October marks National Bullying Prevention Month

In today's society the Internet is a useful tool for communication and research; however, the online world can also be used for cyber bullying. Cyber bullying is the act of tormenting, intimidating and viciously attacking another individual via the Internet, text messages and social networking sites. Internet bullying results in depression, and in the following case, suicide.

The latest case of cyber bullying has been the case of Tyler Clementi, a New Jersey freshman, who took his own life after a sexual encounter of him and another male was recorded and broadcast over the Internet. Two students at Rutgers have been charged with invasion of privacy, and at the time of this posting the charge of bias is being considered as well. Clementi had no knowledge that a web cam had been place in his room. After he initial devastation, he jumped off of the George Washington bridge that separates New York and New Jersey. His body was recovered from the Hudson River a day later, and his phone and wallet were found on the bridge.

Parry Aftab, the founder of StopCyberBullying.org said "These young people had to have known the devastating effects of their actions. And while they may not have foreseen death, they had to have known how much pain that this would cause."

The Cyber bullying Research Center, an organization tracking the Internet bullying trend, surveyed 4,400 children and in their findings, 1 in 5 youths between age 10 and 18 have been a victim of cyber bullying or participated in cyber bullying. It is a daily occurrence to kids all over the world.

What are the consequences of a cyber bully? What happens to them legally? Are parents controlling their child's online usage? Unfortunately, this disgusting trend doesn't look like it is going away anytime soon. It is just another example of the evil that can be done with the online tools of our technological era.