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may 8, 2014 - may 14, 2014 | 13
Guest Opinion/Editorial Your Child May be in Danger, Find Out How you Could Help By Angela Lara Lomeli, USC MSW Candidate 2015
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Technological advances and the internet have created countless ways for people to communicate and exchange information in a matter of seconds, at any time of the day. However, this communication is not always positive. Research shows that 1 in 4 kids in the United States are bullied and cyberbullied on a regular basis (Bullyingstatistics.org). According to the Cyberbullying Research Center, an estimated of about 160,000 students stay home and not go to school because they are afraid of being bullied. Bullying is defined as “unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or
perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time. Bullying includes actions such as making threats, spreading rumors, attacking someone physically or verbally, and excluding someone from a group on purpose.” Cyberbullying is defined as “bullying that takes place using electronic technology. Electronic technology includes devices and equipment such as cell phones, computers, and tablets as well as communication tools including social media sites, text messages, chat, and websites.” Thus, it is evident that bullying in not only a problem that is affecting our family, school and community but that it is a national issue. Due to the popularity of social media sites like FaceBook, Twitter, Ask, Instagram and Tumblr, users are taking advantage of these outlets to communicate their bullying attacks with out a face-toface contact. Some examples of how cyberbullying is done is by creating fake profiles and using them to harass victims
or by creating group pages where individuals could anonymously criticize and ridicule vulnerable targets. Victims and perpetrators are rapidly growing and disastrous consequences are intensifying; such by the compelling acts of suicides due to cyberbullying and bullying overall. It is important to realize that suicide is the third leading cause of death among teenagers between the ages of 10 and 24; which results in about 4,600 deaths per year and for every one suicide, there are at least 100 suicide attempts (Center for Disease Control and Prevention). As President Obama has previously addressed, we cannot dismiss any type of bullying and pretend as if it is a normal act of a child or teen. Parents and school personnel must take proper prevention measures to ensure children are not bullying others, as well as protect them from any harm. Parents should also be cautious of how things are going at school, in the neighborhood, and be extra aware of with who
children are communicating at the comfort of their home because unfortunately, ones’ safety is continuously being jeopardized everywhere. Given that, children should never feel as if they have to handle conflicts on their own, especially if it is hindering their physical and mental health. It is suggested that to help reduce this life-taking issues, that a federal policy be enacted to establish proper consequences to the life-threatening crime. Considering that, back in 2008, the Megan Meier Cyberbullying Prevention Act (H.R. 6123) was introduced to Congress by sponsor Linda Sanchez, the Representative for California's 39th Congressional District. This act aimed to “amends the federal criminal code to impose criminal penalties on anyone who transmits in interstate or foreign commerce a communication intended to coerce, intimidate, harass, or cause substantial emotional distress to another person, using electronic means to support severe, repeated, and hostile behavior” (California
Legislative Information). However, it was not enacted. On the bright side, this pass April 2014, the state of Alaska passed Senate Bill 128 which would “criminalize the cyberbullying of a minor as a misdemeanor offense and make it illegal to repeatedly send electronic communications that insult, taunt, challenge, or intimidate a person under 18 in a manner that causes fear of physical injury.” The bill from Alaskan Senator Kevin Meyer passed at 19-0 and will next goes to the House. Similarly Assembly Bill 1455, introduced by Nora Campos which as of April 24, 2014 is in the Senate, it is in the process in advocate for the issue revolving bullying. This bill would “authorize schools to provide referrals for mental health services for the victim, witnesses, and other pupils who are affected by an act of bullying.” It is crucial that students, parents, school, and the community as a whole be more active in becoming aware of what cyberbullying and bullying is. It is detrimen-
tal to our nation that you recognize the strong support you can provide these bills so that they can result in laws to help save lives. Be more informed today! References Alaska Senate. (April 10, 2014). Bill to Criminalize Cyberbullying Passes Legislature: Senate Bill 128 criminalizes electronic harassment of minors. Retrieved from www.alaskasenate.org/senate/ press/news/meyer-to-criminalizecyberbullying-passes- legislature California Legislative Information. (2014) AB-1455 Pupils: bullying: counseling services. Retrieved from http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billVersionsCompareClient.xhtml Sheridan, L. (2014) AB1455: Providing Counseling Services for School Bullying Victims & Witnesses. Retrieved from http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/ www.naswca.org/resource/ resmgr/ Files/AB1455FactsheetBullyingCouns.pdf Tong Neo, W. (April, 3, 2014). Senate Passes Bill Making 'Cyberbullying' a Crime. Retrieved from www.ktuu.com/news/news/ senate-passes-bill-making-cyberbullying-a-crime/ 25310150
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