New teen bullying stories are making the headlines and once again bullying has become a national concern. The growing popularity of social networks and the access that teenagers have to the internet connected devices completely undermine all the efforts that have been made to reduce the amount of bullying.
One of the more recent tragedies happened on September 9th, 2013 when Rebecca Sedwick from Florida jumped off a cement factory tower because she was being “terrorized” by other teenagers. After the incident, only two girls were arrested for causing Rebecca so much mental anguish that she was forced to end her own life, whereas she was actually harassed by as many as 15 different girls, both online as well as physically. Rebecca switched schools and closed her Facebook account, but was still unable to get away from it all.
Another case that’s been making headlines lately is about Shea Shawhan, 18 years old, who suffers from seizures because of a complication during birth. Despite her condition, she participates in a number of sports and is even a part of the cheerleading squad at her school. Her classmates in Plano West Senior High School, Texas bully her mercilessly through text messages instead of being inspired by her bravery.
Statistics from the PEW Internet Research Center show that 95% of teenagers who’re engaged in social networking have been witness to cruel behavior on sites like Facebook and Twitter, 55% even go so far as to admit that it’s a frequent occurrence. Surprisingly only 7% of parents are actually worried about this phenomenon even though 33% of teenagers have been victims of cyber bullying.
According to the i-SAFE Foundation more than 1 in every 3 young people have experienced cyber threats and over 25% of all teenagers and adolescents have been bullied repeatedly either via cell phones or the internet.
This type of teen violence that has both mental, as well as, physical repercussions can leave a lasting impression on young adults. It’s a serious problem that needs to be addressed with the growing influence of social networking sites.
By G+ Author: Erin Washington.
