Resolved: Cyber bullying should be a criminal offense.

First, I would like to start off by defining the debate. Then, I will move on to my contentions and will close with reasons to vote for Affirmative. Cyber bullying is widely considered, and for the purpose of this debate, is considered the use of information and communication technologies to support deliberate, repeated, and hostile behavior by an individual or group, that is intended to harm others. Criminal offence is defined as an act punishable by law. My first contention, or my first point is: criminalizing cyber bullying would act as a deterrent. If we criminalize cyber bullying, it would decrease the number of people who do it, because they know that there is the possibility of getting in trouble for it. For example: before the laws about using cell phones while driving, pretty much everyone at one point or another used their cell phone, even though they knew it probably wasn't the best idea. However, after the cell phone laws, less and less people talk or text on their cell phones while they're driving, because they know there's a consequence. The same idea applies here. If you know that there's a chance you could get in trouble for cyber bullying someone, then you're going to be a lot less tempted to do so. The risk of getting in trouble is enough for some people to just say "no." My second point is that cyber bullying is a widespread problem. According to the U.S. Justice Department, a startlingly 43 percent of teenagers report being victims of bullying by phone or Internet. And as technology improves, so do the opportunities for bullies to strike. By creating a law against cyber bullying, we would be essentially extending harassment charges into the "cyber realm". We have laws against harassment, so why wouldn't we have laws against harassment over the Internet? Just because it's online, doesn't make it right. 43 percent of teens have admitted to being cyber bullied: this problem needs to be treated, and be treated seriously, because it is so widespread. My third contention: criminalization would give victims a method to stop the bullying. By allowing bullies to continue bullying without a legal consequence we are choosing to cover ourselves with the veil of ignorance. We see the issue but we don't acknowledge it as a problem deserving of consequence. However by choosing to criminalize cyber bullying we will be providing victims with a way to stop the bullies from harassing them. This is important, because cyber bullying is hurtful to the victims, and sometimes may even lead to the victim committing suicide, as I will talk about in my next contention. My fourth contention is that criminalization of cyber bullying could save lives. Both state and federal laws were prompted by the suicide of Missouri 13-year-old Megan Meier, who was the victim of repeated harassment on MySpace.com. An adult neighbor was indicted in the case last month by a grand jury in Los Angeles on charges of unauthorized access of a computer system with intent to harm another person. (Citation: Olsen, Stephanie. "A Rallying Cry Against Cyber bullying." cnet News. 7 Jun. 2008. Web. 27 Nov. 2010.) Megan Meier, who was only 13 years old, committed suicide because she was being cyber bullied. If, however there had been a law against cyber bullying, this incident may never have occurred, or it may have been stopped before it became such a huge problem. This is exactly why we need laws against cyber bullying: to save the lives of other people just like Megan Meier. Because of all these reasons, you must vote Affirmative. We need to treat this problem as serious, because it is. So many people are affected by this every single day. Every person has certain inalienable rights, and one of those rights is the right to feel safe and happy. Because of this, we need to take action. We need to do something about this problem. This is why I urge you to vote Affirmative. Thank you.