With the increased usage of social media among teens, cyber bullying has become a prevalent issue in American culture. Cyberbullying is the constant bullying or harassment of someone using any form of social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.). One of the key differences between cyberbullying and bullying is that with bullying, the victim has time away from their attacker; this is often times because the victim only sees the bully during school. However, when someone is being cyber bullied, the victim does not have the same safe space because the bully may now continue the harassment long after school hours, leading to emotionally challenging days.
Heartbreaking stories of many teenagers taking their lives as a result of cyberbullying have increased dramatically. In late February of this year, 14-year-old Carla Jamerson from Las Vegas committed suicide. Jamerson endured relentless cruel comments for years, but eventually the comments began to weigh heavily on her. Jamerson’s mother was interviewed about the tragedy. She described, “She had been getting bullied for a long time, to the point where the happy, bubbly girl that I knew changed…They hacked into her email and they created a Facebook page and they massacred her.” The most distressing part of Jamerson’s story is that no one listened. When the Jamerson family met with the school (on multiple occasions) to discuss the bullying, the school redirected them. Her mother comments, “The school police told me that because it was not on school campus, but after hours, I needed to call the regular police…The regular police told me, ‘You need to call the school police.” Her daily struggle became a battle that she was forced to fight on her own.
Aside from reporting suicides, the media has begun to show the world how difficult it can be to fight your own battle. Released in mid-April, the movie Unfriended is quickly gaining popularity, partly due to its interesting subject: cyberbullying. After a shamefully scandalous Youtube video was anonymously posted featuring teenager Laura Barns, she is harassed constantly over every form of social media. Her classmates send her messages telling Laura to kill herself, and unable to handle the embarrassment and hate, Laura publically does just that. Sarah Balick ’17 shared, “The main point of the movie is sad, but I’m glad the message is getting out about cyberbullying.” Balick reminds us that although it is not easy to learn about some of the tragedies that are going on, educating ourselves on the topic is important if we want to end it.
At Friends, there is not much talk of cyber bullying. Whether it simply does not occur or the painful truth has yet to be discovered, it is important that the issue remains in our minds. Terrence Dai ‘15 shared his opinion on cyber bullying, calling it, “the silent killer of people’s state of mind and life on the internet.” Dai continued, “No one should be bullied online or in real life.” Dai reminds us that the issue is very dangerous because few speak up about the problem and even less are actually listened to when they share. Dai also makes it clear that he believes it is not right for anyone to have to undergo this type of treatment–a view everyone should share. Jakob Katzen ’16 added his thoughts on cyber bullying within our Friends community. He stated, “I believe Wilmington Friends handles cyberbullying well and tries to prevent its students from using it as a means of communicating in a harmful and insensitive manner. With this being said, I think students are encouraged to resist the temptation to cyberbully as it not only goes against the core values of the school, but also the Quaker philosophy.” On the surface of our community at Friends, it seems there are little to no problems that have to do with cyber bullying, but if someone were to dig deeper, what would they find?
Whether it be schools or police departments, there needs to be more emphasis placed on the terrible consequences that can result from cyberbullying. A great way to begin the fight against cyberbullying is to shut it down within WFS. It is important to remember that what is said over social media can be interpreted in many ways; something meant as a joke can always be taken negatively. Despite the intention of one’s message, it is crucial to remember that there is another human being on the other side of the screen.