Sunday, April 22, 2012

TEEN CYBERBULLYING INVESTIGATED: Where Do Your Rights End and Consequences Begin?



























Have you ever been bullied or bullied someone using social media?  Do you think its okay to speak negatively about someone by use of the internet?  How far can we exercise our first amendment rights of “Freedom of Speech”? 

In “TEEN CYBERBULLYING INVESTIGATED: Where Do Your Rights End and Consequences Begin?” author Judge Tom Jacobs addresses the growing epidemic of cyber bullying.  VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.....MANY QUOTES IN THIS BOOK CONTAINS OFFENSIVE LANGUAGE AND PROFANITY….

This book explores real life court cases of teens that were charged with cyber bullying.   Each chapter explores actual cases where a teen, teacher, or administrators was cyber bullied.  The chapters include a section that poses the question: How would you decide this case? and informs the reader of what the court decided.  The chapters also include a section on how it affects you, discussion on related cases, tips, important facts and resources.  After reading “TEEN CYBERBULLYING INVESTIGATED: Where Do Your Rights End and Consequences Begin?” you will have a clear understanding of what cyber bullying is and what you can do if it happens to you.  Author Judge Tom Jacobs does a great job defining your rights in regards to freedom of speech, due process of law, and state and federal laws related to internet privacy.

I definitely recommend “TEEN CYBERBULLYING INVESTIGATED: Where Do Your Rights End and Consequences Begin?” for young adults because many students can relate to being bullied.  This book offers a lot to discuss in terms of cyber bullying, its affects on others,  causes and consequences of cyber bullying and online harassment, and the law.  What struck me the most was reading the landmark cases about the young teens who committed suicide as a result of being cyber bullied.  One case in particular involved a 13 year old boy by the name of Ryan Patrick Halligan, who had been picked on by kids at school since he was 11 years old.  By the time Ryan was in 7th grade he befriended a bully who then turned on him by spreading online rumors that he was gay.  That following summer Ryan instant messaged a girl informing her that he had a crush on her; when school resumed she told Ryan that she was only pretending to like him and that he was a loser.  As a result Ryan hung himself! THIS BOOK IS A REAL EYE OPENER! I think that in this day and age in technology; educators can definitely use this book as a teaching tool to create AWARENESS and have a deep discussion about the affects of cyber bullying and what you could do to get help.








3 comments:

S said...

This would be a great book to give kids to read. Seems like within the past 5 or so years, cyber bullying has become such a vast and dangerous issue with young adults today. I agree, when hearing specific incidents of these young people with so much life ahead of them, taking their own due to relentless cyber bullying, it really does open your eyes on what an huge issue this has become. This book sounds like it gives a ton a information for kids to better understand why it happens, how it happens and most importantly how to stop it.

Freddy in the Chi said...

I understand cyber bullying can lead the harassed to feel shame and sadness and perhaps harm or even kill themselves, but so could getting your butt kicked on the playground every once and again. I'm not trying to state a case to allow cyber bullying, but bullying has been happening for, I don't know, ever?

Unknown said...

I like this class, because it has given us the opportunity to get to know a little about these great books. This book would be something that I WILL read. As a teacher to be I feel very concerned about bullying. THis would be a great book to view the challenges and the things that teenagers go through and what steps to take in order to stop any type of bullying. Great choice of book I hope you enjoyed reading it.