cyberbullying leads to possible suicide

Parent Cafe
1

This is a story local to me. It’s just mind boggling to think this goes on and amongst elite professionals.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/nicole-mittendorf-firefighter-bullying_us_571e2959e4b0d0042da9b3d6

http://www.firehouse.com/news/12198404/firefighter-news-cyber-bullying-investigated-in-fairfaxs-nicole-mittendorfs-death

2

Several years! How awful. I know that mean people will always say that if she was strong enough, this wouldn’t have effected her, blah, blah, blah, but putting up with that abuse for years sounds like it would push anyone off the edge.

3

So unbelievably sad–when will people ever stop bullying?

4

If the perpetrators are identified I’d like to see part of their punishment be to have to read their posts aloud in front of their wives, mothers and sisters.

Here’s video of men (innocent guys, not the ones who wrote them) reading mean tweets female sportscasters have received to the women. It’s notable how uncomfortable the language makes them. I wonder how many of the jerk who write crass stuff anonymously online would be able to read their own work publicly without shame.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/stevens/ct-female-sports-writers-mean-tweets-balancing-0427-20160427-column.html

5

Bullying is so toxic–I can see how it could build up and an cause awful environment.

I was a bullying victim from 2nd thru 9th grades–physical rather than cyber.

6

This is beyond incredibly sad. I don’t know if Virginia has cyberbullying laws (I know several states passed them but I’m not sure if VA is one of them), but I do hope these “anonymous” people are publicly outed.

7

@Sue22 that broke my heart to watch. How do human beings act this way. I am appalled at what anonymity brings out in people.

8

I don’t understand why people think it’s okay to say something to people online that they might not say to their own mother. On the other hand, I also don’t understand why people continue to visit websites where they are seeing posts that we consider cyberbully type posts.

I found this about Virginia’s cyber bullying: “cyber bullying may be charged under Virginia’s “harassment by computer” law when the bully used a computer to send obscene communications, suggestions, or threats of any illegal act with the intent to harass, coerce, or intimidate a victim. (Va. Ann. Code § 18.2-152…7:1.)”

from http://www.criminaldefenselawyer.com/resources/cyberbullying-laws-virginia.htm

Other search results show that these types of crimes may be considered a misdemeanor:

http://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title18.2/