message boards. Its really important to think before you post anything personal

about yourself online. The same thing goes for if you are being bullied on a school campus. Talk
to someone about it. Or just stay near an instructor or someone where safe.
When people are being bullied online or on campus, it hurts them and they can go into
the stage of stress or depression. They might feel lost and they dont know what to do about it.
Thats when they cant trust anyone, and they become lonely. The worst part of it is when people
find them dead. Its a tragedy! Many people and family members have lots of unanswered
questions. Of course, everyone wants to know who is involved, so they call the police
immediately to investigate.
Bullying and even cyberbullying is everywhere no matter the grade or age. It is in
elementary schools, middle school, high schools and even college. Bullies think life would be a
lot better if all the people they harass would not be here. But the people who were bullied, I
know for a fact if they were still here, they would also have a better life if the ones who started
the bullying faced several punishments.
Parents and teachers need to be more aware when it comes to being bullied. No matter if its
online or on school grounds. If teachers or faculty members see someone getting bullied they
should take the bullies to the principals office for a talk on the harm they are causing. The same
thing goes for parents, if they know that their child or children are being bullied, they need to do
something about it.
It's extremely difficult to avoid being cyberbullied because you really can't control what
other people on the Internet choose to do. I think one of the best things anyone can do is to be
kind and courteous to the people they interact with on the Internet. Young people should practice
positive digital citizenship in all of their online activities. In my opinion you have to treat
everything you do as if you were face to face not only with those people but also their close
friends and family. Consider questions like, "Would I want my Grandma to see me saying these
things?" Avoiding bullying is also a matter of not escalating situations to the level that they are

cyberbullying. If we see or receive a cruel message or something that hurts our feelings, we
shouldn't reply with a nasty response, since this could cause things to get much worse.