There is a backlash against the growing occurrence of cyberbullying across the Internet, which is visible through the efforts to make cyberbullying a felony and shut down the websites where attacks are frequent. Additionally, there have been attempts to educate students, teachers and parents about cyberbullying.
Websites such as juicycampus.com, people’sdirt.com and campusgossip.com are websites solely created for sharing and spreading gossip anonymously. These sites, along with social networking sites, are crawling with evidence of cyberbullying.
Cyberbullying occurs when a child or teenager is tormented, threatened, humiliated or otherwise targeted by another child or teenager using the Internet or mobile phones, according to stopcyberbullying.org.
Experts have said that it is more popular than physical bullying because the attackers can hide behind their computer screens. Victims of cyberbullying go through the same emotions that victims of physical bullying and sometimes even worse.
“Victims feel angry, scared, and have had suicidal thoughts and attempts,” said Justin Patchin, Ph.D, professor of criminal justice at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.
Some lawmakers are taking a stand against cyberbullying. The Sanchez bill, also known as the Megan Meier Cyberbullying Prevention Act, states, that anyone that communicates online or by texting with the intent to “intimidate, harass or cause substantial emotional distress” to a person will be fined or imprisoned for up to two years.
According to TheUSreport.com, the Megan Meier Cyberbullying Prevention Act was named after a girl who was tricked by an adult that presented herself as a teenage boy. Megan Meier committed suicide after the “young boy” broke up with her.
The bill was introduced to the House of Representatives on May 22, 2008 by Rep. Linda Sanchez (D., Calif.) and has yet to be voted on by the House.
Several people, including Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler of Maryland, are fighting to shut websites such as Peoplesdirt.com and Juicycampus.com down for good. Gansler sent out letters to companies that advertise on people’sdirt.com as well as the host company, Go Daddy Group. The website was officially shut down on June 9.
Juicycampus.com also suffered a similar fate. The CEO of Juicycampus.com shut down the website after a loss of revenue from his advertisers during these “historically difficult economic times.”
Some doubt that the new bill will completely eliminate all forms of cyberbullying. “The only way this will stop is to educate the children,” said Patchin. “Encourage people not to go to [those websites], they’re not cool, they’re not good.”
Numerous people believe that discipline and education by the parents and the school administration would decrease cyberbullying incidents more than the Sanchez Bill. “Education will go a lot further,” said Dr. Sameer Hinduja, professor at Florida Atlantic University.
Patchin and Hinduja do not just talk about the importance of education, they go out and educate the students at high schools. “We do seminars, talk to school administrators, we teach them how to discipline,” said Hinduja.