Loser, geek, four-eyes, fatty. Many children grew up either being called these names or labeling other people with them. The benefit our generation had is that once we went home, the name-calling and teasing stopped. But the development of technology has changed things. Today’s children now return home from school only to be confronted with more bullying online.

Cyberbullying is clearly an issue, but we believe a recently passed Arizona state bill approaches the problem in a drastic and ineffective way. If the bill is signed into law, it could send people to jail for up to six months for saying anything that might “annoy or offend” someone else online.

The Internet is too vast to monitor every offensive thing said. Similarly, someone can easily disagree about an issue and “offend” someone without being a bully. We believe the flawed bill is unenforceable, inhibits First Amendment rights and will not resolve the problem.

For some cyberbullies, this increased supervision could discourage them from bullying. However, we at the Tribune believe that this law will not punish bullies, but rather just encourage them to not get caught. It’s very likely that these bullies will just find new methods of teasing.

Over half of adolescents and teens report being bullied online, and about the same number have engaged in cyberbullying, according to bullyingstaticstics.org. Similarly, more than 25 percent of adolescents say they have been bullied repeatedly through their cell phones or on the Internet. Even more startling, it is estimated that well over half of young people bullied do not tell their parents about it.

Bullying, both online and in person, is clearly an issue worth discussion and prevention. However, hysteria won’t resolve anything. This Arizona bill goes from trying to prevent bullying to limiting people’s free speech – it is too extreme.

In this case, legislation will not change anything unless the culture changes first. Anti-bullying activists should look instead at examples of schools where progress is being made against bullying. New York City’s Harvey Milk High School, a transfer school designed for LGBT youth, and Milwaukee’s Alliance School offer safe educational environments for students who have been bullied elsewhere.

We recognize that institutions such as the Alliance School and Harvey Milk High are not realistic or applicable in all communities, but they do provide a model for what is working. Schools should study these establishments and implement tactics that work, such as emphasizing counseling and peer solidarity.

A key way to combat bullying is to refuse to be a passive bystander. We all know bullying is wrong, and if you witness it you should not just walk away silently. Bullying may not be particularly present in college, but a lot of us have younger siblings or cousins that are exposed to a bullying environment every day. Many of us will go on to be parents, and some of us will become teachers.

For the children of the future, we need to propose actual solutions to bullying, not just pat ourselves on the back for passing a bill that will likely solve nothing.