BY MARK VAGELAKOS
She watched nervously as the panel read passages from her diary aloud. She felt their judgemental eyes piercing through her as they deliberated over her fate. Her heart beat faster as she awaited the verdict.
Former Boone student Jane Doe* was accused of cyberbullying. Last May, Doe posted comments about another person on her Facebook off campus, and Orange County Public Schools took action against her.
“Everyone looks at me and just says they can’t imagine [I] would do something like that,” Doe said. “One [panel member] said if he was related to me, he would be ashamed. It’s not a good feeling at all.”
Doe assumed her Facebook picture comment to a friend would go unnoticed. However, it is easy to access and distribute information posted to social networking websites.
“The biggest lesson students can learn about cyberspace is that it’s your own personal record. If you text it, blog it, put it on Facebook or e-mail it, you have sent it out and lost control of it,” Principal Margaret McMillen said.
This increasingly popular method of harassment draws from many aspects of traditional bullying. Online bullying remains a situation where a troubled individual diminishes a weaker person.
“You’re still harassing and making someone feel bad. Now there’s hardly even bullying where someone is being punched on the playground. Now society is electronically driven. Back in the day it was a little piece of paper, now it is a post; it’s just as deteriorating,” SAFE Coordinator Janibelle Jackson said.
As the use of technology and social networking increases exponentially so does online harassment. According to Isafe.com, 58 percent of kids admit someone has said mean or hurtful things to them online.
Isafe.com also says “Bullying is no longer about the strong picking on the weak in the schoolyard. The physical assault has been replaced by a 24 hour per day, seven days a week online bashing. Savvy students are using instant messaging, e-mails, chat rooms and websites they create to humiliate a peer.”
Cyberbullying’s persistent nature often leads individuals to feel trapped and can end tragically. This was the case with Tyler Clementi, a Rutgers University student whose sexual encounters were video taped and posted on the internet his roommate. Clementi was then mocked and harassed online about his sexual orientation until he committed suicide. While his roommate faces charges of invasion of privacy many are calling for harsher punishments such as manslaughter or harassment charges.
“Finding the right level of prosecution, then, can be a challenge. On the one hand ‘it’s college — everybody is playing pranks on everybody else.’ On the other, ‘invading somebody’s privacy can inflict such great distress that invasions of privacy should be punished, and punished significantly’,” Law Professor Orin Kerr told New York Times.
Because cyberbullying is a relatively new concept there is little legislation about it. However, stories about cyberbullying deaths have caused some states and school districts to enact new measures to control online harassment. One such bill is Florida’s “Jeffrey Johnston Stand Up for All Students Act” which requires schools to report and investigate any incidents of cyberbullying and punish those involved. In Florida, cyberbullies who make threats can be charged with aggravated stalking, punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.
If a person is being cyberbullied, the best solution is to try to ignore it. If the harassment cannot be avoided, the next step is telling a trusted adult like a parent, teacher or school administrator.
“Tell somebody: tell an administrator or a parent. Bullying takes advantage of someone in a corner. Don’t be ashamed that someone is bothering you; make people aware and tell somebody,” Jackson said.
After Doe’s investigation the panel decided she was guilty of making false accusations about another person. She was consequently given a one-year expulsion from Orange County Public Schools and school sponsored events. Doe now struggles with Florida Virtual School to continue her education. After attending an alternative school to make up lost credits, Doe plans to return to Boone for her senior year.
“I wasn’t trying to hurt her, and I didn’t think she would see it. If I knew she had access to it, I wouldn’t have said it. Still, what I did was wrong because I said something mean about someone else; I wouldn’t have said those things to her face,” Doe said. *name withheld