We all know Monica Lewinsky as the woman that former president Bill Clinton had an affair with while he was in office. What we forget to remember is the severe ridicule and torment that she faced because of it. The media chewed Lewinsky up and spit her back out, leaving an emotionally damaged Lewinsky who simply made a mistake or two and fell in love with her boss. Almost 20 years after the scandal, Lewinsky has broken her silence and used what happened to her to help others who have been intensely ridiculed and made fun of with the help of modern-day technology.
We live in a virtual age now where almost everything is and can be done with technology, including bullying. In Lewinsky’s TED Talk “The Price of Shame,” she talks about the presidential scandal and how the growth of technology and the internet made it all ten times worse for her, as well as how it’s affecting us now.
Anyone can access whatever information they want wherever they are and whenever they want to. At the time, photos of Lewinsky spread like wildfire, and so did the cyber-bullying. Back in the late 1990s, the internet was just starting up. No one knew the potential that the internet had, or that it would end up playing a key role in our lives every single day. Instead of just being used for emails and work, the internet became a haven for bullies and harassers of all ages.
Everyone with access to the internet or simply a cell phone can spread as many hateful and cruel words as they want. They can spread embarrassing photos, videos and messages that not only serve the purpose of humiliating their victim, but doing so in a way that can never be erased. The internet is written in ink. Everything that has been digitized will never not be accessible to the public. People can screenshot and save anything they want, which worsens bully behavior immensely.
If you really think about it, the majority of us (or at least us millennials) have been cyber-bullied or have cyber-bullied someone at some point in time. Every hurtful comment, message or photo has an infinite lifespan online that will, whether we like it or not, haunt us forever.
Cyber-bullying has gotten to be so intense that people are being “humiliated to death,” according to Lewinsky. She believes that “public shaming as a blood-sport has to stop,” and it’s true. No one should have to feel like they aren’t good enough to live to see another day. These people who end their lives truly believe that they aren’t worth anything, and that living another day full of torment is simply too much for them to handle. Suicide is their only option and hope for an end to their pain.
Bullying has to end. Cyber-bullying has to end. The change starts with us. Rather than trying to break others down, we need to be building them up. As a millennial myself, I’ve lived through some of the biggest technological and social media breakthroughs. I know what it feels like to bully and be bullied, and it’s not fun. We have the power to make a change and influence not only each other, but our younger sisters, brothers, cousins, nieces and nephews. Too many people have lost their lives over senseless bullying. It’s time to put an end to this vicious cycle.
For more information, please visit http://www.stopbullying.gov/cyberbullying/.
To watch Monica Lewinsky's TED Talk, visit https://www.ted.com/talks/monica_lewinsky_the_pric....
