Yanique L.T.S. Gardener Brown
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STICKS AND STONES; THE AGE OF THE COMPUTER. MALICIOUS COMMUNICATIONS – SECTION 9 OF THE CYBERCRIMES ACT 2015, JAMAICA “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.”
INTRODUCTION Growing up, on every playground, in every high school classroom and venturing into adulthood the phrase ―sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me‖ was a very familiar quick retort to any perceived hurtful statement or argument. Dating back to Alexander William Kinglake in his EOTHEN 1830 this phrase sought to persuade a victim of name-calling to refrain from reacting and to remain calm in the face of taunting. But Mr. Kinglake I am sure when he coined this phrase never contemplated Charles Babbage and the computer. The first computer was created in 1880 surprisingly not for entertainment or social purposes but to solve a very serious number-crunching crisis. Created with the noblest of intentions the usage of the computer has in today’s society expanded exponentially and controls every aspect of our lives. With this expansion of the computer and its many platforms; such as social media, this phrase coined by Mr. Kinglake and so often spoken by our generation no longer holds true. The computer has made it so that words now have the effect and in some instances supersede the effect of sticks and stones. Words via the medium of the computer now break bones and the human spirit, cause irreparable damage to people’s lives and society and in many instances even leads to loss of lives. The computer admittedly a very positive and useful tool has managed to evolve into a weapon destroying the fabric of society by those who exhibit no care or responsibility in their usage of it.