Argumentative

    My Argumentative was a difficult paper for me because I wanted to treat it like a research paper.  I changed my topic three times. But once I found the topic I was passionate about the paper was easier to write. I learned how to put make my statistics legit by stating what site I got them from. I did it in a way to make the paper not seem so formal. This paper also helped me connect ideas together. I had a lot of information and tried to use as much as I could to support my argument so I had to tie it all together as best and clean as I could.

Madeline Ott

Dr. Elam

English 101

December 5^th, 2013

Online Bullying

Standing by his locker Davis is waiting for the girl that has been running across his mind for the last week. He had picked out his best pair of pants and his favorite t-shirt to go along with it.  He is so happy that after a rough start to his eighth grade year things have begun to look brighter. Looking down to check his phone for the time, Davis looks up to the sound of the word “Fag” being shouted in his face. Who he thought was Rebecca was really two cheerleaders posing as a girl, Rebecca, over ask.fm.com, Facebook, and texting.

Davis is my cousin. Not only has he been bullied online but so has my other cousin Lincoln. Davis and Lincoln are one of millions who gets bullied online.  In fact 95% of teenagers have encountered bullying online. The Internet is a wonderful resource but just like many things it has its flaws. The Internet is home to search engines like Google, Bing, and yahoo that help us in our daily lives. But it is also home to social networking sites such as Facebook, Tumblr, Ask.fm, and Twitter. These sites are great ways to interact with friends and family but if not used properly they are also great places for people to bring down other people. That is why parents should monitor there children’s social networking cites until they know that there child is responsible enough to social network on their own.

More children are getting smart phones and being exposed to social networking at younger ages. At these young ages children haven’t experienced enough to properly conduct themselves on social networking cites. According to internetsaftey.org 85% of parents know that their children has a social networking cite.  It also says that 74% of parents are concerned of their child’s behavior online but don’t take action to protect their child.  This is a problem; parents are concerned, but aren’t taking action. Parents need to take action when it comes to expressing their concern to their children and need to bring attention on how to properly conduct their selves on the Internet.

If parents begin to monitor their children’s social networking accounts then parents will know when suspicious activity is occurring on there child’s site.  Then parents will be able to take action and explain to their children the proper way to deal with being bullied online. The most important thing to remind your child when dealing with a bully online is to remind them not to engage. Create an environment for your child where they feel comfortable to approach you and tell you that they are being bullied online. Also, parents can keep tabs on their child by checking your history on the computer and adjusting privacy settings on the computer to fit the child’s needs.

Certain Internet browsers allow the user to set privacy settings on certain sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Doing this you can ensure that your child can’t reach certain pages or has only a set amount of time on the site itself.  All Internet browsers have a security option. One can find it under the tools button for Internet Explorer and Google chrome. If one uses Safari or Firefox simply click on the browser name and go to system preference.  Using the security preferences provided by the browser of ones choice can help limit the access ones child has to certain cites. One can even make settings that block pages with inappropriate language. Also parents can monitor their child’s surfing of the Internet to make sure that their child is safe.

When parents monitor their children’s social networking sites not only will they be able to help with online bullying but also their child will gain a sense of responsibility. Expressing concern to children about social networking and monitoring their child’s social networking accounts, the child will begin to understand just how important the matter is. Expressing concern with your child about social networking and how it can be so easily used to degrade and bully a person give the child an idea of how easily it can happen and how to look out for it and help those that are bullied.

As social networking has advanced and more stories of bullying are presented in the media today people have all different opinions. A comment I heard in a recent article is that kids need to grow thicker skin because bullying will always happen. This is a red herring because it really isn’t dealing with the issue it is avoiding it.  Some people do have thick skin but some people don’t. A person shouldn’t be bullied in person or online. Just because you aren’t directly in front of a person degrading them doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt any less online. Living in a world where people are nasty to each other in person and online is no world to live in.

My cousin in Georgia, Lincoln, was recently bullied on ask.fm.com. Ask.fm is a website where people can create accounts and people can ask them questions anonymously. I remember 5 years ago this website was created and I had one for a week before I realized what the website was. Ask.fm is a place for bullies to put in work.  In Lincoln’s case they asked him why he acts a certain way, or calling him ugly and a faggot. People were making comments about his girlfriend and telling him that he is whipped. This is all being done anonymously.

After Lincoln told me his story of being bullied online I then turned to his parents and asked how they found out. They gave a great example of how easy it is to monitor there child’s social media. Immediately his mother told me she was the one who saw it. She explained how she does weekly social networking checks to make sure Lincoln is behaving and that he is interacting with an appropriate manner and with appropriate people.  Then his dad told me that they make sure to talk to Lincoln if they see anything concerning. “I want my child to utilize the Internet and take advantage of the sites it offers but I want him to do it in a responsible safe manner. If he is getting bullied I want him to deal with it correctly and get it to stop. If he is bullying someone else then there will for sure be consequences for him as well”

If all parents took action like Lincolns parents did then the Internet would be a safer place for kids. The Internet is a vulnerable place for any individual but especially for children. The bully feels safe because they are hidden behind a monitor and a keyboard. As a parent of a child that is being bullied it is important to save all messages or comments from the bully. This way if the bullying gets out of control and action to stop the bully needs to take place there is evidence that shows what the bully is doing.  My Aunt Sue, mother of Davis did exactly this.

My Aunt Sue began to notice a difference in the way Davis was acting, “He seemed sluggish to me, not talking or smiling very much” she said to me.  “When did you realize that Davis was being bullied?” I asked her. She replied, “Davis was so upset one day, I had no idea why. I had been asking him in the previous weeks if something had been bothering him. He said everything was fine, but on this particular day I knew that he was upset. He told me that he was being bullied online. He showed me all the messages and I couldn’t help but feel my heart sink. My child was being bullied by kids that were going to his school for a month now and I had no idea.”

My Aunt Sue is not the only parent that wasn’t aware of their child being bullied online. According to dosomething.org only 1 of 10 victims will inform their parents of the abuse they are getting online.  But when my Aunt Sue’s attention was brought to it she did not ignore it. She went straight to Davis’s principle. Printing off the messages and comments that were made, highlighting the names of the kids and the dates they were written. “I do not want those kids to get in trouble because I am upset they hurt my child,” my aunt said to me “I want them to realize just how dangerous it is to write this stuff online, and realize that it does effect the person they are bullying even if it is face to face.  This is a serious matter, and they don’t realize it.”

A great example of how serious online bullying is, is the story of Rebecca Sedwick a 12-year-old Florida native who jumped to her death from a water tower. Rebecca was bullied in school and online by 2 girls, one who was originally her friend. These girls posted statuses saying that Rebecca needed to die, and drink bleach to kill yourself. This issue got so out of hand that Rebecca was removed from the school. The school told Rebecca that she just needed to suck it up and grow thicker skin.  When Rebecca left she was still being bullied online, and it pushed her to the edge where she felt like the only option that was left was to kill herself.

Online bullying is a real thing, I have personal experience, I have family and friends that have experienced it and there are people who’s stories have reached National News involving bullying. It is an issue and I know it won’t stop but we can do things to ensure that people won’t take their lives due to it and to really try and prevent it. The Internet has grown in the last 10 years and it will continue to grow. People will still continue to abuse the privileges of the Internet and it is important that Parents, School, and Teachers make children aware on how to conduct there self on social networking sites.  Just imagine kids like Davis, Lincoln, and Rebecca. They suffered. Online bullying will be here forever and together as one we can prevent it as much as possible.