Teen Bullying Becomes a Serious Problem Among Students: New York Makes Laws to Protect Kids

More and more kids and teens are on social network sites such as MySpace, Twitter and Facebook and also it is not unusual for 12 year olds to have high tech cell phones and their own laptops in this day and age giving them easy access to hundreds if not thousands of people at any given time. While this is nice for staying in touch with friends it can be detrimental and possibly deadly for some teens. 

Recent articles in magazines are becoming more and more focused on this tragic cyber bully situation. Student bullies are still present in classrooms but are more than often bullying through social media sites and by text message ruining the student's reputation.  Often times when a teenagers reputation is ruined or rumors are being spread about them it can quickly turn into the entire grade, if not the entire school, knowing about the rumor that is being spread. This often causes the child or teenager to become depressed, seek revenge or try to end their own life to escape the embarrassment for the teasing.

Teen bullying has become so severe that there have been multiple front page articles in magazines, front page headlines in newspaper, and breaking stories on the news about the effects of teen bullying and cyber bullying. Even different television stations such as Cartoon Network, Disney Channel, and TBS (amongst others) have taken a step to trying to prevent bullying by making commercials, YouTube videos, etc. 

Certain states such as New York have begun to take certain measures to try to put a stop to bullying. In New York the Dignity for All Students Act was signed this past September. The law was made to protect students from being harassed because of their race, color, weight, national origin, ethnic group, religion, religious practice, disability, sexual orientation, gender or sex. The law will require schools to make a safe environment to avoid bullying and will also require there to be designated staff members to prevent such behavior. While the law does not take full effect until July 2012 certain previsions will take effect sooner. This is certainly a law that is much needed in order to help prevent bullying and ultimately protect the children who are the victims of being bullied.  

Here are some signs you should watch for if you suspect a teen you know is being bullied.