A Heartbreaking – And Preventable – Death
The official records note Rebecca Sedwick’s death as a suicide. There’s no disputing that the 12-year-old jumped to her death from an abandoned cement plant in Lakeland, Florida, on September 9, but what happened to her requires new terminology. Perhaps we should call it “peer-icide” or “peer-slaughter” to convey what killed Rebecca, who had been “absolutely terrorized on social media” by 15 middle school girls for over a year, according to the Sheriff of Polk County, Grady Judd.
Preventing tragedies like this requires more than vigilance by parents and educators. Anti-bullying campaigns can’t hurt, but unless schools are proactive in their use of technology so that the energies of young people are engaged in meaningful ways, idle hands (and thumbs) will continue to do the devil’s work.
‘Mean girls’ are not a new phenomenon. What is new and frightening are the weapons at their disposal, an array of apps that allow users to post and send messages anonymously. Rebecca’s mother singled out ask.fm, Kik Messenger and Voxer as three the girls had used to send messages like “You’re ugly,” “Can U die please?” and “Why are you still alive?”
Rebecca is one of the youngest children to die in what is reported to be a growing number of victims of cyberbullying. About 20 percent of young people have been victimized, according to the Cyberbullying Research Center, a clearinghouse of information on cyberbullying. About 15 percent of teens admit that they have bullied or ridiculed others on social media, photo-sharing and other websites, according to the Center.
“It’s now 24-7. It’s not just something you can escape after the school day,” Sameer Hinduja, co-director