The fight against cyberbullying has gotten off track
Charges in the death of Rebecca Sedwick only show the ineffectiveness of anti-cyberbullying laws
After the suicide of Rebecca Sedwick, a 12-year-old girl from Florida who was bombarded with vicious texts like "Why are you still alive?" and "drink bleach and die," there's a visceral desire to punish the people behind those hurtful words.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd did just that this week, saying he decided to file felony charges against two of her peers, ages 12 and 14, when he realized that the alleged tormentors still had access to social media. The 14-year-old allegedly posted, "Yes ik [I know] I bullied Rebecca nd she killed her self but IDGAF [I don't give a fuck]" followed by a heart.
This is understandably infuriating. However, while Judd's actions may stop these girls from bullying anyone else, there is little evidence that the arrests will create any larger deterrent.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Despite the significant attention and legislation devoted to cyberbullying (49 states have laws on record) since the suicide of a Rutgers freshman in 2010, harassers haven't been deterred. Following the Steubenville rape trial, two girls in the town, ages 15 and 16, were arrested for aggravated menacing after they threatened the victim with physical harm via Twitter and Facebook. This summer, two Connecticut high school students were arrested for creating fake Twitter accounts to harass fellow students with sexually explicitly and homophobic tweets. The list goes on.
As they stand, anti-cyberbullying laws just don't appear up to the challenge. As many as 15 girls may have been involved in bullying Sedwick, so how did Judd decide to arrest just two and not all of them? Moreover, as Amanda Paulson at the Christian Science Monitor notes, "The girls in this case face third-degree felony charges that are completely separate from bullying statutes." If existing cyberbullying laws are ineffectual, should new laws be created?
Probably not, as criminalizing cyberbullying might even be exacerbating the problem.
Some experts worry about the message being sent to bullying victims. By focusing on cyberbullying as the direct cause of suicide in these criminal charges, at-risk adolescents may internalize that suicide is the normal or expected reaction to being bullied. Paulson writes that "this message can encourage young people to use 'you should kill yourself' as a bullying technique," which "in turn leads some teens to believe suicide is an appropriate response."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
But if laws and media attention aren't doing the trick, what's the answer for combating cyberbullying?
As with most issues involving adolescents, parents and schools need to be more involved. Part of the reason the two girls in Florida were arrested was because their parents refused to cooperate and work with police in monitoring their daughters' social media activity.
And since most cases give schools, not law enforcement, the authority to intervene in cyberbullying, schools need to take the responsibility more seriously. Nancy Willard, director of Embrace Civility in the Digital age, a cyberbullying advocacy group, said a 2010 study showed that only 42 percent of students who endured moderate to serve bullying reported it to their schools, and, worse, just 34 percent of them said things got better afterwards. "What grade would we give a student if they took a test with 100 questions, only answered 42, and only got 14 correct?" Willard told the Christian Science Monitor. "That's the level of effectiveness we are at in bullying prevention."
The complex web of bullying, mental health, and social media produces a new realm of harassment beyond the pale of previous childhood bullying, and we're not yet adequately prepared to cope with it. Expressing a sentiment that transcends the death of Rebecca Sedwick, Eddie Owen, the pastor at her funeral said "Something like this cuts our legs out from under us. We've got more questions than answers."
Emily Shire is chief researcher for The Week magazine. She has written about pop culture, religion, and women and gender issues at publications including Slate, The Forward, and Jewcy.
-
Today's political cartoons - December 21, 2024
Cartoons Saturday's cartoons - losing it, pedal to the metal, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Three fun, festive activities to make the magic happen this Christmas Day
Inspire your children to help set the table, stage a pantomime and write thank-you letters this Christmas!
By The Week Junior Published
-
The best books of 2024 to give this Christmas
The Week Recommends From Percival Everett to Rachel Clarke these are the critics' favourite books from 2024
By The Week UK Published