In the past decade, technology has grown and improved at a rapid rate. Cell phones can access the internet and connect the user to social media platforms from literally anywhere they can get a signal. Computers and tablets are now a necessity for millions of jobs. Information is accessible within seconds. It's amiazing how people have information right at their fingertips, however, too much information can hut. Bad people can use technology to do more harm than good. Hackers can steal a person's identity or access credit card information to make a purchase. Likewise, a bully can send threatening messages online. Many bullies can seal their identity as some social media sites allow the user to be anonymous. This method of bullying is called cyber-bullying. Cyber-bullying causes depression, mental illness, trouble in schools, and suicide; however, there are methods and strategies that can benefit victims of cyber-bullying.

Some people may think that cyber-bullying is not that big of a deal and it doesn't need much attention. According to Alastair, "cyberbullying is really stupid  ...  Nowhere NEAR as bad as getting hit, punched, abused." (Patchin para 4) Bullies would beat up people for lunch money and generally used physical punishment to get what they wanted. Cyber-bullies just say things online and don't present a physical threat to the victim. The words they use are often immature and don't deserve much attention. After Alastair's letter to CyberBullying.us, Alastair receives an opposition to his letter. The opposition disagrees with Alastair and states "there are a lot of very serious instances of cyberbullying that result in long term harm to those who experience it." (Patchin para 11) The harm that cyber-bullying can have is much more than just immature little comments. Cyber-bullying can devastate a victim and cause them to do something they wouldn't normally do. 

The school system is where many problems happen as a result of cyber-bullying. Take, for example, Brandon Turley. Turley was a middle schooler who searched MySpace and found a blog about himself. The blog had comments that "declared Turley was a 'fag'." (Landau para 2) The blog also referred to Turley as being fat. Later when Turley went to school, the students in the hallway called him 'fag' and 'fatty.' When Turley wrote on MySpace asking why the kids wrote so badly about him, the kids responded with stronger threats saying "he should stop going to school and die." (Landau para 3) He was receiving death threats from kids who hardly knew him. One of the threats also said that 12 kids would beat him up if he came to school. All these threats were aimed at a 12-year-old in the 6th grade. Turley was very confused with all the negativity directed at him. He finally reported the incident to the office and got the issue resolved.

Another case involved a 6th grade girl who received many sexually threatening texts from a boy in the same grade. The parents came to the school and showed the principal the text messages and insisted him to punish the boy. The principal said "this occurred outside of school on a weekend  ...  we can't discipline him." (Hoffman para 3) The parents want to get justice for their daughter, but feel awkward about the whole situation. The boy's father coaches with the girl's father. The parents of the girl felt wrong to involve the boy's parents, but still wanted something done about the boy.

In both cases, young middle school kids are targeted by cyber-bullies and have to cope with the emotions and confusion of being a pre-teen. Each kid was targeted for specific reasons and went through a process to fix the problem. Both cases start off with harmful messages received while at home and then are exploited even more at school. While Turley went to the office on his own, the girl's parents came to the school to try and resolve the issue. The girl's case is debatably more serious, but Turley and the girl tried to resolve their problems with the school. 

The problem with trying to resolve the issue at school was that the school system has mixed thoughts on how they can interact and if they are even allowed to interact. The school system has strict laws and codes of conduct they have to abide by, which may lead to the school not getting involved in matters outside of school grounds and school functions. The issue is highly debated because the school system will have parents that rage on not doing anything. The parents might also rage if the school punishes their kid. The school is left in a no-win situation. If the school does intervene, students will continue to bully and harass other students. If the school doesn't intervene, students will continue to bully and harass other students. If the school does intervene, the school might get a bad rap from parents of the kids they are sending home as part of punishment for something they did off of school grounds.

The school system needs to intervene in a way that won't offend parents and that helps both the victims of cyber-bullying and the cyber-bullies themselves. People who can really make a difference in the school system are the teachers. Teachers are the heart and soul of a school because they are in direct contact with the kids daily. They teach the kids lessons and show them neat things about life. An argument that Caralee Adams makes is that "as a teacher, you can be a powerful force in promoting a climate of respect. Educate yourself and be on the lookout for signs that cyber-bullying is taking place." (Adams para 3) Students look up to teachers for guidance and learning. They see a teacher as a sort of third parent because they are seeing their teachers daily and make a relationship with that teacher. When Adams mentions 'the signs,' she is referring to things teachers can look for in a student to know if they are being cyber-bullied or feel bad in general. Students who are suddenly struggling in class or are afraid to come to school often have an outside source scarring and/or hurting them. This can lead to the student making bad grades, unwilling to participate in class activities and discussion, and even cause students to drop out or give up in a class. If teachers don't want to get directly involved in the situation, the teacher can refer the student to the guidance counselor. Adams says "counselors have experience teaching kids what it means to be kind, responsible, and respectful, and that translates to their behavior online." (Adams para 19) Teachers work with people who specifically help with the needs of students. Counselors can help a victim of cyber-bullying by finding out who the cyber-bully is and what can be done to help the child. If a student is constantly feeling depressed and scared, they won't be able to concentrate very well on school work. That is why it is important that teachers and other workers at the school pay attention to what is going on with the kids they are teaching.

 Cyber-bullying is a major contributing factor to depression in teens and young people. A series of 36 studies searched for the effects cyber-bullying has on teens ages 12 through 18. A big point that was drawn from all the studies was that "there were consistent associations between exposure to cyberbullying and increased likelihood of depression." (Pappas para 5) In roughly half of the studies, they found that around 23% of students who had social media reported abuse from cyber-bullies. Almost a fourth of students who participated in the studies felt the pressure of cyber-bullying. That means a fourth of the students felt depressed just based off of cyber-bullying. Typical numbers for teen depression is through the roof but to find out that a fourth of them felt depressed because of cyber-bullying is alarming. Depression not only affects a kid's performance in school, it also affects their social life and their confidence as an individual. The victim is often very depressed and wants to isolate themselves from friends and family. On rare occasions the victim might not have any friends or family. Teens who are very depressed will start to listen to the words cyber-bullies say and start to believe them. 

If a person is feeling depressed because they are being cyber-bullied, the person can do something about it. Helpguide.org has a great article about cyber-bullying and what victims can do to stop it. One of the tips given for students is "Get help. Talk to a parent, teacher, counselor, or other trusted adult." (Robinson 1) It's very important for victims to get help because the adult will know how to help the victim or find someone else who can help. Another recommendation made by the site is "Don't make a cyber-bullying incident worse by dwelling on it or reading the message over and over." (Robinson 1) Students who dwell on the issue will not be able to focus on other things and suffer because they can't do well on other tasks. Ways to keep away from the incident is to not read the messages anymore and focus on something that makes a student happy. Having fun will ease the pains off and allow for a break away from depression. Depression, especially for students, has to be dealt with and not avoided. Students who avoid it find they remember it and feel bad about it again. If a student deals with the issue by seeking help and resolving the issue, the pain will go away much quicker and the student can move on. If a student is unable to move on and doesn't seek help they will start to isolate themselves. This is where victims will start to consider extreme measures such as cutting or even suicide to solve the problem.

Suicide is a very serious and very real problem that people face. Most people who commit suicide are teens. The video made about the girl who experienced cyber-bullying is a very accurate depiction of what can really happen to a victim of cyber-bullying. The video shows the story of a girl who recently lost weight after she was picked on about her weight. The students who she thought were her friends were actually the ones who made fun of her on social media. She didn't know it was her friends because their identity was kept anonymous. They made fun of her even after she lost weight. She received many hate comments and didn't know what to do. She finally had enough of it and hung herself. The video presented a statistic that "6% of secondary school students in Singapore have suicidal thoughts due to bullying." (Cyber Bullying Kills) That would mean that thousands of students in the schools in Singapore think about suicide because they are victims of cyber-bullying. 

One study interviewed 2000 students and found "20% of respondents reported seriously thinking about attempting suicide (19.7% of females, and 20.9% of males), while 19 % reported attempting suicide (17.9% of females, and 20.2% of males)." (Hinduja and Patchin para 4) Something else that directly relates cyber-bullying to suicide is "Cyberbullying victims were almost twice as likely to have attempted suicide compared to youth who had not experienced cyberbullying." (Hinduja and Patchin para 6) The numbers speak for themselves and obviously show people receiving threatening messages online are more prone to suicidal thoughts. The best way to deal with suicidal thoughts is to seek help. People will help those in need and make a plan to help the situation. Doctors can counsel a victim to help think about something else instead of seriously considering ending their lives. Hotlines and emergency staff are always available if a victim needs to talk. The victim can also talk to their loved ones and seek help from them because they are the ones who support the most. 

Mental Illness is another unlikely resultant from cyber-bullying. A study found "Cyberbullying victimization increased the likelihood of substance use, with binge drinking and marijuana use both approximately 2.5 times more likely to occur." (Goebert 2) Drug and alcohol problems lead to many mental health disorders and can increase the likelihood of depression and suicide. The disorders could be life changing for the person because the person might not function like they normally do anymore. Drugs make people crazy and alcohol leads to intoxication and drunk driving. All these things derive from cyber-bullying. Helen Cowie sums it all up by saying "research consistently identifies the consequences of bullying for the emotional health of children and young people." (Cowie para 8) 

Cyber-bullying undoubtedly has many negative effects that can seriously harm or kill people. Alastair's assumption that cyber-bullying is not a serious issue is dead wrong considering all the things that can happen because of cyber-bullying. No person should ever need to take their life for hurtful comments online. There are sources available for victims to use. The main obstacle for these victims is seeking help because they are too afraid to try and get help. There are sources available for victims to use but if a victim doesn't speak up, they can end up like the girl in the video. No person should ever feel like they have to take their own life or harm themselves because of hurtful comments or harassment online. There is always an alternative and that alternative is to seek help from anyone who is available. 

