Fake profiles are de riguer in social networking sites like MySpace, where users can chat, make friends, send messages and vent about others, and try out new personas. The difference in Putnam Valley is apparently the part about pretending to be someone else -someone who happens to exist. The girl's mother said her daughter didn't think she had done anything wrong. "We're talking about a straight-A student," she said.
Is cyberbullying different than old-fashioned acts on the playground or school bus? Do existing laws need to be upgraded to include bullying with assistance of fill-in-the-blank technology (MySpace, Facebook and text-messaging today, who-knows-what tomorrow)? Do we need new laws to handle cyber-aggression? And what is the appropriate punishment for, say, an 8-year-old who engages in name-calling in the Webkinz.com chats as opposed to a 16-year-old who posts private information about another teen on a social-networking site? What if the bully is an adult who cyber-teases a child? And where on Earth is the line drawn between prohibited conduct online and protected speech?
These are questions school districts, state legislatures and Congress are grappling with in the cyber age. In New York, legislation is being developed, notably bills that seek to define the crime of "cyberbullying," spelling out the particular elements and charges. This week's misdemeanor charges out of Putnam Valley put all on notice that law enforcement takes bullying - by any means - seriously. Schools, law enforcement and legislators need to continue sending clear messages that threatening and harassing behavior will bring consequences.
source:http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008802230312
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