With the state enforcing a new law entitled David’s Law, students who partake in cyberbullying could potentially serve jail time.

David’s Law classifies cyberbullying as a misdemeanor, which allows courts in Texas to find those who harass minors online anonymously. It also requires public schools to investigate any and all suspected cases of cyberbullying. Victims of cyberbullying may also sue the cyber bullies’ parents if they had the opportunity to stop the bullying and chose not to. Because the mass majority of Glenn students are avid social media users, this seriously affects our campus.

“I use social media everyday,” sophomore Andrew Foster said. “I use it first thing when I wake up and then last thing before I go to sleep. It can be a positive thing in a teenager’s life but it can also be a negative thing.”

This law is created to help give students who experienced cyberbullying a way to obtain a sense of justice as well as prevent students from feeling the need to commit suicide because of the bullying.

“I can honestly see why that’s a law,” freshman Kyle Koffman said. “People have killed themselves because people say things on twitter like ‘no one wants you here.’ The cyberbullying [is extreme]. It’s way out of hand.”

One issue with David’s Law is that due to its extremity, those investigating cases of cyberbullying may not be able to tell the difference between friends teasing each other and genuine cases of cyberbullying.

“There are a lot of things that we joke about with each other, friends fake fighting and calling each other names,” sophomore Ryleigh Baker said. “Someone could easily say ‘oh I was just messing with my friends’ and in actuality they weren’t. Or somebody could leave the school in handcuffs when they were just messing around with their friend.”

With the law being enforced by our school and all other high schools in Texas, the goal is to help those experiencing extreme forms of cyberbullying and prevent another suicide, just like David Molaks.

“I think everyone will agree with me, bullying is awful,” Baker said. “It needs to stop. It happens more often than you think, but a lot of people don’t come forward about it. Hopefully, this law will create a safer place for students and high schools.”