TO THE EDITOR:
Remember the playground? The big fifth grader who used to push your head into the sand at recess? Well, he/she is still there, but now he hides under the cowardly auspices of Twitter, Facebook, AIM, Yahoo Messenger, texting, BBM, etc. Even adults have proven to enjoy the anonymity.
Tonight, I witnessed cyber-bullying first-hand via the Twitter of a current UNC student who identifies as gay.
How the situation played out between the bullies (yes, plural) and the bullied in real life is unknown to me, but two of the bullies tweeted their audacious sentiments for the entire world to see, while we sat idly, looking at our computers and phones. Their Tweets, public to all who wish to see, were chock-full of expletives and gay-bashing statements. The two men, both UNC alumni, assaulted the victim via the social networking site and polluted our timelines with hateful language regarding the victim’s sexual orientation, physical appearance, and skin color. They even told him, “Go kill yourself” on numerous occasions.
This behavior has no place in our society. Have we not learned from recent events? UNC, please do not succumb to such disgustingly childish conduct.
But does it have a proper use? Is it cyber-bullying when you expose the cyber-bully and his/her cowardice via technology? Think about that, UNC.
John Mundell
Class of ’10
