Over the past year or so various anti-bullying laws have been implemented in the school systems across the nation. Part of this annoys me. I believe there is simply no need for any of these regulations. Have people really become that soft these days? Maybe with my background and how I was raised I'm possibly being too harsh but I think not.
Several suicides, over the years, have occurred in different regions of the nation due to internet/cyper bullying. While I am COMPLETELY empathetic, and have a great deal of empathy for the parents who lost their children due to internet bullying (as I could only imagine how distraught my mother would be if something ill ever fell upon me) I think there are a few things that need to be addressed particularly with internet bullying.
I thought of going into a back story of how we were all at some point bullied growing up and yaddie yaddie yah. Back in the day bullying was more personal as it was usually down physically. Truth is the majority of us were bullied, but we got over it by either fighting back or waiting until it Big Tim stopped needing our lunch money or picked up another pastime. These days internet/cyber bullying is the new trend which has me baffled as to how it can even exist as a term. I've heard stories of how teens were and still are bullied by being threatened or spoken to harshly over Instant Messaging as well as through social networks. Here is where my annoyance comes in. One commits suicide because he/she was being harassed over the internet? Does the computer not turn off? Are you glued to the seat that sits you in front of the computer? Does one not have enough self confidence in who they are to disregard what someone, whom probably has no significant meaning to the person that is being harassed, has to say to them? In the days of being harassed on the playground the bully inflicting the physical pain on the "victim" nowadays the victim inflicts the damage on one's self?
Aside from how absurd the anti-bullying laws are I don't believe they are the answer to stopping the suicides or the hurt teens are facing across the nation. Are we (teens) not strong enough to deal with problems as minuscule as someone writing negative comments about us or making nasty statements about our sexual orientation or perhaps falsifying that a group of people may hate you. I think the change needs to start with the self esteem and confidence level of younger teens today. People need to toughen up and realize there is worse shit in this world then being hated by someone you barely to not at all know.
