Essay Problem - Solution Draft 2

Because of the increased use of social media amongst Singaporean teenagers, there is also an increase in cyber bullying cases since explicit and detailed information can be retrieved easily by anyone in cyber space. This case is especially so in Singapore, where internet access is readily available island wide. The Ministry of Education (MOE) should play a part in educating teenagers through schools regarding the dangers of social media as every teenager and adolescent will have to go through official educational institutions at some point of time in their life.

Over the recent years, there has been a large influx of cyber bullying cases amongst teenagers. As of 2014, Singapore topped the charts for cyber bullying where 58% of youths have been bullied online. This statistics is the second highest in the world, with China ranking first (Mak 2014). Much of these bullying cases take place on online social media such as Facebook, Twitter and ask.fm. Many of the cyber bullies assume that they can get away with cyber bullying as it is done over the internet. They feel that when they are not directly involved in the crime, they are not considered criminals. Since Singapore is a first world country, Internet access is only a stone's throw away for teenagers. That, along with the increasing use of social media platform amongst teenagers over the recent years, has contributed to the high statistics in cyber bullying for Singapore. Cyber bullying is a serious matter as it can eventually turn into something physical if left alone. There are negative effects for both the bully and the victim. The bully may become more violent in real life if he is allowed to continue his tyrannic acts while the victim may develop depression and anxiety problems such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In most extreme cases, the victims may even commit suicide.

To counteract this problem, the government has passed a the Harassment Act that states that cyber stalking and cyber bullying is now a chargeable offense and that legal lawful actions can be instituted against the cyber bullies (Shanmugam 2014). Victims of cyber bullying can now sue for damage compensation and file to the court for personal protection against the cyber bully. This is only effective only to a limited extent as shown by the statistics as of 2014. The number of cyber bullying cases have not decreased to a favorable range. This is likely due to the victim being threatened by the cyber bully to keep quiet about the matter. Another reason could be that the cyber bullies themselves are ignorant about the consequences that they will face due to the fact that they are still teenagers. Even though legal actions can be taken against them, most of them will not be intimidated by the law as they are still too young.

At the micro-level, the MOE has been organizing cyber wellness talks island-wide across all primary and secondary schools. Police officers, agents from various cyber protection organizations have been invited to host the talks at various schools. One possible reason why this solution did not lower the statistics on cyber bullying is that the students who are attending these talks are not taking them seriously. The attendees for the talk are still young and ignorant. Many of them see the talk as a break from school work. The students do not really pay any attention to the speaker; some choose to take a short nap while some spend the time talking to their friends.

To increase the effectiveness of the existing solutions, the Internet itself can be used against the bullies. The Ministry of Education should enforce the law on cyber bullying and take a more active approach to sieve out the cyber bullies instead of attempting to deter them from the act of cyber bully itself. Volunteers from the cyber wellness organization can take on the names of victims that are being bullied on cyber space. After verifying and catching the cyber bully, his or her details can be handed over to the respective school for actions to be taken against the cyber bully.  Repeated offenders that show no remorse can be called up to the stage in front of the entire school during cyber wellness talks or school assembly to share with the school, why cyber-bullying is not acceptable. This will instil fear onto the cyber bullies and even those who are not caught will think twice before they commit the act of cyber bullying. This solution would solve the problem as the punishment delivered is more psychological than physical. The bullies will be made infamous in the school and most teenagers would likely wish to avoid that. The victim will also not be pressured to keep quiet about the situation as most of the operations is done behind the scenes.

The problem of the students not paying attention can be alleviated by adding elements that will catch the attention of the students during the cyber wellness talks. Famous cyber space celebrities such as "WAH BANANA", Naomi Neo and Jian Hao, Tosh Zhang can be invited to give the talks to the school instead. Most of the teenagers would know of these online celebrities as most of them would have internet access at home.

The main reason for the existing solutions being least effective is that the main target group are teenagers. The punishment that is delivered to them should be a psychological one rather than physical. The effect is amplified several more times if they are being reprimanded on stage in front of the whole school rather than receiving a counseling session in private. In conclusion, the MOE should change the method of approach if they truly wish to reduce the cases of cyber bullying in Singapore.

References:

Goh, J. (2013, May 22). Cyberbullying among children in Singapore - What can we do about it? The Asian Parent. Retrieved March 2, 2015, from http://sg.theasianparent.com/our-expert-talks-about-cyberbullying-among-children-in-singapore/

Mak, W. (2014, January 22). A teen's-eye view of cyber-bullying. AWARE. Retrieved March 3, 2015, from http://www.aware.org.sg/2014/01/a-teens-eye-view-of-cyber-bullying/

Shanmugam, K. (2014, July 8). Cyber bullying in Singapore: Guide to new online laws -Expat Living Singapore. Expat Living. Retrieved March 2, 2015, from http://www.expatliving.sg/kids/growing_up/Cyber-bullying-in-Singapore-Guide-to-new-online-laws-53840.ece


Effects of Bullying. (n.d.). Retrieved March 13, 2015, from http://www.stopbullying.gov/at-risk/effects/

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An Influential Event

It was the first time I launch a F-15 fighter jet solo, back when I was still serving my National Service. I was a RSAF air force engineer (AFE) of 149 squadron. I was given the opportunity to experience something that the others could not even if they wanted to. However, the responsibility for the safety of the plane, safety of the pilot and the residents of Singapore all lies on my shoulder to conduct the checks on the jet diligently. I could not afford to make any mistakes as it would be detrimental to the safety of the nation and the pilot. The very first time I launched and received the aircraft solo was the turning point in my life. The pilots whom I barely knew trusted me and placed their lives on my hand as they did not even bother to do an inspection on the aircraft. It taught me to be responsible and professional for everything that I do. Honestly, I am very grateful that I got to experience something that others may not in their entire life. Looking at my own fighter jet take off at the runway has always been what I've enjoyed the most during my service.

Essay Draft 1

Because of the increase use of social media amongst the teenagers, there is an increase in cyber bullying cases since explicit and detailed information can be retrieved fairly easily by anyone. Ministry of education should play a part in educating teenagers regarding the dangers of social media as every teenager will receive education at some point of time in their lives.

Over the recent years, there has been a large influx of Cyber bullying cases amongst teenagers and adolescents. As of 2014, Singapore topped the charts for cyber bullying where 58% of youths have been bullied online. This statistics is the second highest in the world, with China ranking first (Ian 2014). Much of these bullying cases take place on online social media such as Facebook, Twitter and ask.fm. Many of the cyber bullies assume that they can get away with cyber bullying as it is done over the internet. They feel that they when they are not directly involve in the crime, they are not considered a criminal Since Singapore is a first world country; internet access is only about a stone throw away for teenagers. That, along with the increasingly use of social media platform amongst teenagers over the recent years have contributed to the high statistics in cyber bullying for Singapore.

To counteract this problem, the government have come to pass a law that states that cyber stalking and cyber bullying is now a chargeable offense and legal, lawful actions can be taken against the cyber bullies. Victims of the cyber bully can now sue for damage compensation and file to the court for personal protection against the cyber bully. This is only effective only to a limited extent as shown by the statistics as of 2014. The number of cyber bullying has not decreased to a favourable range. This is likely due to the victim of the cyber bully being pressured by the bully to keep quiet about it for fear that the bully take a turn for the worst. Another reason could be that the cyber bullies themselves are ignorant about the consequences of the matter due to the fact that they are still teenagers. Even though legal actions can be taken against them, how many of them actually know what “legal actions” are?

At a micro-level, the ministry of education have been organizing talks regarding cyber bullying island wide across all the primary and secondary schools. Police officers, agents from various cyber protection organization have been invited to host the talks are various schools. One possible reason why this solution did not lower the statistics on cyber bullying is that the students who are attending these talks are not taking them seriously. The attendees for the talk are still young and ignorant. Many of them see the talk as a break from school work. The students do not really pay any attention to the speaker; some choose to take a short nap while some spend the time talking to their friends.

To increase the effectiveness of the existing solutions, the internet itself can be used against the bullies. The Ministry of Education should enforce the law on cyber bullying and take a more active approach to sieve out the cyber bullies instead of attempting to deter them from the act of cyber bully. To fight poison with poison, the people from anti-cyber bullying organization can take on the name of potential targets of cyber bullies on the internet to catch the cyber bully. After catching the black sheep, the details of the cyber bully can be handover to the respective school for actions to be taken against the cyber bully. The punishment is up to the discretionary of the school. Repeated offenders or cyber bullies that show no remorse can be called up to the stage in front of the entire school during cyber bully talks or school assembly to share with the entire school why cyber-bullying is not acceptable. This will instil fear onto the cyber bullies and even those who are not caught will think twice before they commit the act of cyber bullying. This solution would solve the problem as the punishment delivered is more psychological than physical. The bullies will be made infamous in school and teenagers would likely wish to avoid that. The victim will also not be pressured to keep quiet about the situation as most is done behind the scenes. The problem of the students not paying attention during assembly or during cyber bully talks can also be solved since it might be the one of their peers giving the talk on cyber bullying instead.

The main problem for the existing solution being least effective is that the main target group are teenagers and adolescents. The way to deliver a punishment to them should be more psychological rather than physical. The feeling of sense of shame is amplified several more times when they are being reprimanded on stage in front of the whole school. However, this method of approach is considered to be quite aggressive. As much as cyber bullying being unacceptable, should teenage cyber bullies be subjected to this of punishment? Is reducing cyber bullying cases in Singapore important enough for the Ministry of Education and the government to execute this approach?

Reference:

Goh, J. (2013, May 22). Cyberbullying among children in Singapore - What can we do about it? The Asian Parent. Retrieved March 2, 2015, from http://sg.theasianparent.com/our-expert-talks-about-cyberbullying-among-children-in-singapore/

Mak Wei, I. (2014, January 22). A teen's-eye view of cyber-bullying. AWARE. Retrieved March 3, 2015, from http://www.aware.org.sg/2014/01/a-teens-eye-view-of-cyber-bullying/

Shanmugam, K. (2014, July 8). Cyber bullying in Singapore: Guide to new online laws -Expat Living Singapore. Expat Living. Retrieved from http://www.expatliving.sg/kids/growing_up/Cyber-bullying-in-Singapore-Guide-to-new-online-laws-53840.ece

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Problem solution essay outline

Main Problem: Large influx of Cyber bullying cases amongst teenagers and adolescents

Affected Target group/stakeholder : Teenagers and adolescents in school

Agent of Change/stakeholder : Ministry of Education, Schools, Family of the bullied and Family of the bully

Solution 1 : Law by the government that states cyber stalking and cyber bullying is now an offense and actions can be taken against cyber bullies. Victims of cyber bullying can now sue for damage compensation and file to court for personal protection.

Evaluation 1 : Cyber bullies now have to face consequences for their actions. They will think twice before acting but it all depends on whether the cyber bully is sensible enough to think for themselves.

Solution 2 (my solution) : To enforce more on this law and take a more active approach to sieve out those cyber bullies instead of just coming up with a law that states cyber bullying is an offense. Much like in one of the show in the US "To Catch a Predator". Where people actually act as adolescents to lure out pedophiles. Ministry of Education can do the same where teachers can take the names of unpopular students in school on the internet to lure out potential cyber bullies. After catching the black sheep, they can be called up to the stage in front of the whole school during assembly to be reprimanded. This will instill fear onto the cyber bullies, even those who are not caught will think twice before they act.

Evaluation 2 : Those who are not caught will also have the fear that they might be next. Punishment is a psychological type that makes the cyber bully feel a sense of shame. It is more severe especially to teenage cyber bullies as they will be criticized by their peers since they will be made infamous.

Thesis: Because of the increase use of social media amongst the teenagers, there is an increase in cyber bullying cases since explicit and detailed information can be retrieved fairly easily by anyone. Ministry of education should play a part in educating teenagers regarding the dangers of social media as every teenager will receive education at some point of time in their lives.


http://sg.theasianparent.com/our-expert-talks-about-cyberbullying-among-children-in-singapore/
http://www.aware.org.sg/2014/01/a-teens-eye-view-of-cyber-bullying/#sthash.6KEiZrLT.dpuf
http://www.expatliving.sg/kids/growing_up/Cyber-bullying-in-Singapore-Guide-to-new-online-laws-53840.ece