Does Social Networking Kill?
Cyberbullying, Homophobia, and Suicide
i: the new digital world fraught with danger? Itis easy to understand
why many people would be concemed about the uncharted waters
‘we seem to be traversing online. Will Facebook change the nature of
fiiendships? Might texting alter the ability of its users to construct
nction between public and private
complete sentences? Has the di
eroded, thanks to social networking? And will young people post too
much online and not consider the consequences of their actions?
“These are just a few of the many questions that our digital environ
‘ment has created. As I discussed in the first chapter, with the advent
of any new medium comes anxiety about what kind of changes it will
harms we might not yet anticipate. Moral pan-
create and the pote
nerge when a new form of media emerges and its
ies are likely to
users are primarily those who seem particularly vulnerable or threat-
ening (or both). New media do create cultural changes to
shifting the way that people communicate and navigate re
off—and in
Having grown up before the use of social media t
many cases before the widespread use of the Internet—many adults48
1g Social Problems and Popular
ly concerned about young people's use of these new forms
wunication. Texts and tweets are harder to mot
d-fashioned land
ircumvent parental control
telephone and mail, making
nes. And perhaps most alarming,
may make it more challenging to shield
ers. The idea that parents can put a wall up
-s and the outside world was never quite a real-
ability abundantly
ity, but the new media environment makes
clear.
Perhaps parents’ and critics’ biggest fear is that new media will be
harmful to young people, fear heightened by national news coverage
wveral tragedies involving young people who committed suicide
st few years. A common thread appears to place at least
“cyberbullies,” who allegedly harassed the vietim
using social networking sites, taking old-fashioned teasing to a new
ics to ponder and parents to fear the
Cyberbullying Blamed for'Teen
(New York Times), and “Death by Cyber-Bully” (Beston Globe), itis easy
to understand why concerns about cyberbulllies would rise. CBS News
ran story titled “Phoebe Prince: ‘Suicide by Bullying’; Teen's Death
[Angers Town Asking Why Bullies Roam the Halls." A US4 Teday col-
umn titled “Bullying: Are We Defenst
away to save the children.” Not only do parents want to protect their
1gy allows meanness to per
ington Post reported in 2010 that “the In-
1g potential as a means of tormenting others .. raises
ss?" implores readers to “find
+r young people in the age of Twitter and Facebook.
from private."*Iv’s just a matter of when.
en the next attack’s going to hit,”
Chapter 3: Does
ers. The very nature of the Internet allows fe
ingly anonymous speech, enabling angry,
rein, Visit nearly any website that allows
le of all ages can
be really rude online.
But cyberbullying involving young people
us have had the experience of being teased, at least mildly, as children,
ve; most of
but taunts typically ended after school let out. New medi
ternet and smartphones are extremely difficult to monitor, so it
to understand why 80
communication would create concerns. New me:
world of sorts, where something as co
on new meaning when it happens electronically.
fade into the past eventually, but elect
Not only is there fear that kids will communicate inappropriately
networking sites, texting, and other onl
reflect a brave new
jon as a schoolyard taunt rakes
woken words may
messages
wer realy di
with one another, but the Internet also seems to make it easier for
strangers to interact with children, creating new concerns about cyber
predators. As I wrote in Kids These Days: Facts and Fictions About
Teday’s Youth, fears of “stranger danger” and kidnapping
children using social networking tools. Stories about kidnappings or
sexual assaults highlight the potential dangers adults could pose to
young people online. This fear was doubtlessly heightened by NBC's
Dateline series, “To Catch a Predator.” The hidden-camera segments
aired from 2004 to 2007, featuring producers posing as young teens
online in order to catch adult men who come to a house, presurnably
to have sex with a minor. Seemingly ordinary
n appeared, suggest
ing that Internet predators could be any
click away.
Besides concerns of abuse from peers and predatory adults, the shift
into the electronic age has also sparked concerns that the Internet
self is dangerous. Stories of marriages
anywhere, and are just aand
Social Probe
ppular Culture
gaming, shopping, or Facebook friending suggest that the existence
of the Internet itself can be detrimental to our health and relation-
ships. Talk of “Internet addiction” as a new form of mental illness also
dominates self-help talk shows, despite the fact that it is not currently
classified as an illness by the American Psychiatric Association.
Is the Internet putting people at greater risk for suicide, depression,
kidnapping, and sexual abuse? While questions like this might be great
fodder for cable-news pundits and talk-show hosts, the concern re~
flects anxieties about new media, not actual increases in the feared be~
haviors, Stories like one about a Chinese teen who sold his kidney to
buy an iPhone and iPad may make us shake our heads about the im-
pact new media has on young people, but the relationship most teens
have with new technology is typically more mundane than extreme
‘examples like this one.”
In this chapter, I explore two central fears surrounding new media:
first, that cyberbullying can push people to commit suicide, and sec-
ond, that online predators routinely use the Internet to lure kidnap-
ping or sexual abuse victims or both. By comparing the headlines to
data on these problems, we will see that although these new commu
nication technologies have become much bigger parts of many peoples
lives, the problems they are often associated with are in fact not getting,
worse. The stories we hear may be shocking and familiar, and although.
powerful examples, they are not necessarily representative of a larger
trend of increased danger to young people.
“Cyberbullicide”: Familiar Tragedies
es: Tyler, Megan, Amanda,
ey, to list a few. These are the names of young people
‘You probably have heard many of their n
Phoebe, and
who commit
suicide, apparently after enduring online harassment.
“Their stories became regular features on national news programs and.
talk shows, seeming to be symbi
of the scary new Internet world
we inhabir.
(Chapter 3: Does Socal Networking Kill? 51
When news of Tyler Clementi’s tragic jump from the George
Washington Bridge made headlines in the fall of 2010, it really hit
hhome among students in my classes. Like Clementi, many of my stu-
dents were eightcen-year-old college freshmen adjusting to being
away from home for the first time, and some were dealing with a new
roommate they didn't particularly like.
Clementi was a student at Rutgers University who had apparently
requested a roommate change after he had discovered that his room-
mate, Dharun Ravi, had set up a webcam to watch him become inti-
mate with another man in their room. After Ravi streamed a second
encounter live online, Clementi committed suicide. Ravi was charged
with invasion of privacy, bias intimidation, and other charges relating
to a cover-up. In early 2012 Ravi was found guilty of intimidation,
‘witness tampering, and tampering with evidence. He could have faced
up to ten years in prison and deportation to India but was sentenced
to thirty days in jail (of which he served twenty) and three years of
probation, and he must pay eleven thousand dollars in restitution.”
Ravi appeared to embody the role of cyberbully. His defense attor-
ney attempted to frame webcam spying as a juvenile prank, stating.
that “he hastit lived long enough to have any experience with homo-
sexuality or gays” and claiming the incident was not a hate crime as
charged. News coverage portrayed Ravi as immature, but also cruel
and dismissive of the seriousness of the charges, even appearing to fll
asleep during closing arguments of his trial."
“Text messages and Twitter entries became evidence introduced at
trial, highlighting the break from traditional forms of evidence. News
stories translated text-speak for their presumably older readers (ide
‘means “I don't care,” rents means “parents,” for instance). According
toan Associated Press report, the roommates checked out each other's
Internet postings before school began. Both wrote negative comments
about the other online.’
But perhaps the most central part of this case, beyond the new
forms of media it involved, was the issue of homophobia. Were Ravi’s52
ing Social Problems and Popular Culture
actions meant to embarrass Clementi because he was gay? According
to reports friends denied that Ravi was homophobic, and Ravi did as,
well ina text to Clementi after the spying incident.”
“The case raises questions about the meaning of homophobia and
whether cyber-spying constitutes a hate crime. Broken down, the
term bomephobia translates to fear of homosexuality. This fear can
‘manifest in many form:
sion, or discomfort. Existing on a continuum, people may feel ho-
can include violence, harassment, exclu-
mophobic without being openly hostile toward gay and lesbian
individuals. Homophobia is a central part of the concept of hegemonic
masculinity, narrowly constructed idea of what it means to be a “real
man,” Rigid definitions of manhood demand heterosexuality, and thus
antigay slurs are a prime way that men degrade one another. In fact,
homophobia affects men regardless of their sexual orientation, since
it is used as both a put-down and a way to enforce strict adherence to
hege
Te’ hard to imagine the Rutgers case getting so much global atten-
lementi had been with a woman in his dorm room. Even be-
fore a jury agreed that Ravi’s actions constituted bias, the issue of
masculinity.
tion
sexuality was a large part of the case's coverage. For instance, openly
gay talk show host Ellen DeGeneres spoke out publicly about
Clementi suicide, calling bullying an “epidemic,” and stated that “the
death rate is climbing,” Even blogger Perez Hilton, known for often
inflammatory online posts about celebrities, reconsidered his approach
after Clementi death.*
“This incident happened at a time when several other stories of
young people whom classmates teased about their sexual orientation—
ved sexual orientation—made national news after they com-
je. Jamey Rodemeyer, a fourteen-year-old boy from
-w York, was bullied about his perceived sexual orientation
and later committed suicide that same year, garnering coverage on or
in NBC's Taday, CNN, the New York Times, the Huffington Post, and
other national news outlets.”
Chapter 3: Docs Sxial Networking Kilt 38
In sesponse to the many highly publicized stories of bullied young
people, in 2010 Dan Savage and Terry Miller founded the It Gets
Better Project, a website where adults assure young gays and lesbians
that they will find acceptance and not to be discouraged by teasing or
discrimination they may currently face. President Barack Obama and
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, as well as other prominent
political leaders in the United States and abroad, have participated in
the project. Not only can the Internet be used to harass others, but it
clearly can also help people who may feel isolated and alone find a
sense of community and acceptance.
Social networking and the Internet are relatively new ways of ex-
pressing homophobia, A Rutgers instructor, quoted on nj.com,
claimed, “Intolerance is growing at the same time cyberspace has given.
every one of us an almost magical ability to invade other people's
lives.” Yet it is important to recognize that young people are cer-
tainly not alone in perpetuating homophobia, as political leaders
often reinforce the idea that it is okay to discriminate based on sexual
orientation. A Michigan antibullying law faced opposition from con~
servative groups that argued laws preventing antigay comments violate
fice speech and the rights of those to express their religious beliefs. A
compromise included a ‘moral and religious clause” that allows stu-
dents to tell others they will go to hell due to their sexual orientation,
for example. The bill passed in 201
Is intolerance increasing, and is cyberbullying against gay and les-
ath rates, as reaction
bian young people an epidemic with growing
to Clementi’ suicide suggested?
Realities of Suicide and Cyberbullying
Ieappears that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered teens are more
likely to experience cyberbullying than their peers, according to a few
recent studies. A 2009 study of just under twenty-five hundred stu-
dents in a Colorado county found that LGBT youth were more than5 Connecting Social Problems and Popular Culture
Jectronic harassment” than those who iden-
tified as heterosexual (nearly 30 percent versus 13 percent).!? In a 2010
study of eleven- to eighteen-year-olds, nonheterosexual respondents
bullied on- and offline—but also a
Jing others online and off-.!*
BT youth are more bul-
ly that growing aware
er the past few decades
would stem some of the harassment compared with the past, when
invice as likely to report
acceptance of gay's and lesbians
teachers and administrators might have been less likely to intervene.
Legal changes after a 1999 US Supreme Court decision also mean
that schools can be liable if they do not take reasonable efforts to pro-
tect students from sexual harassment.
Although there is evidence that LGBT youth do experience more
harassment than their peers, there is no solid evidence that there is a
new epidemic, nor that youth LGBT suicides are significantly higher
wide. Instead, we had an “epidemic” of tragic cases that became
national news stories.
ide sexual orientation, we just
suicide rates for LGBT youth are higher on a
this limitation, many people have seen a sta~
scent ofall youth suicides involve LGBT in
n Resource Center report
explains, this number emerged from a ballpark estimate contained in
41989 Health and Human Services report rather than an observed
through news reports to become taken for granted as
For gay-rights acti
riousness of hot
statistic seems to provide p
‘American society and creates a sense of
urgency to prevent harassment.
(Chapter 3: Does So
Te may be that LGBT youth are more likely to cor
their peers; we just don't have data to know for sure. We do have data
from several small studies on suicide attempts and suicidal ideation
(thoughts about suicide) that suggest that LGBT individuals are more
likely than their peers to attempt and think about suicide, Exactly dow
‘much more varies from study to study, and the studies are too isolated
to make national generalizations. Because the amount of acceptance
of LGBT individuals varies significantly across regions in the country,
the social context of any given community likely influences the out-
come of these studies, so it would be difficult to generalize from these
jolated studies.””
‘Although we don't know the sexual orien
nationwide, we do know their ages. One major misconception is that
teens are the group most prone to suicide. Infact, they are among the
‘eas likely to commit suicide, According to data from the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), forty-five- to ffty-four-year-
suicide in 2009 (the most
19.3 suicides per
n of suicide victims
colds were the group most likely to com:
recent year for which data are availabl
100,000. The age groups with the fewest suicides? Five- to fourteen
year-olds (0.7 per 100,000), followed by fifteen- to twenty-four-year~
‘lds (10.1 per 100,000). Rates for young people have been flat for the
past decade, with virtually no changes. But suicide rates have crept up
slightly for thiry-five- to sixty-four-year-olds, while declining slightly
for those sixty-five and older."
Ironically, children, teens, and young adul
take their own lives but are presumed to be the most at risk. This
ight be because we routinely hear that suicide is one of the leadi
are the least likely to
causes of deaths for teens, behind car accidents and homicide. Though,
that statistic is true, the good news is teens are unlikely to die at al,
compared to their older counterparts who are more likely to commit
suicide and afe also more likely to succumb to heart disease, cancer,
and other ailments.”If anything, we might wonder about ide epidemic” among
forty-five- to fifty-four-year-olds, whose rates rose from 13.9 per 100,000
in 1999 to 19.3 per 100,000 in 2009. But concerns for middle-aged
Americans’ mental health are rarely expressed in dram:
like the ones about young people who have been cyberbullied.
Has Bullying Gotten Worse?
Reports of bullying have become very widespread in recent years, with
cable news devoting hours of coverage to the issue. CNN aired pro-
grams like Step Bullying: Speak Up and Bullying: It Stops Here in 2011,
the heightened coverage implying that there is a new crisis.2° But is
there
‘The Bureau of Justice Statistics publishes a report titled Indicators
of Crime and School Safety each year and includes bullying as a measure,
With bullying described as being called nam sd, made fun of,
pushed, tripped, spit on, being excluded from activities, or threatened
sical harm, about 28 percent of twelve- to eighteen-year-old
es at school in 2009 (the
most recent year of data available), a decline from 2007 and the same
students reported any one of these experi
percentage as 2005.
to measure the intensity
scent report that they
the one from which
ried intensity,
jon de-
online activities—such as receiving threatening messages; having their
(Chapter 3: Does Social Networking Kil? s7
private emails or text messages forwarded wi having an
‘embarrassing picture posted without permission; or having rumors
about them spread online.”
‘According to the Indicators of Crime and School Safety report, only 6
percent of students twelve to eighteen reported being cyberbullied.
1.2011 nationally
representative survey conducted by the Pew Internet and American
Other studies have come up with higher estimat
Life Project found that 8 percent of all twelve- to seventeen-year-olds
reported having been bullied online, and 12 percent reported being
bullied in person. A 2010 Pew Internet and American Life study also
found that young people were far more likely to be bullied at school
than online (31 percent versus 13 percent online). Both studies sug-
gest it isa small minority of young people who have had this experi-
ence, According to the 2011 Pew study, most res ts thought
that others were mostly kind online, although twelve~ to seventeen-
year-olds were less likely to respond this way than adults
over (69 percent compared with 85 percent).
Other studi 2.2007 National Crime Prevention Council
study, found that 43 percent of thirteen- to seventeen-year-olds report
having been cyberbullied; another study claimed that 72 percent of all
students had been cyberbullied. Justin W. Patchin and Sameer Hin-
duja, authors of Cyberbullying Prevention and Response: Expert Perspec-
tives, reviewed several surveys and found an average of 24 percent
overall, the variation largely a result of narrower or wider definitions
of cyberbullying2* The more minor the behavior included in the defi-
nition, the larger number of people who are likely to have had the ex
teen and
perience. There's a big difference between having an ¢
forwarded without our knowledge once or twict
taunts or doctored pictures repeatedly post
someone. -
dicate a diflerent
cn experience bullying
‘Although the creation of a new word se
concept, people who experience cyberbullyin58
offline, and both experiences have a lot in common. A 2010 study of
‘middle school-age youth found that both on- and offline bullying vic-
tims and offenders were more likely to have attempted suicide than
those not involved in bullying of any kind, The authors of the study
ikely that experience with cyberbullying by itself
leads to youth suicide. Rather, it tends to exacerbate instability and
the minds of adolescents already struggling with
stressful life circumstances.”
‘That same year, the N:
al Institutes of Health (NIH) reported
con a study that found that cyberbully victims had higher rates of de-
victim and offender tend to show elevated rates of depression. Per-
haps those who experience cyberbullying feel even less of a sense of
control over their environment, one that now extends into cyberspace.
Although itis problematic to presume that the Intemet, social net
‘ide, the
Internet and new electronic communications create additional com-
‘working, or even cyberbullying alone isa primary cause of s
plexities in our lives and relationships. Yet itis important to note that
suicide rates among young people have nof been increasing.
So why is bullying so prevalent in the news today, even described
when there is no evidence it is actually getting worse? As I
‘ous generations. Beyond concerns about bullying, so-called helicopter
parenting extends well into early adulthood, as many parents seek to
‘cate for their kids’ emotional needs even while in college and beyond”
Colleagues tell me of parents calling to try to get their kids added to
closed college courses or complain about a grade their young adult
student received on a paper. It
s heightened level of caretaking,
dramatic tise of social networking, the use of texting and of the In-
(Chapter 3: Does Social Nerworking Kill? 59
temet in general have not produced notable changes in suicide rates
for young people.
Adult Cyber Predators
Stories of cyberbullying tend to focus on young people as the primary
predators, too immature to exercise good judgient about how to treat
~ others. Headlines like “Cyber Bullies Harass’Teen Even After Suicide”
(Hufington Post) and “The Untouchable Mean Girls" (Boston Globe)
paint a picture suggesting that amoral youth are the core threat to
their peers.”
‘Adults aren't always so nice to each othe
ther. According to a
2010 survey, 35 percent of workers reported experiencing some kind
of bullying at work, defined as “sabotage by others that prevented work
8 percent), suggest-
in the workplace. The Occupational
jon (OSHA) notes that 2 million
ing an important gender dynami
Health and Safety Administr:
Americans report being the vic
as well.”
Of course, it’s not just young people who use the Internet to harass
others. Whereas news reports often portray parents as hapless ob-
servers, struggling to understand the twenty-first-century world that> ‘Connecting Social Problemns and Popular Culture
reir children inhabit, adults can be cruel online as well. For instance,
fifty-one-year-old commodities trader was sentenced to twenty-
ght months in jail in 2012 for posting an “execution list” of dozens,
£ Securities and Exchange Commission officials on his Facebook
age. In a 2011 National Science Foundation report, a forty-year-old
escribed being harassed online by a former high school classmate,
hho sent pornographic messages to his employer. A seventy-seven-
zar-old singer-songwriter allegedly received thousands of harassing
mails from his fifty-five-year-old former manager, violating a re~
raining order that ordered her not to contact him further. Currently,
ae Arizona legislature has proposed a law to define “annoying” or “of-
insive” online posts as criminal acts, similar to prank phone calls."
‘A 2006 incident was particularly shocking, because it involved an
ule bullying a child online and became national news. Megan Meier
as thirteen years old when she met a boy online—or so she thought.
“hrough her MySpace page, she corresponded with someone she
sought was named Josh for a couple of weeks before he turned on
cr and allegedly told her,“The world would be a better place without
5u.” Soon after, Megan committed suicide.
There never was a boy named Josh, though. He was fabricated by
xe mother of a former friend who lived down the street, Lori Drew—
‘ho was forty-seven. Megan had recently changed schools and had
ade new friends, and Drew allegedly wanted to retaliate against
Jegan for not cont
+e if Megan gossiped about her daughter online,
wing the friendship with her daughter and to
‘Megan had struggled with depression prior to this, occasionally
soke of suicide, and took antidepressants—something Drew knew
bout before creating the fake boyfriend. Drew was later charged
nd found guilty of thre
isdemeanor computer crimes in federal
ourt, but the conviction was later thrown out on appeal.
Although cases like this one appear to be rare, we are more likely
> hear of adults whose fake profiles are meant to lure young people
(Chapter 3: Does Sacial Netwo
ng Kil? 6
in order to have sexual contact. As in Daveline’s now defunct “To Catch
a Predator” series, stories highlighting young people led to danger on-
line still echo across the airwaves. In April 2009 Oprah aired “Alicia's
Story: A Cautionary Tale,” about Alicia Kozakiewicz, who at thirteen
met a thirty-eight-year-old man online who abducted, beat, tortured,
and raped her in 2002. The show also featured similar stories of
young girls lured by predators online later that year.” Kozakiewicz
has used her horrific ordeal to speak out about online predators and
is currently active in helping to create new laws to help crack down
on abusers.
‘Although news reports occasionally highlight other stories of young
people meeting strangers online and becoming victims of crime, these
events are fortunately rare and are not limited to teens. In 2008 a
twenty-four-year-old woman was killed when she answered a
Craigslist ad for a nanny position. And in 2009 Julissa Brisman,
twenty-six, working as a masseuse, was murdered in Boston by the
‘man who became known as the “Craigslist Killer."
of online dating gone awry, and the numerous scams perpetrated on-
Countless stories
line serve as reminders that we all should be wary of those we en-
counter online.
But statistically, those we know offline pose a much greater threat.
Cyberreality: Safer than Ever?
‘Most of the time, violence has nothing to do with new media or social
networking. Since Internet use became widespread in the mid-19%0s,
violent crime has dropped dramatically in the United States. Between
1991 and 2010, violent crime fell by 47 percent; from 2001 to 2010,
the rate declined 13 percent. Over the past two decades, homicides in
the United States declined 50 percent.** Although certainly new
media cannot be credited for much if any of these declines, itis a re~
minder that this is a much safer country than it was in the recent past.0
‘When people are vie the perpetrator is often some-
ing to the 2010 FBI Uniform
Crime Reports, about 44 percent of homicide victims were killed by
ly or acquai were killed by strangers (44
percent of the offenders were not known).
cent of perpetrators are their parents.”
Victims of other violent crime likely know the perpetrators as well.
‘The National Crime Vi
survey of Americans twelve and older, found that in 2010 strangers
\cidents (a decline from 44
percent in 2001). Female victims were much more likely than males
to know their assailants (64 percent versus 40 percent). In cases of
tof females knew their attackers.”
According to a 2008
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Program report,
one they know reasor
nces; just 12 perce
were the offenders i
rape or sexual assatl
he percentage is si
74 percent of perpetrators were family members or acquaintances; the
report also estimates that sexual assaults of children have declined
since the 1990s, (NCVS data found that incidents of rape declined by
24 percent nationwide since 2001.)"
Although data are not
run away or are kidnapped, previous studies suggest that about one in
ted as regularly on young people who
five minors who runs away from home has been physically or sexually
abused, and nearly as many have substance abuse problems. More than
three-quarters of abductions are committed by family members—typ-
ily
If are taken by an acquaintance (a neighbor
2
cu
ically an al parent—but .¢ kidnapped by a noni
member, more that
family fri for instance).
to protect their privacy more online as well. According to a 2007 Pew
Internet and Amer teens, the vast majority—91 per-
cent—report using social networking only to talk with people they al
Chapter 3: Does 8
ul Networking Kill? 63
ready know. Two-thirds try to make their profile visib
they know; nearly a third have be
and most (65 percent) reported that they ignored them. Just 7 percent
ly to people
contacted by a stranger online,
of all teens who are online reported being scared by an online en-
counter with a stranger.
Navigating the Cyber Age
Yes, there are plenty of pitfalls online, and people of all ages are still
Jearning to navigate them. Whether it is writing nasty comments
about schoolmates or coworkers on Facebook, sending texts or e-mails
wwe later regret, or posting photos that we wouldnt want the world to
see, many people are still figuring out that although we might fee! like
‘we have private space electronically, that is mostly an illusion.
‘One of the best pieces of advice I received as the electronic age
sounds severe, but electronic communication has a way of taking on a
life of its own beyond our control once sent.
Part of the challenge of navigating an online identity is that as users
of social networking, we are commodities rather than customers.
Companies like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google use our information
for advertisers and have been criticized by privacy advocates for not
always being transparent about how they use our information. Face-
book’ frequent changes often switch users’ privacy options, makin;
difficult to maintain your desired settings from the past without man-
em.
ually reseting
Love or hate social networking, itis here to stay. Online platforms
not replacing offline con
evolving technology, it is understandable that young people's use of social4 Connecting Social Problems and Popular Cl
networking tools would be a source of concem. But the danger is not
quite as severe as some dramatic news accounts may have us believe.
Concerns about bullyi nd suicide can be channeled to address
ed access to mental health care that many people experience.
Whether victims of bullying online, at school, or at work, many people
he
lack the resources or access to receive needed mental health care. Ac-
cording to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Admin-
istration, private health insurance is the most common way people pay
for mental health care; those without health insurance have more lim-
ced access to mental health services. SAMHSA estimates that the
percentage of the population whose need for treatment goes unmet is
nearly as high as those who receive mental health care. Perhaps not
surprisingly, the groups that have the highest unmet need tend to be
young adults eighteen to twenty-five, those who are unemployed, and
those without health insurance.*°
‘There's no doubt that some people have chosen to use new forms
of electronic communication to express hostility and hatred, which we
are still learning to navigate individually and legally. Rude comments
written on a public bathroom wall can be cleaned o painted over;
Yet it’s important to keep in mind that despite these new challenges,
pple appear to be managing much better than we might
swe might be more concerned about people who lack ac-
cess to these new modes of communi
them both
who were b
mn and the implications for
and economically. Tragic examples of young people