Cyber Bullying
Today, this is the most popular topic amongst the younger generation. The rise of technology has influenced our lives with the use of social networking sites and electronic devices predominant with today’s youth. What many adults are unaware of is bullying exists in many forms and is more common in the cyber world. In 2012, CBC news reporter Joan Leishman, aired “Cyber-bullying,” where she relates a story about a student named David Knight’s unbearable life entering the internet. Later in 2014, Rachel Simmons, a former Rhodes Scholar and the founding director of the Girls Leadership Institute, wrote an article titled “Cyberbullying is a Growing Problem.” Simmons’ article addressed the impact of cyber bullying in the 21st
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This situation with my nephew is not the first but one of the thousands in the world with cyber bullying or bullying in general. In my research for this report, I came across many situations on the internet about cyber bullying like the story of David, a student which reporter Leishman, Joan from CBC News talked about in the news report about “Cyber-bullying”. Leishman interviewed David about his life living through cyber bullying. In David’s case, bullying did not begin on the internet, but at school. The taunting, teasing, and punching for years led to harassment on the internet, including humiliation and the unbearable struggle David had to endure. David was uninformed about what someone put on the internet about him until his classmates sent him a message on the internet. David’s life took a drastic turn when he found an entire website dedicated to him where he was made fun of with photos and vile comments. Not only was David’s humiliation starting to escalate, but also the cyber bully asked others to evoke the same insults by posting lewd and sexual comments. David said some of the comments posted on the website were sexual accusations, “I was being accused of being a pedophile. I was accused of using the date rape drug on little boys”.
Condescending emails from other kids ruined David’s reputation and that he was the despicable person other students
Is cyberbullying an old problem with a new disguise? Bullying in the real world has been around for a seemingly endless amount of time. Due to the rise of technology in society today, bullying in the cyber world, also known as cyberbullying, has erupted. Cyberbullying can be defined as using technology, such as the Internet, social media, and text messages, to harass, threaten, embarrass, or target another person (Hirsch). According to 11 Facts About Cyberbullying, nearly eighty-three percent of teens believe bullying online is easier to get away with than bullying in person. This shows that cyberbullies use online networks to camouflage themselves from reality. Cyberbullying is emotionally abusive to the victim’s mental health because the scars imprinted from the cruel remarks sent through text messages and posted throughout social media are bound to forever impact one's life.
The word 'bullying' has developed a very traditional definition amongst society: a face-to-face interaction involving either verbal abuse and/or physical abuse. With the technological advances that have occurred within the past 15 years, bullying has become anything but traditional. Children and teens have more access to the Internet and to social media platforms more than ever before, thus allowing them to avoid face-to-face interaction. Within the past 15 years, there has been a significant rise of cyberbullying in the youth demographic (ages 12-18) (Slonje, Smith, & Frisén, 2013). In order to understand what the difference between traditional bullying and cyberbullying is, one must familiarize themselves with the definition of cyberbullying.
“...1 in 3 teens [have] admitted to being a victim of cyberbullying…” says child psychologist, Eden Foster, in reference to a survey, talked about in “The Dangers of Cyberbullying” by Brett Warke, that shows the absolute significance of cyberbullying in this day and age. Cyberbullying on social media is everywhere and it’s about time that someone took some action against it, and, in this case, taking legal action via prosecution may be the best way to go. Let it not be said that cyberbullying and bullying are different, infact, the only difference is the platform they take place on. Cyberbullying is done with the same malicious intent as face-to-face bullying is done with: the intent to hurt a victim in a psychological or physical way- showing
"Cyber-Bullying: Its Recent Emergence and Needed Legislation to Protect Adolescent Victims." Loyola Journal of Public Interest Law 13.1 (2011): 219-52. Print. This informative and persuasive piece is well organized and direct. Manuel divides her article into three parts, Part I, Part II, and Part III.
This type of bullying can take place 24 hours a day and is brought into the student’s home where it was once considered safe. Cyber-bullying has changed the world's view on this age-old subject, meanwhile the media suggests that bullying is an epidemic by reporting on tragedies that happen among our youth shedding light on the problem. One thing everyone can agree on is that the internet has provided a non-stop opportunity to bully. Nicole Edgington was celebrating her 17th birthday at a concert when it would be turned upside down by cyber-bullying. A senior in California was wrongly accused of turning some students in for coming to school intoxicated. Because the students assumed she had turned them in, they began a barrage of social media attacks along with text message threats. Nicole wrote an article, the girl who got even: A true cyber bullying story, explaining how she rose above the threats and daily negative texts. It takes courage to stand up and face your fears especially when you feel isolated. Nicole’s mom started to speak out on cyberbullying and found that teens wanted to hear other teens. Nicole would face her bully’s by speaking out about the behavior. The media has suggested that bullying is an epidemic, reporting on tragedies that happen among our youth shedding light on an age-old problem. When bullying moves to the internet it becomes more
As the internet becomes more popular, teenagers has a new way to bully through the web; called cyberbullying. Teenagers are super rude to one another and that they are not just doing the bullying at school; but now they are using good tool like the internet to serious harm to each other. The victims just cannot go home and feel safe and be themselves. Also be like a normal teenager and going online without having bullies there too. The bullies online are worse, since sometimes the victims do not know who the bullies are and everyone's sees it. The golden saying that “what goes on the internet stays forever, even after you deleted it”. Some people are skilled enough to find the words or pictures again. Laura Smith-Spark, a national editor for CNN and her article “Hanna Smith suicide fuels calls for action on Ask.fm cyberbullying” shows that cyberbullying not just on social media.
Cyber-bullying can be broadly defined as any form of harassment or intimidation that takes place online (O’Dea & Campbell, 2012, p. 212). According to O’Dea and Campbell (2012), approximately one in three teens experience some form of cyber-bullying throughout their lives (p. 212). In their study, O’Dea and Campbell (2012) found that this number of teens (out of 400 study participants) report “multiple feelings of victimization, embarrassment, or harassment” (p. 212). One of the most significant issues with cyber-bullying is that this activity reaches a much wider audience than typical face-to-face bullying (O’Dea & Campbell, 2012, p. 212). This means that the victim of bullying may feel escalated feelings of shame and social isolation, as the person bullying can send their negative messages to as many people as he or she chooses (O’Dea & Campbell, 2012, p. 212). Cyber-bullying generally takes on two different forms: Bullying from someone who the victim knows, or from a complete stranger. O’Dea and Campbell (2012) say that online bullying can come from almost any source, given the fact that online social networks are highly open to the public (p. 212). Of course, this raises the issue of online privacy. While sites like Facebook and Twitter have privacy settings, there are very few effective measures that can fully prevent
This attention to cyber bullying has been a media goto issue since the dawn of 2000’s and has made many stabs at the the problem by publishing the victims and their stories.
When victims of cyber bullying are publicly put down, it can be frightening and destructive. The effects of cyber bullying on its victims are nothing other than pernicious. Though most effects that cyber bullying inflicts on its victims are minor to moderate (ex. Depression or low self-esteem), some cases have resulted in suicide or attempted suicide, which wistfully, I have personally heard of on numerous occasions. In fact, “Many cyber bullying victims have a low self-esteem and are more likely to commit suicide or other harmful act as a result” (Huskerson 59). Irrefutably, it is obvious that the world would be a happier place without the existence of cyber bullying. In addition to cyber bulling, there more are negative effects of social media, such as growing body dissatisfaction among
With the increase of children having their own cell phones, tablets, and other internet-accessible technology, so increases the rates of cyberbullying. In the foreword of Cyberbullying: Bullying of the Digital Age., a letter written by the father of a teen who committed suicide after months of being cyberbullied shows how unpredictable and heart-wrenching the effects of cyberbullying can be. In an excerpt from the letter. John Halligan, father of bullied teen Ryan Halligan, says “October 7, 2003 will always be the day that divides my life. Before that day, my son Ryan was alive. A sweet, gentle, and lanky 13-year old fumbling his way through early adolescence and trying to establish his place in the often confusing and difficult social world of middle school. After that day, my son would be gone forever. A death by suicide. Some would call it bullycide or even cyberbullycide. I just call it a huge hole in my heart that will never heal.” The main article expresses pathos for victims of cyberbullying- who are not just the targeted victim but the family left behind struggling to cope with the loss and their attempts to change the way the cyberbullying is dealt with.
Bullying has been happening for generation after generation. Today’s society made possible to bully people without being face to face. This type of bullying is called cyber-bullying. Teenagers uses theirs electronics advices as weapons to attack other people with hurtful things though the use of text messaging or social networking websites. Cyber-bullying can “damage a person emotionally” (Media). It can also make them have low self-esteem. In our society today, cyber-bullying is a new type of problem that many teenagers have to face.
Cyber-bullying has become a huge issue recently. It is despairing to turn on the news
This research paper will provide the definition for cyberbullying as well as describe several case studies that reflect the results of being victimized. These studies are represented by research conducted by accredited sources. Within this research paper, we will talk about the life of four young adolescents who were taunted, bullied, humiliated, and harassed via social media and the decisions they made. This research paper discusses that cyberbullying is a problem beyond childhood and adolescence and will provide possible solutions taking into account that although there are traditional forms of bullying, cyberbullying is an issue that needs to be addressed.
Internet usage in children and adolescents has been increasing in a steadily fashion in the past number of years and with the increase in internet usage, a new form of bullying has developed – Cyber bullying. Cyber bullying can be defined as “the electronic posting of mean-spirited messages about a person,” (Merriam-Webster, 2012). This form of bullying can come through various mediums including but not limited to text messages, emails, videos, and social networking sites. There is an overwhelming amount of information that defines cyber bullying, identifies the demographics of bullies and victims of cyber bullying, and identifies the outcomes of cyber bullying on victims. More focus needs to be placed on who the perpetrators
For such a long time, physical bullying has been the largest problem schools and parents had to face with their children, but now another form of bullying has arisen; cyber bullying. In society today, teens are drawn cell phones, laptops, and other technological advancements. Social media is a way for many teens and adolescents to interact with one another and share countless happenings of their personal lives. Cyber bullying occurs when individuals use the internet to send or comment cruel and unnecessary messages to another. In its various forms cyber bullying includes, indirect and direct harassment, posting inappropriate pictures, impersonating another being, or just being plain cruel. Although anyone can become a victim of cyber bullying, improper use of the internet can further induce harassment, due to the adolescents desire to use modern day technologies. The harassers could be classmates, online “friends’’, or anonymous users. One barrier that is difficult to overcome is determining who is responsible for the attacks online, because many bullies hide behind fake usernames or profiles to protect their real identity, which is commonly known as “hiding behind a screen”. (Bonanno 2013). The motives for a cyber-bully are never clear, some might say