Warning: Keyboards Can Be Dangerous Weapons

Saswat Pattanayak, a graduate of the University of Maryland’s School of Journalism, can be found clicking away on his camera at Central Park on a typical summer weekend. To anyone who looks his way, the 29-year-old journalist seems like an ordinary guy fulfilling his passion for photography. What strangers don’t know, however, is that Saswat has been a victim of cyber-bullying.

As the Internet becomes an increasingly dominant force in teen life, cyber-bullying is a rising issue concerning high school students. It began drawing serious attention following the suicide of Megan Meier. Two years ago, cyber-bullying turned deadly when Meier, 13, a Missouri teenager, killed herself after a boy she had fallen in love with on MySpace told her, “The world would be a better place without you.” It later turned out that the boy’s account on the Web site was fake, and had been created by a neighbor, Lori Drew, as a “joke.” Drew was convicted of misdemeanor charges in 2008, but a judge later threw out the conviction because there was no clear bullying law under which Drew could be prosecuted. Who knew this joke would cause a teenager to commit suicide? 

Cyber-bullying is an issue that affects a high percentage of teenagers. In a 2008 study conducted by Cyber Bully Alert, a company that sells software that documents threatening messages, 42 percent of those surveyed said they had been “bullied online,” but almost 60 percent never told their parents about the incident. The National Crime Prevention Center, a non-profit educational group, also discovered in a study that only 18 percent of cyber-bullying cases were reported to a local or national law enforcement agency. As in the Megan Meier case, NCPC found that 92 percent of teenagers who have been victims knew their cyber bullies.

Though MySpace is considered to be “a place for friends,” and Facebook claims to “give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected,” these sites are easily used for cyber-bullying. Anonymous accounts can be made through Facebook, MySpace and AIM, so no identity needs to be revealed, making it easier for cyber bullies to attack their victims. With the new application of “The Facebook Honesty Box,” people are able to express their feelings about others anonymously. Therefore, individuals have no way to discover who wrote the comments posted about them, whether the comments are positive or negative.

Denise Finkel, a Long Island teenager, filed a lawsuit in March against four classmates who had cyber bullied her through Facebook. The classmates created fake rumors about Finkel, saying that she used drugs, had “inappropriate conduct with animals,” and had contracted AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. Feeling ridiculed and harassed, Finkel sued her classmates for $3 million and transferred from her original high school, Ocean High School, to State University of New York at Albany.

Saswat Pattanayak, the 29-year-old journalist, says he was bullied for because of his liberal political beliefs. “I maintain a political blog, and because of the progressive views I hold, I have been abused via comments and emails, and have been threatened various times. My comment sections have been hacked despite my using spam-proof systems.”  He says he was also cyber bullied when he was younger. “It’s way easier to cause someone greater distress through a relatively inconspicuous method such as cyber-bullying than through real interaction,” he says. Pattanayak still blogs daily and does not hesitate to express his feelings, despite receiving threatening messages. 

Some teens don’t see cyber-bullying as a big deal. Armani Clare, a 19 -year-old college student at Bronx Community college, says, “Only losers call it ‘getting bullied.’ You’re on the computer! It’s called being annoyed. It’s the Internet for jeez sakes…”

But according to psychotherapist Semyon Barash, a psychiatrist who has been specializing in adolescent issues for 23 years, cyber-bullying can severely affect victims. There are two primary reactions among victims. “One, frankly the most common, is significantly lowered self-esteem,” said Barash.Alternatively, “the victim can become authoritative, bossy, and may even cyber-bully others.” He added that “cyber-bullying is simply equivalent to that of normal bullying without the ‘direct’ physical threat.”

Fortunately, there are ways to prevent cyber-bullying which should be brought to the attention of teenagers. According to Kidscape.org, a Web site that educates kids on how to prevent Internet abuse, the best way to avoid potentially abusive comments is to ignore threatening emails. In addition, if a victim is constantly being cyber bullied, somebody should be notified immediately. A trusted adult is the best way to go. The soundest way to prevent cyber-bullying before it starts is to be educated about Internet safety, so cases such as Meier and Finkel can be avoided.

Sixteen-year-old, Karen Casidad, a senior at Baruch High School, has some advice for people who have been or currently are victims of cyber-bullying. Bullies are “just no-life people who have nothing better to do than degrade individuals who threaten them,” she says. “And in many ways, you’re superior. Relish it.”