Pro/Con Subtopic Essay- Cyberbullying
Cyber bullying has become more frequent now days with our society growing more dependent on technology. Bullying use to be thought of as a normal process of growing up, but times have changed and teens are being harassed to a point where it’s leading to suicide. There are different things that teens have access to and use regularly. Video and camera usage are a few of many different types of technology that teens utilize on a daily basis. They make music videos, perform comedy shows, display their talents, and talk about their day or their opinion on a specific topic. Although this may sound innocent, there are people out there who won’t always like or agree with what others have to say. Teens are still naïve and emotionally vulnerable as they attempt to grapple with their haters. Most of the time they cannot handle what other people have to say and they feel like committing suicide. YouTube is one broadcasting site that allows people to upload anything they want. This leads to exposure of sexual content, profane language, and nudity. Teens shouldn’t be exposed to this because they are not aware of the consequences and it can corrupt the way they think the world should be like. Parents/Guardians should monitor their child’s use of broadcasting and video usages at all times and in all areas because kids are still not mature enough to be fully aware of the adult content, hate comments, blackmailing, and sexual predators.
Granted, teens should express themselves through technology because they should be allowed to be creative and display their talents. However, this shouldn’t mean teens should exploit themselves sexually. If kids are perfectly okay with exposing themselves to complete strangers then they should be comfortable with showing their parents. It goes to show that the teens who disagree with this have something they want to hide. Sites like YouTube do not filter out people so anyone can have an account and upload whatever they want. Some kids use this for their advantage in a good way by posting up music videos, short films, and etc. to entertain others and show off their talents. On the other hand, teens also take advantage of these sites in a bad way, such as recording themselves in a provocative way. They don’t understand that there are people out there who don’t always agree with what they say or do. For instance, an 11 year old girl from Florida, known online as ‘Jessi Slaughter’, became the center of a cyber bullying frenzy on July 22, 2010. The young girl - whose real name is Jessica Leonhardt - told Good Morning America Thursday that the escalating bullying began with postings aimed at her, regarding her alleged sexual history. In response, she said she used her webcam merely as a way to vent. This back fired however, because everyone began targeting her due to her profane videos. After these hateful comments, she posted a video of her meltdown. It goes to show that kids are not mature enough to be online unsupervised. If parents were to monitor their kids all the time on these types of websites, they could see that they are doing something productive or they’re just trying to exploit themselves.
Another way that teens can take advantage of camera usage is by blackmailing. “Sexting” is the common name for taking nude pictures of oneself and then sending them through cell phones or uploading it to the internet. Most often done by teenage girls for their boyfriends, they never think about the outcome after the breakup. Many times, these photos spread around the school and it leads to bullying and embarrassment. Several cases have risen over the past year where teenagers have been charged for producing and sending child porn since they are under aged. With light weight cameras or cameras built into phones, almost all teenagers have one. With a click of a button, it is so simple to blackmail another person.
In conclusion, the generation today is overly exposed to a lot of adult content and this is corrupting their minds. Teaching them right from wrong is not enough anymore because they want more proactive involvement rather than prohibitive don’ts from parents. Parents just want their kids to be safe because there are so many dangerous people out there that teens don’t realize. They think it’s harmless but there are pedophiles who take things too seriously.
Bibliography:
-Authoritarian Parenting, Authoritative Parenting and Permissive Parenting - their effects on children:
-Online Child Molesters:
http://www.netsmartz.org/news/onlinemolesters.htm
-"Generation IM":
http://www.netsmartz.org/news/apr02-2.htm
-Girl Scout Survey: Sexual Harassment of Teens on Net: http://www.netsmartz.org/news/feb02-1.htm
-11 Facts About Cyber-bullying:
http://www.dosomething.org/tipsandtools/11-facts-about-cyber-bullying
-Facts About Cyber bullying:
http://www.suite101.com/content/truth-about-cyberbullying-a280827
-Cyber bulling Facts:
http://www.preventchildabuseutah.org/cyberbullyingfacts.html
-Cyber Bullying / Sexting
http://www.familysafecomputers.org/bullying.htm
-Cyber-bullying
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyber-bullying
-'Defriending' latest form of adolescent cyberbullying
http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/health/105494523.html
-Cyber Bullying – How Webcams Have Changed The Internet
http://webcam-messenger.net/2010/11/08/cyber-bullying-how-webcams-have-changed-the-internet
-Cyberbullying grows bigger and meaner with photos, video
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/webguide/internetlife/2008-07-14-cyberbullying_N.htm
-Cyber Bullying in Youtube:
http://hellboundbloggers.com/2009/04/30/cyber-bullying-in-youtube/
-'Jessi Slaughter' YouTube Cyberbully Case: 11-Year-Old Tells GMA She Didn't Want it to Go This Far:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20011349-504083.html
-Overly strict parents:
http://www.aboutourkids.org/articles/parenting_styleschildren039s_temperaments_match
17 comments:
Hi Maddie!
I must say, your arguments are very thorough and well thought out. What you said in your essay really made me think and I think that I'm on the same side as you (:
Anyway, your essay almost seems flawless! You included a lot of real life situations like the Jessi Slaughter incident and the way you said that lightweight cameras and cameras built into phones can blackmail a person just like that. Your specific detail really shows how much of an understanding you have on your subtopic. I really like your use of the transitions like "Granted,....". You also did a good job on that! I've read through your essay multiple times and I've found just a couple of mechanical errors like...
-First paragraph (First line): Instead of "now days" you should change it to "nowadays".
-First paragraph (Third line): instead of putting "Bullying use to be" change that to "Bullying USED to be".
Also, maybe including some statistics will strengthen your essay even more. Statistics such as how many minors have been cyberbullied through video use are there each year. Or how many people post inappropriate videos online. Or a comparison in the percentage of people who actually use youtube to expose their talents in video use as supposed to the people who post inappropriate stuff.
Overally, VERY VERY VERY good job! ^_^
-Czarina
*Overall
haha typo...
Hey Maddie! (:
So I've finished reading your essay, and I really really enjoyed it. I see how much detail you put into it and the examples you set, like the case of Jessica Leonhardt, were well written and explained. Your paragraphs flow nicely and consistently.
To improve your essay, I would suggest emphasizing a bit more on how parents could monitor their children. Also, be watchful of minor errors in spelling and tense.
If you could fix these small flaws, your paper would be very convincing (: Nicely done!
Hi Maddie,
Great job on your essay. And your teammates have good suggestions for improvement--Czarna's suggestions about statistics are spot on and Janelle's advice to inculde some specific parent actions was very helpful, too!
mrs s
I hate to be sour but your essay isn't focused on cyber bullying.It's more focused on what the internet has done to us.
I still believe that those who get cyberbullied LET themselves get cyberbullied. Cyberbullies are so common nowadays that ignoring them should be a natural instinct to most internet users.
"It goes to show that kids are not mature enough to be online unsupervised" is a generalization. Studies show that between a third to a half of internet-using minors have been cyberbullied, yet nowhere near as many have allowed it to escalate.
Although I agree that some minds have been corrupted for being exposed to adult content, saying that all of them have is a generalization.
Since I am already on the topic, what do you specifically mean by "corrupting their minds?" Does that mean making them act like idiots (television can also do that) or making them develop deviant likes (friends can do this as well)?
The "sexting" paragraph would've felt more realistic if it had an example.
The "Teens shouldn’t be exposed to this because they are not aware of the consequences and it can corrupt the way they think the world should be like" part could have been elaborated a bit more.
"Parents/Guardians should monitor their child’s use of broadcasting and video usages at all times and in all areas" sounds like a stretch of precautions.
4th citation doesn't work.
I think you should visit Encyclopedia Dramatica's article on Jessi Slaughter. It is very informative though not user-friendly.
I think the last sentence (there are pedophiles who take things too seriously) could've been broken down. Not all cyber-bullies are internet-pedophiles and not all internet-pedophiles are cyber-bullies. Those are two different issues.
I recall Jessi Slaughter's father only making things worse by making even more profane videos against the cyber-bullies.
I also recall him reacting worse to the cyber-bullies than Jessica herself. So if a grown man reacts worse than a child, wouldn't that counter your argument of kids not being mature enough to be online.
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