Formspring, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Omegle, Oovoo, so many websites offer the chance to meet new people and start conversations. However, these websites also offer a chance for people to hurt others. Some can hurt publicly such as Facebook or Twitter while some offer to humiliate people anonymously such as Formspring and Tumblr. Now, most of these websites' intentions were not for people to be hurt or chastised, but that is what this has come to.
New York State's cyber bullying laws are hidden. Upon researching "cyber bullying laws", I did not find New York State on any lists of states that offer consequences for cyber-bullying. However, when narrowing my search to just "New York State cyber bullying laws", I found that the law is minimal. The New York State mandates that a person who is convicted of "cyber harassment" is sentenced as a Class A Misdemeanor (National Conference of State Legislature). This can mean a lot or this can mean very little. A person can be sentenced to one year in jail or a $4,000 fine. This usually does not occur due to the fact that most cases against cyber bullying are thrown out before trial. New York State also dictates that "cyber bullying" is an educational law which means that the state dictates each public school must educate children on the effects of cyber bullying and offer sources on how to get help. There is no consequence for cyber bullying. New York State law also does not have any sort of law for cyber stalking.
Almost forty-three percent of teenagers admit to being cyber bullied in the last year ("Stop Cyberbullying Before It Starts"). That is almost half of the teenagers in the United States. That is someones daughter getting taunted for wearing an unflattering shirt. That is someones son being mocked for being gay. These are people who have not done anything wrong, but continue to be harassed almost every day. Some teenagers fear going on the Internet because they are afraid of peers' reactions.
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