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Proposed Legislation Would Outlaw "Cyberbullying" in US
physman_wiu writes "We all remember the recent incident of 13-year-old Megan Meier. Now legislation is set to be passed at least in Missouri (and possibly through Congress) that would make cyberbullying illegal. The new legislation (PDF) reads: 'Whoever transmits in interstate or foreign commerce any communication, with the intent to coerce, intimidate, harass, or cause substantial emotional distress to a person, using electronic means to support severe, repeated, and hostile behavior, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.' Now, this seems like a great piece of legislation — until I get put in jail for some kid on WOW calling the Feds on me." Eugene Volokh is not impressed.
You know, if it wasn't for that pesky 1st Amendment, we could fix a lot of the problems that people think they have.
We could limit advertisers.
We could limit hate groups.
We could stop bullies.
We could stop lobbyists.
But, alas, we are stuck with the damn thing. Ooh, have an idea. We can pass laws to limit the 1st Amendment protections in clear violation of the Constitution. And no one will have the balls to take it to the Supreme Court. And if they do, the Supreme Court *may* overturn the law but we'll have stopped literally *tens* of cyber-bullies.
After all, USians have been shitting on the 2nd Amendment for the last hundred years. It's about time the 1st gets some love too.
I'd rather you do it wrong, than for me to have to do it at all.
They stopped requiring that when mass media came around.
... legislation requiring mommy to wipe your ass until age 18, at which time it becomes the responsibility of your employer (or the EDD if you are jobless).
This law just proves that our political leaders are complete idiots, at least the people deciding writing the wording on the laws.
Why the hell should we be worried about virtual bullying when we have real bullying to outlaw?
It might be me, but if I knew my kid had problems with depression, as this girls mother has said she did, I wouldn't be letting them spend much time online, particularly unsupervised.
If I had kids, they'd hate me. Keyloggers FTW, accounts w/ passwords I know. As they got older I'd get less restrictive, but I would understand it is not the worlds job to watch my kids.
No sig for you!!
This is something I've put a lot of mental effort towards understanding, as I used to feel the exact same as you. The issue, though, is much more complex online than it is in real life. For example, online someone has the capabilities of impersonating you and making, say, libelous claims about your person, which is not a luxury that your regular run-of-the-mill bully could accomplish. Think fake online Facebook profiles, MySpace ads, etc. that offer real pictures of you, information about your life, and more.
Cyberbullying, I believe, is a real issue. I've never been subjected to it, thankfully, but I can imagine that, to a teenager, it can be especially damaging, and even more so than real life bullying given how important the internet has grown to be for teenage social interaction.
Maybe that "fat kid" shouldn't be so focused on himself or his studies that he forgets to exercise or that people are different.
I wasn't bullied in high school. I got into a few shouting matches, shoved a few times, but overall, it wasn't bad. The kids who had it bad? They were the ones who THOUGHT they were smarter than everyone else, and didn't realize that answering every question the teacher asked was just rubbing everyone else's face in it. I knew the answer too, but there was no reason for me to answer EVERYTHING. That's why I was friends with most of the "bullies", and the other kids were targets.
My blog. Good stuff (when I remember to update it). Read it.
Sure. I was beaten up at school on a regular base until I had enough and, finally standing on higher ground than my constant bully, I kicked a few teeth out of his face.
The result was that I got dragged in front of the principal and got to hear a rather unpleasant lecture how I should not do that. Complaining that I reported repeatedly that he kept punching and kicking me without any result didn't faze him. Instead I was sent home for a few weeks, only to get more heat from my dad (who tried the "grow a pair" approach first).
This experience taught me a few valuable lessons:
1. Don't rely on due process, it doesn't work. If you get wronged, you're on your own.
2. Don't rely on your family, for when you apply their advice, you are wrong.
3. Find people who have the same problem you do. After that incident, I had quite a few good friends.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.