The Sorbate: Bullying & Cyberbullying

High School is hard enough. Even after Alexis Pilkington, 17, of West Islip High School took her own life, online tribute pages filled with negative and derogatory comments about her. Teenager-hood and anonymity are a vicious combination.

In youth, emotions are already heightened and dramatized, bullies are crueler and their victims are hurt more deeply than if they were mature adults. In our teens, at a time when the...

Cyber bullying means something different to each person. There is the really serious side of it, like the recent events that have led to suicide in Massachusetts, and then there is the less hurtful girls being catty girls scenarios. What is important about this issue is understanding what kind of bullying is taking place. Have you ever wondered what happens to these “bullies” when they grow up? Does cyber intimidation at a young...

There is a scene in Mean Girls during which Lindsay Lohan's character survives her "first three way calling attack."  Regina George, a name that itself is now synonymous with bullying, calls up Cady and deliberately asks her questions to get her to say mean things about Gretchen, who is waiting silently on the third line. For a movie that was made a mere six years ago, Mean Girls is surprisingly devoid of technology...

In the hierarchy of high school, the rule that I had to play by was “eat or be eaten.” Not that I would like to relive any of my school age memories (who really does?), but when the issue of bullying comes up, I recall my own experiences. With that in mind, I applaud Massachusetts for bringing criminal charges...