How to stamp out Cyberbullies by Regan

How to stamp out Cyberbullies by Regan - March 2017 Scholarship Essay

Schools today work very hard at making bullying a thing of the past. Gone are the days of having that one big kid that would steal other kids lunch money or shove them in a locker. If that were to happen on a school campus today the repercussions would be very serious as most schools now have a zero tolerance policy for such behavior. That sounds like things are pretty much perfect does it not? Well enter the world of cyberbullying. This kind of bullying is a faceless and often times silent fear many students face today. Cyberbullying is a sad but very real part of the current generations everyday life.
Since school administration has taken the issue of bullying seriously this is obviously a subject administrators realize has a drastic effect on the student's well being. Having the incidents move off the schoolyard onto the computer screen does not mean the issue of bullying is not happening any more. It just means it is happening in a new form. By having parents, school administrators and supportive adults there to stop these incidents from escalating is the best way to make sure every student is happy and successful.
The best way to have these incidents stopped is to have an anonymous tip line that students could report incidents they feel could be seen as bullying. This could provide a way that the person reporting it would not feel they have to worry about being a tattle tale and it could provide the school staff the information they need to get ahead of a situation. The school administrators could then work to resolve the issue with the students.
Providing the student that has been defined as the "cyberbully" with counseling to help them understand that the words they are saying may not be out loud but just because you are sitting behind your computer screen and not looking a person in the face your words are still very hurtful. Having this student that has been the cyberbully have to watch a video on the very real effects these words have had for some students that have gone to such lengths as to commit suicide could be the eye opener this student needs to realize typed words are just as hurtful as spoken ones, often times worse.
The last key component of making this work is to involve the parents as well. Helping the parents of the student to realize their student has been a target will help them to do the work they may need to in getting their child into counseling. Helping this student to understand that those mean words do not need to define and helping them find their path to healing is the best way to stamp out any remaining issues this nasty incident may have left behind.
It would be wonderful to see a computer science student that may have been a victim of the horrible world of cyberbullying invent a website that schools could use to have the student body report incidents of cyberbullying to reinforce the school standard of zero tolerance for bullies!