Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
the Cyber-Bully
An Essay by Samantha R. Selman
My Aunt: the Cyber-Bully Why was this man attacking me like this? What did he want me to give up? Why is he calling me an idiot and a bigot? How does he know what I think? At this moment, I was feeling surprised, humiliated, hurt, offended and hunted. Since he could no longer use the social networking site to harass me, he decided to use the one thing he wasnt blocked from. Note: this man claims he was either a navy seal or a member of the Air Force in the past, and yet he is harassing a fourteen year old girl. What is wrong with this picture? I assure you that I would never try to force my opinions on anyone and I would never attack someone with an opinion that was different from mine. These people continue to attack me, and I fear they will become increasingly worse after writing this essay. I do not understand why any coherent adult would waste time attacking a girl who barely knows what the word bigot means. I am open to anyones opinion. I listen to both MSNBC and Fox news. I am not a bigot. I dont believe I am an idiot. I am not liberal. I have tried expressing these things to them, but they refuse to listen. Apart from my parents, no one has tried to help me. No one has tried to stop the harassment. So now, I must write this essay in hopes that these people will read it and stop pursuing me. The below is an excerpt from the Constitution of the United States of America: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. This is the first amendment. This is what grants every American their right to free speech. I am a proud citizen of this country and yet I am being bullied for using my right to free speech. It isnt right, it isnt lawful, and it isnt moral. I feel the picture was in no way a personal attack, nor was it meant to be taken as such. These people are badgering me for a picture I did not create, did not send to them, and did not want to be taken seriously. I am an American and I have the right to free speech, and it isnt their right to take my freedoms away, even if I am a stupid Liberal. When I joined Facebook some time in early 2011, I re-united with several of my past classmates. One of them was going through several stressful situations. Once, she posted a picture from the satirical website atheist.com. Though she meant for the picture to be a joke, she was rebuked harshly. She was criticized and reprehended. She was forced to terminate her account, and after a month she re-joined, wary of ever putting anything satirical on her wall. My father was also cyber-bullied because of pictures similar to the one I posted. In short, I am not the first of my family and friends to be cyberbullied. My parents have been cyber-bullied, my best friend has been bullied online, and many acquaintances have been bullied online. It stops with me. Often these kind of attacks are made by teenagers toward other teenagers, or adults toward other adults. My case is different in the respect that there are adults, in their forties and fifties, bullying me, a fourteen year old teenager. They have been relentless in their attempts to make me feel insignificant. They have made me feel like a lesser person. However, I refuse to give up anything. With this essay, I am attempting to expose those who are intimidating me, as well as attempting to inspire those who are being mistreated to speak up. Never let another person make you feel insignificant. No one can take away your rights regardless of your gender, sexuality, income, political party, intellect, ethnicity, appearance, religion or age. And if they attempt to take away your rights or demean you, call them on it. Defend yourself. Dont allow yourself to be treated like youre insignificant.