Protect Your Kids
Protect Your Kids 1 minute read

Cyber Threats Turn to Second-Degree Murder

Last Updated: April 2, 2024

In April 2009, what started as a series of vicious phone calls, text messages, and Myspace messages turned physical when Rachel Wade stabbed and killed Sarah Ludemann. These two teens had been fighting over a boy, Joshua Camacho.

While Rachel was found guilty of murder and sentenced to 27 years, she hopes her story can serve as a warning to teens everywhere.

Anonymity is part of the problem

While the horrendous violence in the Rachel/Ludemann case is unique, their war of words exchanged over the Internet is not. Cyberbullying and cyber threats happen all the time.

You can hide behind technology,” Wade says, “You can be a whole other person.” What Wade is referring to is a well known phenomenon known as the online disinhibition effect. Dr. John Suler, a psychologist from Rider University, explains:

Everyday users of the Internet have noted how people say and do things in cyberspace that they wouldn’t ordinarily say and do in the face-to-face world. They loosen up, feel less restrained, and express themselves more openly.

We see this disinhibition effect play out all the time online, from the amount of time we spend online to the things we look at on our computer screens, from the people we speak with to the words we use.

Internet use is largely an anonymous activity. No one has to know where we go or what we do on the Internet. Additionally, when we interact with one another online, we often lose the benefit of looking others in the face and seeing how our actions impact them.

Accountability is part of the solution

For ourselves and our children, one of the best ways to reverse this trend is by providing an atmosphere of accountability around Internet use. When you are voluntarily accountable to others about how you use the Internet, it makes you more aware that what you do online matters. You are less likely to do or say things that are against your personal values.

  1. Tam

    Am I the only one who sees this as a copout. The girl murders someone over a boy and blames the Internet?

    • Luke Gilkerson

      @Tam – Rachel is not blaming the Internet for her actions, but is saying how the technology allowed the worst in her to come out. At least that’s how this interview portrays it.

  2. Kristin

    Everything here is so true. I teach middle school students and just last weekend I was talking to one of my honors students and she was recalling how she and her friends bullied another girl so much that the girl moved all the way across the country to get away. I asked this girl if she felt bad and she said she does now, but didn’t at the time. Also, she didn’t call it “bullying,” but I feel like it was. Our school even has a Bully Free policy but this was something happening more through texting than face-to-face bullying.

    • Luke Gilkerson

      @Kristin – It’s true. Bullying is so much easier through electronic communication because there’s no accountability. People feel free to say or do what they wouldn’t do face-to-face.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related in Protect Your Kids

Editor's Picks

Family using the internet.

Protect Your Kids

Christian Internet Filters

The internet is awash with pornography and other undesirable content. How can…

6 minute read

Read Post

Editor's Picks

Phone and a computer configured to block porn sites.

Protect Your Kids

How To Block Porn Sites

The amount of pornography available online can be disheartening. But here are…

8 minute read

Read Post

Editor's Picks

Close-up of parent holding a child's hand.

Protect Your Kids

How Churches Can Rescue This Generation From Pornography

Culture is always changing. And there are things in our culture that…

4 minute read

Read Post

Editor's Picks

Female student writing a scholarship essay.

Protect Your Kids

5 Eye-Opening Revelations From 850 Scholarship Essays

Each year, Covenant Eyes holds a scholarship contest for current members who…

4 minute read

Read Post

Editor's Picks

Silhouette of a man walking through a tunnel.

Protect Your Kids

The Sound of Freedom and the Problem of Pornography

The Covenant Eyes Podcast recently sat down with Operation Underground Railroad founder,…

2 minute read

Read Post

Editor's Picks

A group of three young computer programmers working on laptops.

Protect Your Kids

Porn and Artificial Intelligence

When Chat GPT launched in November 2022, artificial intelligence took the world…

4 minute read

Read Post

Related in Protect Your Kids

Family using the internet.

Protect Your Kids

Christian Internet Filters

The internet is awash with pornography and other undesirable content. How can…

The internet is awash with pornography and other undesirable content. How can Christians engage with the digital world while protecting themselves and their families? If you’re a Christian, especially a Christian parent, you need to…

6 minute read

0 comments

Phone and a computer configured to block porn sites.

Protect Your Kids

How To Block Porn Sites

The amount of pornography available online can be disheartening. But here are…

The amount of pornography available online can be disheartening. But here are some practical steps you can take to block porn sites on your computer or mobile device. Porn-blocking software makes it easier to block…

8 minute read

0 comments

Close-up of parent holding a child's hand.

Protect Your Kids

How Churches Can Rescue This Generation From Pornography

Culture is always changing. And there are things in our culture that…

Culture is always changing. And there are things in our culture that take us away from Christ. Every generation tends to feel doom and gloom at the rate of change. Ours is not different in…

4 minute read

0 comments

Female student writing a scholarship essay.

Protect Your Kids

5 Eye-Opening Revelations From 850 Scholarship Essays

Each year, Covenant Eyes holds a scholarship contest for current members who…

Each year, Covenant Eyes holds a scholarship contest for current members who are enrolled as full-time students. This year, we had over 850 applicants! These amazing students answered questions about integrity using today’s technology, their…

4 minute read

0 comments

Silhouette of a man walking through a tunnel.

Protect Your Kids

The Sound of Freedom and the Problem of Pornography

The Covenant Eyes Podcast recently sat down with Operation Underground Railroad founder,…

The Covenant Eyes Podcast recently sat down with Operation Underground Railroad founder, Tim Ballard. Tim’s story has been dramatized in the new blockbuster movie, The Sound of Freedom. In our conversation with Tim, we learned…

2 minute read

0 comments

A group of three young computer programmers working on laptops.

Protect Your Kids

Porn and Artificial Intelligence

When Chat GPT launched in November 2022, artificial intelligence took the world…

When Chat GPT launched in November 2022, artificial intelligence took the world by storm. And with good reason—the wide array of AI tools now available to the public offer truly breathtaking capabilities. At Covenant Eyes,…

4 minute read

0 comments