Jazmin Diaz

Ms. Fisher

February 2, 2017

What Makes Cyberbully So Amazing?

Unless and until our society recognizes cyber bullying for what it is, the suffering of thousands

of silent victims will continue (Anna Maria). The movie Cyberbully came out on July 17, 2011. It was

written by Teena Booth. The director of the movie was Charles Binam. In summary this movie is about

a teenage girl being raised by her single mother. She is in high school and becomes victim to online

bullying. She goes through different stages of depression as the cyberbullying starts to affect her

everyday life. She loses her friends and begins to dislike herself and ultimately attempts suicide.

Cyberbullying has been increasing as technology has been advancing. As social media has also been

evolving teenagers have been able to communicate with larger amounts of people. Also this has caused

cyberbullying rates to increase over the years. The movie cyberbully was made to show the effects that it

can have on teenagers and to show how much of a problem cyber-bullying really is. The movie

Cyberbully is a masterpiece because it illustrates great themes, such as the effect of bullying on

teenagers, is involved in the understanding of fellow people, and is a profound assertion of human

values.

One Kenneth Clark Criteria that my masterpiece shows is that the highest masterpieces are

illustrations of great themes. My chosen global justice theme is bullying and suicide. This is shown in

my masterpiece by revolving around a particular form of bullying and showing how it can ultimately

lead to suicide. According to cyberbullying statistics, One million children were harassed, threatened,

or subjected to other forms of cyberbullying on Facebook in the past year! (Cyberbullying Statistics.).

This statistic was from 2011, that is the year that the movie Cyberbullying came out. This shows exactly

how big of problem this is. Teenagers should be able to feel safe speaking with their own generation.

That is not the case for teens anymore. Cyberbullying can negatively influence teenagers to self harm or
even go as far as trying to commit suicide. According to the cyber hotline, Suicide is the No. 3 killer of

teens in the US. (Laird). This statistic shows exactly how serious bullying and suicide is. This is a huge

and terrible impact that cyberbullying has on teenagers. The fact that because of cyberbullying they

would attempt or commit suicide tells exactly how big of a deal this matter is.This relates to the movie

because when the pain because too much for her to handle, Taylor attempted to commit suicide. All

because of the cyberbullying she had to endure she was choosing to end her life.

Another Kenneth Clark criteria is understanding fellow people. This film shows a very realistic

account of cyberbullying and its effects on teenagers. According to bullying Zur, It is very easy for

cyberbullies to think or convince themselves they are merely "joking" because the virtual abuse does not

feel "real". (Zur). For adolescents humor is a good thing. Most teens make joke about each other in

person and online. What they do not realize is that these jokes can actually hurt the person on the other

end of the screen. These jokes can lead to being extremely dangerous for an adolescent's health.

Bullying statistics say, Cyber bullying can be very damaging to adolescents and teens. It can lead to

anxiety, depression, and even suicide. Also, once things are circulated on the Internet, they may never

disappear, resurfacing at later times to renew the pain of cyber bullying. (Cyber Bullying Statistics.). In

the movie Cyberbully, Taylor eventually becomes so depressed that she resorts to trying to commit

suicide. In life this really happens. It can lead to mental disorders and unhealthy habits.

The last Kenneth Criteria that my masterpiece shows is a profound assertion of human values.

My masterpiece shows a real life situation and recognizes an extremely important human value - family.

Robinson and Segal said, Encourage your child to tell you or another trusted adult if they receive

threatening messages or are otherwise targeted by cyberbullies, while reassuring them that doing so will

not result in their loss of computer or cell phone privileges.(Robinson). This tells of something that

parents can teach their child incase cyberbullying ever occurs. This makes the child feel closer to their

parents because they feel as though the can trust them. Also said by Robinson and Segal, Talk to a

parent, counselor, coach, religious leader, or trusted friend. Expressing what you're going through can
make a huge difference to the way you feel, even if it doesn't change the situation. (Robinson). Teens

often feel as though they are alone when they go through difficulties like cyberbullying. They need to

talk about their thoughts and feelings because it is unhealthy for them to keep everything inside. Without

someone like a parent to talk to teenagers feel even more alone. This tells people to make sure that if

they have a family member that they know to make sure they get to talk to people- preferably family or

someone that is very trustworthy. In the movie Cyberbully Taylor didnt confide in an adult about the

problems she was facing. She just continued to let it get worse until her mother found out on her own.

This shows that without the help of a parent or adult things can get out of hand. If Taylor had been able

to get help from an adult before the cyberbullying got too painful, then maybe she wouldnt have gone to

such extreme measures as trying to commit suicide.

When I watch the film Cyberbully I feel as though things need to change for my generation. In

Cyberbully before Taylor attempts suicide she makes a webcam video. In the video she says, I'm the

real Taylor Hillridge. And I don't know why everybody HATES me so much, or maybe I do. Because

now I hate me too. I really don't see the reason of trying, or for talking, or for breathing. I'm just done.

So that's it I guess. Bye. (Cyberbully). I believe that no person should feel as though their life is

meaningless. Every single person has a purpose. Personally I have seen teens get cyberbullied. Although

I cant see them while they read what has been said to them, it hurts me to imagine if those things were

being said to me.Adolescents are so worried about being the best and being better than someone else.

Teens try to bring others down to make them feels better about their own flaws. No one seems to realize

that tearing eachother down does a lot of harm, when everyone could just lift eachother up and then our

generation would be much happier and healthier.

In conclusion the fact that the movie Cyberbully includes major human values, shows a great

theme of the effects cyberbullying could have on teens, understands people and is realistic make this

film a masterpiece. Cyberbullying can be extremely unhealthy for teens, it can lead to suicide, but if

teenagers talk about their issues with their families they can get support, and I believe that every
persons life is valuable. As children grow and become young adults they are constantly learning. People

as a whole need to teach one another to care for others. If we do this, things like cyber-bullying would

not be such a huge problem and the human race would be much happier.
 Works Cited

"Cyberbullying Rampant on the Internet." Cyberbullying Stats Show Massive Occurance Rate. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 05 Jan. 2017.

"Cyber Bullying Statistics." Bullying Statistics. N.p., 07 July 2015. Web. 05 Jan. 2017.

"Cyberbullying Statistics." Cyberbullying Statistics | PureSight | Cyberbullying. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Jan.
2017.

Robinson, Lawrence, and Jeanne Segal. "Dealing with Cyberbullying." Dealing with Cyberbullying:
Tips for Kids and Parents to Prevent and Stop Cyberbullying. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Jan. 2017.

Zur, O. (2016). Major Issues Facing Teenagers: Teen Suicide, Teen Violence, Cyberbullying (Online
Bullying), Internet & Online Addiction, Video Games, Teen's Watching Porn, Teen's Watching TV
Violence, Teenagers Exposed to Violence at Home, and Violent Culture, Online Publication by Zur
Institute. Retrieved January/05/2017