On January 4, 2016, David Molak committed suicide in Bexar County, Texas, at the age of 16; it was found that cyberbullying was the lead cause of the suicide. Molak attended Alamo Heights High School prior to the death.

Molak’s parents, Matt and Maurine Molak, promoted a bill to stop cyberbullying called “David’s Law” on November 14, 2016. This bill would make it a misdemeanor to harass and/or bully anybody under the age of 18 through texting, instant messaging or on social media. With a little bit of help, this bill could pass sometime in the future.

In my opinion, cyberbullying shouldn’t be allowed in any part of the world, which is why I support the passing of this bill. Schools need to do more to combat the growing danger of cyberbullying, and I think the people getting cyberbullied need to speak out more.

A teenager’s brain goes through many changes as it develops. As teenagers experience lots of emotional stress, their growing brains amplify the stress and project it in extreme ways. As I’m sure you can imagine, cyberbullying causes lots of stress for a teenager with a growing brain. This is what causes them to self-harm themselves and/or commit suicide.

Many students getting bullied won’t tell anybody about it; they bottle up their emotions until it becomes too much. Even at this point, many students refuse to get help from their parents, friends or counselors.

This is where a teenager’s emotions lead them to do drastic things, often times suicide or self-harm. It makes it hard for anyone to step in and help the student when the student doesn’t reveal what he/she is thinking.

When I was in the 8th grade, a girl named Jasmine Sanchez committed suicide at my school due to a mix of both cyber and traditional bullying. She didn’t tell anyone about the cyberbullies the entire time she was getting bullied.

On the week of her suicide, my school experienced the effect that cyberbullying puts onto a community. People who didn’t even know Sanchez felt depressed that week, all because she wouldn’t tell anyone about her problems and instead took them to the grave with her.

We can help prevent the spread of cyberbullying and, by extension, the suicide of teenagers by promoting David’s Law. As for the ones actually being cyberbullied, almost every social network website includes a block/report system that you can utilize to push the cyberbully out of your life.

If someone is being cyberbullied, I suggest they seek help from a counselor, a friend or your parents if they feel comfortable doing so.

A counselor’s job is to help people who feel this way, so take advantage of their professional advice. They can be found in the main office on campus. I suggest talking to a friend about the issue, especially one you’ve known for a while, as they can sometimes be more understanding. Even just talking to a teacher or another adult about the issue will help; it’s certainly better than no help at all.

I want to see cyberbullying become a thing of the past, which is why I support the passing of this bill.