Haldeman 1 Name: Lucas Haldeman

Research Notes
Source Information (Parenthetical Reference) (Alvarez) Quotations or paraphrased passages Summary of Source and Insights

Inside her phones virtual world, she had changed her user name on Kik Messenger, a cellphone application, to That Dead Girl and delivered a message to two friends, saying goodbye forever. Rebecca was not nearly as resilient as she was letting on. Not long before her death, she had clicked on questions online that explored suicide. How many Advil do you have to take to die?
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/14/us/suicide-ofgirl-after-bullying-raises-worries-on-websites.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 One year later, a man contacted her on Facebook, threatening to send around the picture of her topless if [she] don't put on a show. Terrifyingly, the stranger knew everything about her: her address, school, friends, relatives, and the names of her family members. Soon, her naked photo had been forwarded to everyone.

(Grenoble)

I'm struggling to stay in this world, because everything just touches me so deeply. I'm not doing this for attention. I'm doing this to be an inspiration and to show that I can be strong. I did things to myself to make pain go away, because I'd rather hurt myself then someone else. Haters are haters but please don't hate, although im sure I'll get them. I hope I can show you guys that everyone has a story, and everyones future will be bright one day, you just gotta pull through. I'm still here aren't I?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/11/amandatodd-suicide-bullying_n_1959909.html Scheibel said she had drawn the ire of the "Mean Girls" by briefly dating a popular senior football player in her first freshman weeks at the school. One student

(Kennedy)

Haldeman 2 later said it felt like the whole school ganged up on her. Students said Phoebe was called "Irish slut" and whore on Twitter, Craigslist, Facebook and Formspring. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/phoebeprince-south-hadley-high-school-new-girl-drivensuicide-teenage-cyber-bullies-article-1.165911 "People that were originally his friends, they kind of turned on him," "A lot of people, they either joined in or they were too scared to say anything," http://www.ktiv.com/story/17473534/family-says Other Facebook friends of the young man saw what was happening and sent messages of their own on the social networking site, urging the teen to call Michaels.

(Johnson)

(Boyette)

http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/15/us/social-mediasuicide-stop/

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Lucas Haldeman Ms. McClung CEP 4 07 March, 2014 Social Medias Damage Social Media, a wondrous area that allows todays society interact with each other without having to be face-to-face. As of today there are many social media websites the most popular being; Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram. Many teens go onto these websites hoping to chat with friends and have a good time, but some are forced to go through torment also known as cyber-bullying. Cyber-bullying is the act of bullying another online. Most cyber-bullies do not realize the effect they have on an individual because they cannot see the immediate reaction. Social media damages ones self-esteem and self-image. Meet Rebecca Ann Sedwick, a 12-year-old girl who lived in Miami, who was a target for cyber-bullying. The bullying began after a dispute over a boy she had dated for a while. For more than a year she was cyber-bullied by a group of 15 middle-school children who urged her to kill herself (Alvarez). Her mother attempted to keep tabs on Rebeccas social media footprint after learning about the bullying but was unsuccessful. At some point Rebecca had applied for three new social media applications; ask.fm, Kik, and Voxer; which started the bullying again. She would receive texts full of hate, one exchange being; Can u die please? To which Rebecca responded, with a flash of resilience, Nope but I can live. Sadly it was all an act as later she searched for, How many Advil do you have to take to die? Shortly before she committed suicide she had

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changed her Kiks username to That Dead Girl and sent messages to two friends, saying goodbye forever (Alvarez). Her usage of social media caused others to go and bully her to the point where she felt that there was no point in living anymore. Another cyber-bully victim driven to suicide was 14-year-old Kenneth Weishuhn who lived in Paullina, Iowa. He was a freshman at South OBrien High School where he was happy, but really he was under tremendous emotional toil. It all started when he told his friends that he was gay. His sister claims that; People that were originally his friends, they kind of turned on him, (Johnson). The teasing began at school mainly by the boys in his sisters class, bullying him over his sexuality. Sadly like most things that happen in America today; A lot of people, they either joined in or they were too scared to say anything, [Kayla Weishuhn] said. (Johnson). Eventually the teasing went viral and went to websites like Facebook, where the bullies created a hate group against gays and adding Kenneths friends to them. However, that was the only beginning as he started receiving death threats from South OBrien students on his phone (Johnson). Eventually the bullying became too much for Kenneth and he committed suicide. His favorite quote was be buddies, not bullies. (Johnson). Phoebe Prince a 15-year-old new girl from Ireland committed suicide after extensive bullying. Phoebe Prince was a new arrival at South Hadley High School from a small seaside hamlet in County Clare (Kennedy). The bullying began after she started dating a popular senior football player in the first few weeks of being a freshman at the school, One student later said it felt like the whole school ganged up on her. (Kennedy). She was often tormented at school almost to the point where it was impossible for her to remain at school, investigator Scheibel said. The bullying, for her,

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became intolerable. (Kennedy). Other students said she was called Irish slut and whore on Twitter, Craigslist, Facebook and Fromspring. Finally on Jan. 14, after being harassed and threatened in the school library and in a hallway, and having a can of Red Bull thrown at her Phoebe had had enough and hung herself in a stairwell at her house. Despite adults having seen the abuse actively no actions were taken to stop the bullying. Now possibly one of the more known suicide cases is of Amanda Todd, a Vancouver-area teenager. The reason why hers was so popular was because of the YouTube video she had posted telling her story. In 7th grade she would go with friends on a webcam to meet and talk to new people, one of them had managed to flatter her into flashing the camera. Everything was going okay for her until; One year later, a man contacted her on Facebook, threatening to send around the picture of her topless if [she] don't put on a show. Terrifyingly, the stranger knew everything about her: her address, school, friends, relatives, and the names of her family members. Soon, her naked photo had been forwarded to everyone. (Grenoble) In an attempt to escape the bullies she changed schools and found a new group of friends (Grenoble). Shortly after, the man created a Facebook profile and used her uncensored photo as his profile picture. According to Amanda she; Cried every night, lost all my friends and respect people had for me... again... then nobody liked me, (Grenoble). Soon the bullying started again and she moved to another school where a boy started to flirt with her. Then a troupe of girls from her first school came and beat

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her up, where kids filmed it. After running to a ditch and laying there her father found her and drove her home, where she drank bleach in an attempt to kill herself, but was saved with a rushed trip to the hospital (Grenoble). Despite being moved to a new city, antidepressants and counseling did little to combat her depression. In her YouTube description she states: I'm struggling to stay in this world, because everything just touches me so deeply. I'm not doing this for attention. I'm doing this to be an inspiration and to show that I can be strong. I did things to myself to make pain go away, because I'd rather hurt myself then someone else. Haters are haters but please don't hate, although im sure I'll get them. I hope I can show you guys that everyone has a story, and everyones future will be bright one day, you just gotta pull through. I'm still here aren't I? (Grenoble) About a month later she was found in dead in Coquitlam, Canada. Many people say the use of social media can boost ones self -image and selfesteem. These people are the ones who havent been targeted majorly by bullies to the point where they feel everyone hates them. One rare instance where a social media site actually saved someones life was; Other Facebook friends of the young man saw what was happening and sent messages of their own on the social networking site, urging the teen to call Michaels. (Boyette) Which then led to the teen actually calling Michaels and stopping him from committing suicide. The reason why this happened is because someone actually took action instead of sitting there watching or joining in on the bullying like most American teens/adults do these days. A lot of people, they either

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joined in or they were too scared to say anything, (Johnson) is a perfect explanation as to what usually happens when a cyber-bullying scene occurs. This happense because most teens feel that if they stand up for the person being bullied that the bullies will then begin tormenting them for trying to protect their target. Social media damages ones self-esteem and self-image. Many social media sites always have predators, either it be little kids trying to make themselves feel better, or adult perverts who blackmail younger kids, they are there. Most of these people dont realize what they are doing to the person because they cant actually see the emotions they entail when they hurt the other person. Cyber-bullying has to stop, laws should be passed to help deal with these cases, or better yet dont allow children and teens access to social media websites.

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Works Cited
Alvarez, Lizette. "Girl's Suicide Points to Rise in Apps Used by Cyberbullies." The New York Times 13 September 2013. Electronic. Boyette, Chris. "Teen's Remark on Facebook Sends Cops Into Social Media Action to Save a Life." CNN 15 November 2013. Electronic. Grenoble, Ryan. "Amanda Tod: Bullied Canadian Teen Commits Suicide After Prolonged Battle Online and in School." Huffington Post 11 October 2012. Electronic. Johnson, Kristen. "Family: Bullies Pushed NW Iowa Teen to Take Own Life." Siouxland News Channel 16 April 2012. Electronic. Kennedy, Helen. "Phoebe Prince, South Hadley High School's 'new girl,' Driven to Suicide by Teenage Cyber Bullies." New York Daily News 29 March 2010. Electronic.