Bullying: Newsworthy Only After Something Bad Happens

            Bullying seems like one of the biggest news stories these days. However, it only becomes a story after someone dies, or someone brings a firearm to school and kills their fellow students, even if they had nothing to do with the bullying.

Rebecca Sedwick committed suicide after
being bullied. Article and Picture here.

            One incident involving a young girl, Rebecca Sedwick, who was bullied through online message boards and texts. One message she received said she should “drink bleach and die.” Sedwick killed herself by jumping off cement factory building.

            The article reveals that she was picked on by up to 15 girls. Where was the media? Where was everyone when she was being picked on? If the media had shown up or if her parents had alerted the media, maybe Sedwick would still be here.

            Some may argue that it’s not the media’s responsibility to read every comment section or online message board, but it’s sad that the second death is associated with bullying it becomes a story.

            The a professor of criminal justice was asked about the case, and he said that one-fifth of teenagers report being that they’ve been cyberbullied. However, the professor also mentions that this case was more extreme given the timeline of the events, the number of bullies and the seriousness of the posts.

            Again, if it was this bad, where was the media? Where was everyone alerting the media? With any type of story, something like a suicide could have been avoided.

-MZ