Cyber bullying is most prevalent among the ages of fifteen to seventeen, the ages in which a child attends high school (Pappas n.pg). Though it is difficult for the federal government to control all cyberbullying, it is even harder for schools to intervene due to the restrictions and ambiguous guidelines in school policy. According to the Cyberbullying Research Center, not only have states stopped short in terms of giving specific instructions or guidelines in which schools can deduct their role, but no states in America have provided resources to schools to support the quest to stop cyberbullying (Patchin n.pg). Though most bullying has moved online, rumors and threatening comments continue to snake through the halls at every high school. At this moment in time, schools can do very little to stop this from happening. Schools find themselves in quite the predicament, however, regarding angry parents of victims. In fact, it is incredibly common for schools to be “sued because they took action against a student when they shouldn’t have or they failed to take action when they were supposed to” (Patchin n.pg). For lack of better terms, schools are finding themselves between a rock and a hard place. With no specifically set guidelines to follow, schools across America have their hands tied when it comes to cyberbullying. Because …show more content…
As a first world country, the laws in place to protect victims and punish aggressors is despicable and needs to be changed. In a world consumed by technology, the act of cyberbullying is incredibly common and unfortunately incredibly damaging. Associated with mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety, America is leaving their citizens helpless with no support, and unintentionally encouraging the cowardice act of cyberbullying. Furthermore, powerful American leaders have most recently been instigators of cyberbullying and therefore provide bad examples to the American population. Filled with vicious, derogatory tweets President Donald Trump has proved to be a very powerful cyberbully, sharing his shaded opinion widely over the internationally linked social site of Twitter. As the leader of a country as powerful as America, the President’s tweets give the signal it is perfectly fine to say whatever you would like online regardless of who it hurts. Plagued with depression and anxiety due to social media interactions, America needs to step up and provide resources to victims for protection and schools for education and prevention methods. Political leadership also needs to create harsher and actual punishment for the bullies which will ultimately discourage those who plan to cyberbully. As a leading world power, America is in last place for protecting their citizens