What Goes on Behind the Screen
“You’re so ugly. You should go kill yourself.”
More than 1 in every 3 teenagers have experienced cyberbullying threats such as this. Though parents and teachers constantly remind teens to not talk to anybody that they do not personally know on the Internet, the reminders often fall on deaf ears as many continue to chat with strangers.
That is how the story began for a student at Mascoutah High School, who wishes to remain anonymous. She says: “I didn’t know the person.. it was one of those online chatting [sites].” The relationship quickly turned sour when the person began to make derogatory statements and called her names. The student eventually cut ties with the person and says: “It hurts to get called names.. [and] you don’t know the person, so you don’t know whether you should just brush it off or take it to heart.”
Unsurprisingly, suicide is the third leading cause of death for adolescents ages 15-24 and half of these suicides are reportedly due to consistent cyberbullying. One recent case of mass cyberbullying involves a group called 4chan who pressures users with a history of depression, self harm, or eating disorders on social media sites into committing suicide.
4chan.com, a popular underground website, began as an anonymous forum in 2003 where users posted photos and discussed manga and anime. The site soon took a volatile turn and has been responsible for many mass media attacks. The Washington Post states that, “the site’s users have managed to pull off some of the highest-profile collective actions in the history of the Internet.”
These attacks just go to show that even a chat which started out with good intentions can turn into a harmful situation. This was the case for another student at MHS, who also wishes to remain anonymous. She initially joined a Facebook group with other teens struggling with depression and other mental disorders in an attempt to give and receive support. “Things got really complicated,” she states. “He manipulated me and wanted me to do some [inappropriate] things.”
Although this student’s story ended with her and her parents blocking the user, many teens allow the cyberbullying to continue and don’t tell their parents or teachers even after the situation has passed. In order to make it easier for the victims of cyberbullying to speak out, schools in Illinois have created a safe forum online where they can tell their story anonymously.The forums are monitored by the school administration, and with new cyberbullying laws for the state of Illinois, effective as of January 1, 2015, school administrators can now discipline the perpetrator, provided that they are a student and the cyberbullying occurred on campus.
On-campus cyberbullying has suddenly become a lot easier for students at Mascoutah High School. At the beginning of the 2014-2015 school year, each student was given their own Gmail account to be used for academic purposes. When composing an email, the student can type in the name of their teacher and quickly send them a digital copy of their work. While many students also use this school approved email to communicate with friends throughout the day, they do not realize how susceptible they are to cyberbullying.
All one has to do is type in the name of a fellow student and send them a hurtful message. When approached with this fact, many students were taken aback. “I’ve never thought of that,” one says, “but that does make it easier [for someone to be bullied].” Another student agrees, adding: “The school can’t monitor all of the emails at once. And it’s always worse to get judged by people that you know.”
MHS Assistant Principal Mr. Junker says that he is unaware of any current issues regarding the Gmail accounts and he believes that “Mascoutah doesn’t have many problems due to having many respectful students.”
Mr. Junker also explains that it is very serious when a student comes forward with claims of being cyberbullied. He says that “It is important that anyone feeling like they have been cyberbullied to print out the information and give it to an appropriate administrator.”
Cyberbullying is no joke, but the line between cyberbullying and peer conflict often becomes blurred. “They are both wrong and hurt individuals,” says Mr. Junker. “The sad thing is that at times, teenagers make bad choices and don’t look at the bigger picture.”
