Intro: Sue Perez

Hello! My Suleika Perez, and I am current senior at the University of Maryland. I am majoring in Communication Studies and minoring in Sustainability and Spanish. I was born in the Dominican Republic and raised in Columbia, MD (just outside of Baltimore). Some of my interests include: traveling, cooking, fitness, eating sushi and drinking wine on a Friday night.

Over the last few years, cyberbullying has become extremely more common and dangerous than traditional bullying. Cyberbullying is easy to start and the anonymity of the Internet removes many of the traditional restraints. Today, cyberbullying is a major factor of low self-esteem in children, increased in suicide rates, and an increased in mental illness. It is also hard to stop. The words and pictures used in cyberbullying can go around the world in no time and are often impossible to remove. We need to take action and teach the millennial how to properly and responsibly use technology in order to end this increasing epidemic.

Welcome to our blog!

Cyberbullying is defined as the use of electronic communication to bully a person, typically by sending messages of an intimidating or threatening nature. What makes Cyberbullying unique is that it can happen 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Bullies online can often post anonymously and send messages quickly to a wide audience, causing maximum damage with minimal effort.
According to research on StopBullying.gov, kids who are cyberbullied are more likely to use drugs and alcohol, be unwilling to attend school, receive poor grades, have lower self-esteem, have health issues, and more.

We are University of Maryland students who believe that the Maryland Public School System should enforce stricter punishments to cyberbullies. By creating systems within our school organizations, we can contribute to making both in-person communities and online digital communities safer. Enjoy our blog, where we will post our thoughts and ideas about cyberbullying!

Intro: Karen Salshutz

Hi! My name is Karen Salshutz and I am a 21-year-old junior at the University of Maryland. My major is Communication and I am on the Public Relations track. I am born and raised in Westchester, NY, a suburb outside of New York City. Some of my interests include: cooking, yoga, and binge-watching TV shows years after they were actually popular.

Cyberbullying is an issue that I am passionate about. Growing up in the digital age, I have had the opportunity to see social media and digital media flourish, but have also seen the downsides of technology. Throughout middle school and high school many of my friends and I have been a victim of cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is a national and global issue that I believe can be solved with proper education programs about digital media. It is imperative that actions are taken against cyberbullies in order to establish a safer digital community.