My reason for this Blog is a class assignment but I'll be using it for a learning experience, as I've always wanted to learn the how, what, and why of blogging. My first blog is also a class assignment about Ethics, Cyberbullying, and Fake Names
I found some statistics online about Cyber-bullying and Teenagers....
– Cyberbullying is related to low self-esteem, suicidal ideation, anger,
frustration, and a variety of other emotional and psychological
problems
– Cyberbullying is related to other issues in the ‘real world’ including
school problems, anti-social behavior, substance use, and delinquency
– Traditional bullying is still more common than cyberbullying
– Traditional bullying and cyberbullying are closely related: those who
are bullied at school are bullied online and those who bully at school
bully online
These statistics are located on the https://cyberbullying.org/facts page.
Also, I discovered there are laws already in place in Illinois for public, private and charter schools resulting in suspension up to 10 days or a student could be expeled for no more than 2 years. I think if teens were aware of this and the consequences they could face they would be discouraged not to do it.
But there is a law called the Computer Freud and Abuse Act that states using a false name during registration is considered gaining access to a computer in a way that its owner didn't
authorize, which constitutes "hacking" and is punishable with 5 to 20 years in prison. Wow! This law in particular has come in handy when there were no laws in effect for cyber bullying. I remember maybe 10 years ago, a young teenager was harassed on MySpace by a mother of another teenager and the girl committed suicide. She was ultimately charged under the CFAA, because there were no laws yet.
I don't agree that using a screen name in online chats or gaming should be punishable by law, and parents should have real conversations about the type of Monsters that hide out online looking for kids.
I welcome a different perspective that maybe I haven't considered.
