Anna's 10th post

The death of Phoebe Prince has affected greatly affected Americans, and I hope our society learns from it. For those who don't know, Phoebe was 15 years old when she hung herself on January 14, 2010. Although suicide cannot be blamed on anyone except for the victim, her case is strongly connected with online bullying. After moving to a new school in Massachusetts from Ireland, she was targeted. Her family says that her personality changed so much as a result of the bullying that she was practically a different person.

This particular case was both social and cyber bullying, using Facebook. I believe that since so much of the bullying was taken place at her school, the school should have taken action, especially considering parents and students often report the bullying and no action is taken. Phoebe Prince's mother talked to school officials twice. However, how can Facebook and other online slander be monitored? What draws the line between freedom of speech and harassment? These are questions with no clear answer. Three years ago, a poll reported that 1/3 of 12-18 year olds have been harassed online. There is no doubt social networking sites are beneficial, so how can their misuse be stopped?

To make matters worse, online bullying feeds itself. After Phoebe's death, a Facebook group was made in her memory. These are used for loved ones to write memories, last words, prayers and encouragement to each other. On her page someone posted an insulting message that Phoebe was obviously depressed and deserved to die. What more evidence do you need? The internet provides a safe haven for bullies to say things they wouldn't in person and harass anonymously.

15 states have made cyberbullying a crime, although it is still unclear what is defined as cyberbullying. Besides stating the obvious that people should be respectful and mature on the internet, Facebook, Myspace and other websites should discard inappropriate members. And these social networking sites are just one problem, there is the whole other issue of sites made soley for bashing, such as "The Dirty." It is too bad that progressive technology is being used in such a harmful way.