I wish bullying was simpler. Not easier. Not acceptable. Not encouraged. But simpler.
Gone are the days when kids would get in playground tussles over a girl. Fist fights and throwing of objects are in the past. Today, students face a much more elusive and detrimental threat that can result in things far worse than a black eye.
Today's teenagers are the first generation to be exposed to bullying online (commonly referred to as cyberbullying) rather than bullying in person. Users are able to hide behind fake or anonymous usernames to send threats or harassing messages to other vulnerable members of the online community, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Bullying used to be a "black and white" scenario where victims were chosen based on simple characteristics, such as their weight or the fact that they wore glasses. Today, any person can be bullied for virtually any reason and for any length of time. With "pack mentality" setting in, all it takes is one ill-intentioned individual to unleash a barrage of insults from a group of bullies.
The list of potential insults goes on and on and on, shaming the very identity that one holds dear, and name-calling is just the beginning. Slut-shaming and bullying based purely on the basis of gender, sexual orientation, religion, are ethnicity are more likely to be seen online as well.
The point is, it needs to stop.
Black eyes and broken bones heal with time. Words never do. They stick with you forever and haunt you in the middle of the night when you're bawling your eyes out, unable to sleep or breathe. They stick with you until the moment you decide life is no longer worth living because it just hurts too much to push onward to the next day. No matter how many friends or family members reach out to you and shower you with love, one carefully calculated attack can destroy the progress made by a hundred pieces of encouragement.
So, yeah, I wish bullying was simpler. I wish it was "justified," like in the old days. Frankly, I wish bullying wasn't a problem at all. But we live in a broken society in an imperfect world, and it will always be a problem. The thing is, steps can be taken.
Oftentimes, the maximum penalty for users found to be sending threats to victims online is a minor misdemeanor charge for harassment.
If you drive someone to the point of suicide, why isn't this considered an accessory to murder? Sure, you may not have pulled the trigger or handed them the knife, but you backed them into a corner where death seemed like the only way out. Those who participate in any degree of cyberbullying, no matter how "innocent" or "comical" the intentions, should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. And maybe even then some.
Many states have few (if any) laws relating to cyberbullying. It's time that the government revisited this pressing topic. It's time to consider that maybe the suicide rate in America has skyrocketed due to more than just drugs or mental disorders. It's time to take a stand. All of us.
