Cyber-Bullying: What Should Be Done About It?

Cyber-bullying seems to be getting more attention now that younger generations are being introduced to the Internet and social media. In reality, bullying has always existed but I feel that this problem is finally getting the attention it deserves.  When I was younger, I don't remember seeing any of the anti-bullying ads that are on TV today, so I hope that the younger generations are hearing this message and understand that bullying won't make you popular or well liked. However, now that schools are taking a more direct approach by accepting a zero tolerance policy this brings an important question into the discussion. Should schools be allowed to police their students social media activity?

Truthfully, I don't really know how I feel about it. Sure it may stop the bullying but at what cost? With more research being done, we understand that those that bully others tend to have problems in their own life and use bullying as a method to feel better about their personal situations. We also know that students that tend to bully belong to the minority. The problem then, seems to rest on parenting and the fact that children and teens are not mature.

I think that schools should be allowed to monitor their student's online activity in school, but not outside of that. If the school suspects a student of bullying, I believe that the student's parents should be addressed about the issue first before any action should be taken. If the problem persists, then I think schools should be able to provide evidence of the bullying to the bully's parents as a final warning, however, they should also provide a counselor to the bully in the meantime. Finally, if there is no change in behavior then I think the school should be able to step in and make the call on whether or not the student should be expelled or suspended.

Net Neutrality Neutralized

Major Internet service providers have been trying to get rid of net neutrality for almost a decade and soon it might become a reality. The importance of net neutrality has been getting a lot of attention lately and for good reason. Without net neutrality, ISPs would be able to give preferential treatment to their own content, as well as, other Internet media content companies. ISPs would be able to do this by creating fast and slow lanes on the Internet. This opens the possibility of the ISP companies offering deals to media content companies like, Netflix and Hulu, which would allow them on the fast lane for a fee. If this happens, any new media content streaming sites could be shut down because of competition with well-established companies that can afford fast lane access.

I don’t believe this is fair for Americans who pay for Internet and media streaming services. We shouldn’t have to decide on which ISP we are going to go with because of what media-streaming site we use or the devices we use. Net neutrality ensures equal-priority delivery of all content from the Internet to any of its users, which I feel is an idea that all Internet users, especially Americans, should embrace. Though the Federal Communications Commission has made provisions to the net neutrality bill, it is still a possibility that companies will find loopholes to limit other competitor’s services. Where there is money to be made, we can be sure that the media conglomerates will do everything in their power to get a piece of the action.