How Does Technology Affect Suicide

Technology has utterly changed the way of America’s society is and how people interact with others. Since the ever thriving technology was invented, cyber bullying has regularly occurred as a consequence of technology which can recurrently result in suicide or suicidal attempts. Today, people argue whether if technology truly affects the suicide rate for college students. Essentially, everyone who is in college has some type of technology and/ or have at least gone on a social media website previously before. Because so many college students have some type of technology, the increase of technology causes an increase in cyber bullying "It is estimated that between 10% and 21.9% of college students have been cyberbullied (Dilmac, 2009; Finn,
Anonymity is when someone is "conducting oneself without revealing one’s name"(Nissenbaum). While being anonymous, many people believe that being behind the screen cannot get you in trouble for something that you said about someone online or in a text. According to Cyber bullying in higher education: A literature review, "The anonymity cyber bullying provides gives bullies a sense of power and control that otherwise might not be present if they were face-to-face with their victims" (Watts et al). Watts and the other author explain that bullies are often thought of having a power over someone because of the anonymity of social media. This thinking often causes the problem with a cyber bully because it is hard to find exactly who said or did something on the internet. According to Trulioo, " Tougher cyberbullying laws help reduce instances, but unfortunately, those laws are usually enacted too late." Police and others who try to track down the offenders frequently come up short because many remain anonymous and it is difficult to find the perpetrators. Because of the anonymity, the prevention of future bullies is difficult to control and which it increases the cyber
Our society today is often stuck to our phones, laptops, and cameras which causes an increased chance of cyber bullying. College can be very stressful and with the result of cyber bullying thrown at them during a stressful time can cause difficult problems that are hard to overcome. Suicide is a severe result of what cyber bullying can do to someone and we need to learn how teasing can turn into suicidal thoughts and even suicide very quickly. Today, we need to teach our children to have respect on and off-screen and learn that just because someone is behind the screen does not mean that there are no consequences of bullying. We need to learn to take action if seen on any type of technology because without action, cyber bullying increases every time someone does not say anything or help to prevent it. It is a time to call for an end to cyber bullying as technology advances every day in this techy world we live in