Cyber Bullying Opinion

One of the most infamous acts of cyber bullying was that in the case of Amanda Todd, a 15 year old girl from Canada who was blackmailed by a man that threatened to leak her nude photos to her friends and family, Amanda committed suicide due to the situation she was put in. Dana Boyd explains that she believes that the zero tolerance policies some schools across America to counter cyber bullying are doing more harm than good. She explains that parent involvement worsens the situation because the adults involved do not understand the details. Personally, I agree with Boyd on her point, but I believe involving adults in the situation can also have many pros. For example, in the state of Michigan, a new law makes it illegal to cyber bully another person and violators could face a maximum of 93 days in jail, a fine of $500, or both. According to the new law, cyber bullying involves; posting a message or statement in a public media forum about any other person that is not intended to put a person in fear of bodily harm or death and expresses an intent to commit violence against the person, posting a message or statement with the intent to communicate a threat with the knowledge that it will be viewed as a threat, or a pattern of harassing or intimidating behavior. I believe these strict rules are necessary and can help with the issue of cyber bullying. However, when it comes to cases like Amanda Todd, when someone is getting blackmailed on the internet, it becomes a much more difficult situation. I believe if any type of blackmail is being used in cyber bullying, like in the case with Amanda Todd, the punishment must be more serious.