Bullying in the 21st Century

It seems as if American teenagers have lost their edge. Instead of settling a dispute in the schoolyard with fists, they are inflicting scars via the internet. Instead of punches, there is a new type of guerilla emotional warfare. Teens are going home and anytime they turn their computer on, an unknown enemy is waiting for them, perhaps disguised as a "friend" on Facebook, waiting to tease and cause a lot of damage. More and more often, we are seeing children being bullied and harassed to the point where they consider suicide. This is a serious problem, and school officials and parents should work together to prevent this kind of harassment, but it's hard to monitor people 24/7. Unlike previous generations without the luxury of a computer, kids today are fighting with their words, and it may actually be worse than if they merely used their fists. At least with that kind of physical confrontation, everything was out in the open. You knew who the enemy was, and once the fight was over, it was over. Now, it seems with the anonymity the internet has afforded us, we have bred a generation of cowards. People are saying things they would never say to someone's face, because they feel as though they won't get caught. It's almost pathetic when you think about the cowardice involved in that kind of teasing. If these bullies really wanted to prove their dominance, why don't they just get some courage and say it to their victim's faces? Maybe the victims need to grow thicker skin, but what these bullies are doing isn't right. It takes a pretty bad person to set out to destroy someone's spirit for sport. I don't think that in most cases, bullies should be held accountable directly for someone's suicide, but they shouldn't get off scot free either. The internet is now used as an extension of our real life, and it is pretty inescapable for the most part. There has to be some sort of kindness taught to our kids, and rules need to be established. Bullies have existed since the beginning of time, and though it feels odd to support physical violence, it seems as though a black eye hurts way less than a broken soul.