Cyber Bullying : A Constant Problem For Young Individuals

Cyber-bullying has become a fast growing problem in the nation. Due to the growth of technology today. Most cyber-bullying cases are likely to occur at school. Cyber-bullying is done through the use of cell phones, social media, and Email services. There are however steps to reduce the cyber-bullying at schools, and at home. Elementary School students that have become victims to cyber-bullying, for example, go through name calling such as you are gay or making fun of their clothes. Students are harassed, threatened with the use of violence, making up false rumors, and even taking pictures, or a video of a student to sexually blackmail them. Students Self-esteem, academics and social skills are also affected. Many students commit suicide due to the result of bullying.

Social media has become a well known pastime for individuals of today’s society. There are various social media sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, and SnapChat that have open doors for communication and entertainment among people all across the world. Despite the positivity of social media, it is also now being used to cause harm to people. Cyber bullying differs from traditional physical bullying, because it occurs through emails, texts, or social media. The person behind the computer can remain anonymous because the internet allows individuals to make up false information. Negative effects, such as depression, suicide, and anxiety are some factors resulted in cyber bullying. There is a strong emotional impact caused by cyber bullying due to the lack of remorse demonstrated online. This ruthlessness is what makes this a dangerous cycle that may never end.

Every day, millions of people spend hours on various social media accounts such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat. Individuals use these internet sources, as well as email and chat rooms, to communicate with each other in an extremely fast and efficient manner. Most businesses, colleges, schools and workplaces use email to communicate and many organizations have a Facebook page or other forms of social media, in order to keep their customers up to date with everything going on in the company. While the internet has made life easier for many people all over the world, it has also created a simpler way for people to insult, threaten, stalk and harass others by using anonymous user names and fake identities. This type of bullying has affected teens more severely than other demographic group. It has very different effects on teens based on its type and severity, but all of its victims suffer from some type of detrimental consequence. Cyberbullying can lead to depression, insomnia, anxiety and even suicide among teens if not caught and stopped in time.

What once was the way to communicate with family, post pictures, and stay in touch with the world has now become the world’s easiest way to attack others. According to the article Bullying Statistics, “19.6% of high school students in the US report being bullied at school and 14.8% report being bullied online” (“Bullying Statistics”). Children of all ages are now involved with so much technology and social media that it has become a problem in society. Instead of using social media and technology for good and fun, children are now using it to bully others. This problem has been defined as cyberbullying. “Cyberbullying is bullying that takes place using electronic technology” (“What is Cyberbullying”). Although the causes of cyberbullying are unexplainable, researchers say most children who bully do not receive the structure needed in their lives. Bullying can happen anytime, anywhere. Even when we think our children are out of harm’s way when they are at home, we may be mistaken. Cyberbullying is most likely to happen when the child is at home because it is through social media or messaging. The effects bullying has on children are so diverse. Bullying can cause good kids to start participating in things that they would not normally do. Problems such as drug and alcohol addiction can be a result of a child being bullied.

Everyday millions of preteens and young adults log on to the internet to complete various amounts of tasks. With the new age of technology many young adults have easier access to the web and social media than their past generations. “Over 80 percent of teens use a cell phone regularly, making it the most popular form of technology and a common medium for cyber bullying” (Cyberbullying Research Center, 2010). The World Wide Web and social media have opens up a black hole to psychological and emotional stress for some young adults. Cyber bullying is defined as a form of teen violence, torment and harassing via the use of technology to bully another person. One out of five young adults has experienced cyber bullying to the extreme (Hackett, 2013). Cyber bullying may not seem like it is a problem in the young community but it is a huge problem. Cyber bullying can have a huge effect on a person it can led to a numerous amount of outcomes such as depression, anxiety, low self-esteem and even suicide.

When thinking of bullying, most people tend to think about the original form, where the bully harasses the victim in person; but, in this generation, cyberbullying is a new form of harassment that goes beyond the schoolyard. This way, individuals can be bullied all day and any day, but when you ask teens today, 81% of them think it is funny. (NPC) This shows that most teens do not think of cyberbullying as much of a threat, even though the rate in has gone up. In 2008–2009, the School Crime Supplement indicates that 6% of students in grades 6–12 experienced cyberbullying. (Stop Bullying) Six percent of the student body has been abused over the internet and they may be struggling with depression and thought of suicide go higher, from two to nine times more (Do Something). The National Crime Prevention Council announced cyber-bullying as “a problem that affects almost half of all American teens.” The effects of cyberbullying are increasing and going from depression to suicide. Cyberbullying should be more widely known because its prevalence is increasing, anyone can be a target, and school and parents should be monitoring the children’s online behavior.

For a long time, physical bullying has been a constant problem for young people attending school. Now that more and more young people are using the Internet and social networks, bullying as also become an online problem as well as in the schools. Boyd defines social networks as web-based services that allow individuals to “(1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system” (Boyd 2007). Some of the most popular social networking sites that are used are Facebook, MySpace, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and Tumblr, just to name a few. When individuals are bullied over social networks it then becomes known as cyberbullying. “Cyberbullying has been defined as the intentional and repeated harm inflicted through the use of computers, cell phones, or other electronic devices” (Patchin and Hinduja, 2010). Mobile phone and computer usage have become extremely popular amongst todays children and so its easy for young people to misuse the technology to bully.

In today’s world young people easily access to the entire world through the use of computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices. Cyberbullying is defined as any form of repeated harassment to a person using electronic devices and the internet. It is a growing issue that youth are facing today. Studies have shown that one third of students have faced cyber bullying in their life. According to Cyber bullying statistics from the i-SAFE foundation, over half of adolescents and teens have been bullied online and repeatedly through their cellphones or the Internet. Also, more than 1 in 3 young people have experienced cyber threats online. Cyberbullies often say things that they do not have the courage to say face-to-face because technology makes them feel anonymous, insulated and detached from the situation. Anonymous is very power because online bullying is mean and cruel, in the article “Cyber Bullying Statistics.” Cyberbullying happens frequently and about 15% of high school students (grades 9–12) were electronically bullied. Bullying never stop no matter what unless someone stands up.

One topic that has received much needed attention as social media has boomed over the years appears to be cyberbullying. Bullying in schools has always been a problem, but since the early 2000s, it was not considered an extremely serious issue. However, that began to change as social media applications like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat became such a huge part of the teenage life. Bullying slowly began to transform into cyberbullying with the growth of all of these forms of social media. Cyberbullying has garnered much national attention in the media and among schools and parents that it has left many to ask how far school officials should go in addressing and preventing cyberbullying amongst students. Despite the fact that cyberbullying is mostly made off school grounds and digitally, school officials should have the right to intervene because it affects the student emotionally, mentally, and physically.

A growing issue kids in America between the ages of 9-15 deal with today while using social media sites is online bullying, also known as “cyberbullying.” It is a known fact that bullying can start in school, and continue online. Young adolescents that use social media to harass their peers, use them because they feel that it is the easiest, and the most effective way to torture their target without getting caught. Based off a recent study on cyberbullying in 2014, it states that 52% of young adults have reported being bullied online by a member of their class (Cyber Bullying Statistics 2014, n.d.). Peer-on-peer online harassment is a serious issue that can come with some very upsetting consequences like suicide, or retaliation that can change the lives of everyone around them. In a story like Grace K. McComas a 15-year-old Glenelg High student from Baltimore who committed suicide on Easter morning of 2012 after being cyberbullied by her peers for months (Ames, n.d.). Also the story about Noel Estevez, a 14-year-old boy from New York who killed his abuser by stabbing him 3 times on July of 2014, are some examples of how bullying on social media websites can negatively affect young adults today. Kids should be banned from using social media until they understand that the comments and posts that they put online can often come with consequences that can take their life, or the life of their victims.

“Our increasingly connected world has created another platform for bullies to harass their victims. No longer are bullies confined to picking on other kids on the school playground; today, many bullies are refraining from physical assaults, opting instead for around the clock bashing via email, social media, instant messaging and other online platforms. Although parents, teachers and other authority figures can no longer count on physical signs like scars, torn clothing and bruises to tell the story, this certainly doesn’t mean that the effects of cyber bullying are any less damaging.” (Cyber Bullying Statistics 2014. (n.d.).) In 2014, 52% of young people report being cyber bullied and approximately 10%-20% of those experience cyber bullying regularly. Of the young people who reported cyber-bullying incidents, 33% of them reported that their bullies threatened them. Over 55% of all teens who use social media have witnessed bullying through it and more than 80% of teens regularly use cell phones, making them the most popular form of technology and a common medium for cyber bullying.

Bullying is an aggressive behavior that harms or causes distress. It usually occurs when there is an imbalance of strength. It is hitting, kicking, shoving, spitting, taunting, teasing, verbal harassment. Messages and images can be posted anonymously and distributed quickly to very wide audiences. Bystanders can also become perpetrators if they pass on emails or a text message that is extremely difficult and sometimes impossible to trace. It is important to stop cyber bullying because this can cause serious damage to one’s mental health, academic work, and physical health. The teachers, parents, and administrators are responsible in protecting their students and children from cyberbullying

Cyber Bullying can be described as using the internet, cell phones, and other technology gadgets to send, text, or post with the intentions of hurting or embarrassing others. The most vastly used website type by teens are Social Media sites. Facebook is the most common due to its open platform setup and ability to send personal messages. When a child is behind a screen, they obtain the power to say things they wouldn’t have to courage to say in person. Words can also be taken the wrong way, because the viewer does not hear the intent verbally and can read things with the wrong intended tone of voice or passion. In today’s society, almost all children have a

Teenagers have been bullying and pushing each other around since the beginning of times, But now with technology texting, IMing, Facebook, Myspace, Youtube, bullies not longer have to confront their victims face to face. They can stay in the shadows and torture their targets anonymously; this new phenomenon is called Cyberbullying. What is Cyberbullying? Cyberbullying is defined as aggressive; intentional act carried out by a group or individual using an electronic form of contact, repeatedly over a period against a victim that can‘t easily defend him or herself (National Crime Prevention, 2016). These incidents have increased over the past few years, over 81% of our teens think that cyber bullying is easier than bullying a person when 68% believe that it is a serious problem (Dosomething.org. 2016). Cyberbullying is a serious issue in the arose not only from children but our future cultures, and we should act on it now to minimize it and control it.

Traditional bullying has been going around forever since the 1500s. However; the the development of technology, technology has opened paths thake take bullying to a whole new level. Unfortunately, internet access to technology such as social media; has worsen the issues of bullying. Unlike traditional bullying, cyberbullying is easier and more likely to happen because the cyberbully can be completely anonymous; making it harder to identify the bully. The reasons above show how bullying can be simple with a click of a button. Limiting access to technology would decrease the number of victims being cyberbullied because the effects of cyberbullying are dangerous, the rise of technology opens a path for more online access to cyberbullying, and each day, more and more people are being affected by cyberbullying.