We all log on to our favorite social network sites and share our world with those we keep close to us. We look forward to seeing what they are sharing. And with the occasional "oddball" post thrown in, we generally have a good time keeping up with friends, acquaintances, and professional contacts alike. But it seems that Facebook in particular has been seen as a way to criminalize certain actions.
There are a pair of girls in Estero Florida have learned all too well that people are taking this so-called Cyber-Bullying very seriously. They never thought that when they pulled this prank on Facebook that they would be charged as criminals. Not only that, but that they would be charged with a FELONY! That is a major deal. This is something that is now going to follow these girls for life and possible stop them from having a normal life at all.
Are we taking these things too far? I am sure that the girl who was deemed the "victim" in this situation does not think so. After all, she was the one getting picked on. But was this anything different then has happened since the dawn of time in schools? We all know that kids can be mean and cruel. We all know that in high school, teasing and bullying take on a whole new life simply because the kids are now older and have much more mature ways of picking on one another. What makes any of this different than what we may have experienced or seen going through school is the addition of the Internet.
Now that Facebook and other such web sites have become such the social norm, more and more people will see what is posted on the sites. When the whole of the world can see what someone is saying about you, I'm sure it stings a bunch more than if just the five kids sitting at your lunch table see or hear it. That is just it. It is the enormity of it all that has people reeling.
We can all understand the hurt that takes place when one person picks on another. These two Florida girls did supposedly take it to another level. What they did was to create a Facebook page pretending to be the girl they were picking on. On this page, and acting as the victim, they eluded to being willing to perform sexual acts and posted pictures of nude girls with the victims face edited onto the photos. Surely, this was very hurtful to the girl who was the target of the bullying.
So how far do we take this? We all know that this kind of action does hurt another person when almost everyone in the surrounding area can see what is being said. But that is the difference here, it is the enormity of it all. Because in my mind this really is no different than someone taking a piece of notebook paper, drawing a lifelike picture of the victim and putting her phone number on it and taping it to the school walls. This can be likened to taking the victims photograph and taping the cutout of another photo onto it and making the end result look like something out of a sick porno movie. All of these actions would surely be considered bullying and would surely hurt the intended target. But because Facebook reaches so many more people it is considered a crime.
We all understand that certain people are more sensitive than others. We all know at least one or two people who in the time we have known them have shown us that they cannot take light personal attacks or jokes. We attribute their being upset and possibly hurt to just being overly sensitive. In time, they heal. All wounds do. So why it it that in these cases society looks upon the situation as never ending? Or that the person being picked on cannot be healed or cured of their pain? Instead two girls who initiated the prank are being charged with a felony. Something that will surely follow them forever. When the pain of the bad jokes goes away in say 10 years, the girls who pulled the pranks and made the Facebook pages will still not be able to get a job because of the felony on their record.
Do not get me wrong. I do not think in any way what they did was a good thing or should be applauded. What they did was deplorable and mean. There are a million ways that we can all describe what the girls did as an evil deed. For sure. However, the punishment is by far too extreme. They should indeed be punished somehow for their acts. And I do not begin to pretend at all that I have the knowledge to know the best way this can be accomplished. But I do know that to put them in jail, charge them with a felony and make them go through the court proceedings and everything that it entails is just wrong. It is taking it way too far.
I chose not to name either the victim or the transgressors because I don't feel who they are personally is the story here. The story is the law and how far this has been taken since the charges have been brought. Every news channel that tells the story cuts in a short video of the police chief or spokesman for the Lee County Police stating how much of a crime this is. But I beg to differ.. is this really a crime? Aside from someones feelings being hurt, can we consider this a real crime? Or better yet, can we feel good about calling this a felony? That is hard to swallow, it really is.
