CYBER-SENSE

A recent case brought my attention to the subject of cyber-bullying, the disseminating via text messaging, emails or other digital technologies,of pejorative or sexual remarks designed to ridicule, harass and harm the victim.

Younger and younger children, some in elementary school are doing it, and are doing it with greater and greater frequency. The effects of cyber-bullying, aside from emotional embarrassment and stress, can be social isolation, inability to attend school, and even suicide. Groups have cropped up around the country to fight this new "menace". Some states have passed laws, also introduced in a number of others and on the federal level, that make cyber-bullying a crime, and to expand the authority of schools to punish cyber-bullies. Lawsuits instituted by the families of victims abugainst bullies are increasing.

Now, cyber-bullying is repulsive, disgusting, shameful and offensive. No question about that and those who engage in it ought be condemned. But there are perspectives on it that are not frequently heard:

1. Properly understood, all crimes entail the use of physical force (or some activity tantamount to it) against another person. The reason for that is absent force, the victim's right to be free and to live life as he or she chooses, has not been curtailrd. And we have laws on the books to punish those who perform criminal acts. No new laws are needed. Unless and until the bullying rises to the level of a threat of the use of immediate physical force against the victim, there is no crime.

2. There are slander and libel laws on the books in every jurisdiction that make those who publish defamatory remarks, or who violate someon's right to privacy (say, by the unauthorized posting of nude pictures),responsible for the damages they cause. No new laws are needed.

3. The bully enjoys freedom of thought, including the right to have a bad opinion of someone. The bully also enjoys freedom of speech, the right to voice or text those opinions.

4. Schools are institutions of learning. They should be encouraged to teach students the objectionableness of cyber-bullying, why it is not in the interest of the bully to be a bully,and to teach victims ways to cope with it...rather than focusing on punishment. Further, they should teach students that it is their chosen actions that determine who they are, and their self esteem, and not the invidious rantingsa of others.

5. The victim has choices: confront the bully, cyber-respond to the nully, and perhaps the most potent of all, IGNORE THE BULLY. The bully often has low self esteem and , subconsciously, seeks to enhance it by exerting power over the victim. Ignoring the bully, makes him impotent.

Let's stop the madcap rush to lawsuits. Let's toughen our skins up a bit by learning how to deal with animosities and assaults against us, and how not to be derailed in the pursuit of our dreams and the enrichment of our lives.