Ethical Perspective of Cyber Bullying

     Technology has allowed teenagers to stay in constant connection with the outside world. We can text, email, tweet, post on someone’s Facebook wall from almost everywhere. This is great for wanting to keep in touch with friends and family. This is not so great for when someone is using this constant connection to spread hate and bully people. Bullying is not ethical at all. Ethics is the basic principles and fundamental concepts of civilized human conduct. Everybody has different ethics but most everybody has the same few. For example being polite and acting civilized in public, and knowing the different between right and wrong, are a few common ethics. Cyber bullying and ethics have a lot to do with each other. Cyber bullying is a bully harassing their victim through the use of electric devices. This is not ethical at all.  The ethical issue with cyber bullying is that the victims of cyber bullying are being humiliated, harassed, and threatened. Cyber bullying often times leads to suicide.

     In 2013 Ryan Halligan, a 13 year old boy from Vermont, killed himself after being cyber bullied. His peers harassed and teased him online and he also received several message questioning his sexual orientation. Ryan is not the only victim.  Eight percent of teenagers kill themselves because of cyber bullying. Bullying is a common thing that occurs in all school. Now that cyber bullying has become popular people do not know when to stop, the take the hate crimes to the extreme. The victims feel like there is no escape and feel helpless against these vicious bullies who have lost touch with reality.
     It seems like when people get behind their electric devices they lose all morals. When behind an electric screen people gain courage. They write things they wouldn't say in person. Other people feed off of the bully and join in. Cyber bullying can continue for years. Cyber bullying is a nonstop harassment, that the victims have to deal with 24/7. Teenagers these days cannot live without their cell phones and or laptop.  “According to some experts, bullying has moved online and through cell phones simply because the social lives of young people have in large part moved into electronic media. While teenagers in previous decades primarily socialized at school or in other public spaces such as parks and malls, now much of the social lives of adolescents occurs online, on social networking sites such as Facebook, and through text messages.” (17)  This is something that no young teenager should deal with. Cyber bullying takes an emotional toll on their victims because the bully has a few rude rumors to spread. Humiliating, harassing and threatening someone is not ethical at all. This kind of behavior goes on all time in this world we live in.

"Prosecuting Cyberbullies." Issues & Controversies. Facts On File News Services, 6 Dec. 2010. Web. 27 Mar. 2013. <http://www.2facts.com/article/i1500650>.