SYRACUSE -- Cameron Van Tienhove, a freshman at Syracuse University, knows first hand how hurtful cyberbullying can be.
"I was bullied all throughout high school for being gay and stuff; they would write stuff on my Facebook wall about being gay and how I shouldn't be out and proud about it," he says.
Lawmakers in Albany are considering legislation that would crackdown on cyberbullying.
According to the Cyberbullying Research Center, more than half of all teens have experienced cyberbullying and one in three young people have experienced cyberthreats.
Governor Cuomo's anti-bullying bill would stress prevention and awareness of cyberbullying particularly in schools. It would also require that people report cyberbullying and protect those who do report it from civil lawsuits.
The measure comes after several high profile suicides of teens who were victims of cyberbullying.
Jill Hurst-Wahl, a professor at Syracuse University's School of Information Studies, supports the crackdown on cyberbullying though she says it may be difficult to enforce.
"The internet is worldwide. How do you police something in terms of cyberbullying or anything else that is worldwide? Who really has jurisdiction over that activity? I think that is going to be the difficult part," she says.
Meghan Kicak was also a victim of cyberbullying. She says if the new cyberbullying bill can help protect others from enduring the same fate, she is all for it.
"I completey support the legislation. I was very hurt by my experience and I wouldn't want that to happen to somebody else," she says.
The cyberbullying bill has bipartisan support in Albany and is expected to pass the Assembly before the current session ends on June 21st.
