Who am I? Since the introduction of the Internet and the prevalence of it in
today’s society, the virtual world allows me to continuously blur the lines between who I
am and who I want you to think I am. And of course, we’ve all heard of the atrocities
that this very aspect of the Internet has allowed to occur. Cyberbullying is often a topic of conversation when it comes to people who use web-aliases or anonymity to hurt people.

An issue deeper than cyberbullying is the problem of defining it; is it blatant
attacks, or more subtle exclusion? With outlets such as Facebook and Twitter, it is much
easier to come into contact with whomever you desire and much easier to say things that
one may not say if they didn’t have the security of hiding behind their computer screen.
Is cyberbullying as point-blank as sending a vicious message, or is it as subtle as posting
a picture entitled “best friends” for others to see and feel excluded from? While of course
a cruel message is punishable while a seemingly inoffensive picture isn’t, who has the
power to draw the line and protect those most susceptible to the invisible attacker within
the Internet?

The argument of defining cyberbullying actually is at the center of the proposal put forth by Senator
Tim Cullen, D-Janesville, as reported by The Janesville Gazette. The proposal being presented at a public hearing to the Senate
Education Committee on Tuesday leaves the defining of cyberbullying up to school
districts, and once it’s defined, it must be prohibited.
I for one am strongly in favor of each school district determining its own
definition of cyberbullying. Who knows what the particular student body needs
better than the administrators of a given school?

Yet at the same time, I firmly believe
in the importance of students themselves playing a role in determining the definition.
While teachers and administrators may believe they know what plagues their students
outside of the walls of the school, entering the virtual realm is an entirely new playing
field. Facebook accounts are private, and access to personal inboxes is entirely at the
jurisdiction of the owner of the account. They can easily suffer alone, keeping the
malicious messages that plague their inboxes to themselves. And while of course that
may inflict emotional scars, if nobody else knows, in the eyes of school authority, did it
really happen?

Nevertheless, even private messages may lead to public embarrassment, or worse,
violence. Last month, a Madison girl was attacked and beaten in the parking lot of a
shopping mall after being threatened on Facebook, as reported by the Ashland Current. And we’ve all heard the horrific
stories of individuals who endured so much harassment they ultimately took their own
lives. Instances such as these make evident the immediate need for a quick solution.

Of course, the de-privatization of Facebook accounts is nowhere near warranted,
but students definitely need a safe outlet for addressing their problems within the
ungoverned world of the Internet. Many students may find themselves so afraid of their
attacker that standing up for themselves is not an option, let alone seeking help from a
teacher, thus making it all the more difficult to address and halt cyberbullying.

So what is to be done? Immediately speaking, I am in complete agreement with
Cullen’s proposal of school districts determining their own definitions of cyberbullying
and proceeding to prohibit it. Furthermore, I believe the student body has every right
to be a part of the deliberation for the definition, because who knows bullying better
than the bullied themselves? Lastly, I think it is of the utmost importance for
parents and friends to stay involved, and if they believe a loved one to be a target of cyber attacks, to step in and help to silence the bully.

Christin Wiegand ([email protected]) is a sophomore with an undeclared major.