Cyberbullying, By Justin Healey

Cyberbullying is one of the easiest ways to bully someone. Most cyber bullies know their victims in person. On the fact sheet “What is Cyberbullying?” it says that 84% of bullies know their victim in real life. A major problem with cyberbullies is that they are posting embarrassing pictures, threatening comments, and rude statements about one that cannot be completely deleted off of the

In 2014, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) did a study on bullying and the found that 19.4% of all the students interviewed had been bullied at school. This may not seem very surprising, bullying has been going on for decades. Generations of men and women have come to fear the people who walk the halls, stealing lunch money from those weaker than them. However, it is interesting to note that 14.8% of that 19.4% had reported being cyber bullied. Unlike the standard physical bullying, cyberbullying is a slightly more recent development, but it has evolved to become much more deadly. It gives bullies a better tool for creating more widespread pain. The awareness for cyber bullying needs to increase and ultimately, cyberbullying needs to be abolished completely due to its destructive capabilities.

Something needs to be done to prevent the issue of cyberbullying because this issue has become a nationwide problem. Cyberbullying began when people decided to take bullying beyond face to face conversation. Cyberbullying changes the nature and the environment of the internet because it can cause harm to someone else. Cyberbullying is the use of electronic communication to bully someone and it is not only being used in the United States, it is being used in many other countries such as Australia, Africa, Japan and the list goes on. About more than 10 percent of parents around the world say their child and/or children have been cyberbullied and nearly one-fourth of the world knows a younger person who has been a victim of cyberbullying. Cyberbullying happens for many of the same reasons as any other type of bullying, but it may be even more appealing because it can be done anonymously and the identity of the attackers may never be identified and it is also a difficult form of bullying because the true identity of the attackers might not be revealed. Which is one of the major factors of why cyberbullying still continues, it’s hard to prevent cyberbullying because the attackers hide behind code names and witnesses choose not to come forward. Cyberbullying changes the nature and the environment of the internet because it can cause harm to someone else. A bully wants power over another person, which means they could have low self esteem but studies show that most bullies have a

However, there are some similarities as to why an individual would bully someone else online. Few of the reasons may include power, entertainment or control (Child Refuge, 2011). Conclusion can be made just from these reasons. Life as a teenager in high school can be very challenging. The bar is set high for these students because of high expectations from them or their parents. When children are bored, or lack the attention from their parents they seek entertainment which makes them more likely to become cyberbullies (Child Refuge, 2011). These individuals acquire control and power through humiliating their victims by harassing them or even putting fear to these helpless people through threats (Child Refuge, 2011). For those victims who were bullied, now realize it’s their time to shine and take the roll of being the bully.

Bullying has been around since the beginning of time. Parents may remember when they were kids and the bully would pick on them or their friends by stealing lunch money or just getting beat up, and that was the end of it. The victims remember the hurt, frustration, and sadness it caused. However, these days, bullying is not just happening on the playground or at the bus stop, it is happening on the Internet and on cell phones, making it possible to bully a child 24 hours a day with multiple bullies and thousands of kids watching. Cyberbullying follows children nonstop and into the safety of their house. Sometimes kids are afraid to inform their parents about the cyberbullying that they will think its there fault. Or that their parents will call the bullies parents or other parents, making the bullying worse. However, the effect and pain that comes from cyberbullying is real. People underestimate cyberbullying, just because it is happening online and not in person. Cyberbullying can lead to many different factors like drinking, and drugs, poor grades, depression, eating disorders. Many students have even taken their own lives because of another student saying something to them online. Cyberbullying has been taking place a lot more in middle and high schools because of the increased usage of social media networks and technology. Cyberbullying is worse and more harmful than traditional bullying.

This topic is important to me because there have been many cases where I see people hurting others online. In my research, I found that there are are two types of bullying: traditional bullying and cyberbullying. Traditional bullying is an aggressive behavior or intentional violence by one person or a group of people that can be carried out repeatedly and over a period of time that involves power over others (Patchin and Hinduja 148). In the article, “Cyberbullying Among Adolescents: The Role of Affective and Cognitive Empathy and Gender”, Rebecca P. Ang defined cyberbullying as,

Whether it be through written, text, typed or spoken; words are words and it could possibly hurt people. So why do these bullies bully and why do victims allow themselves to be in this place? This article will present the reasons for the current cyber-bullying in our society and how it affects it.

Bullies start at a young age and carry on, this helps them feel good about what they are doing and who they are as a person. The only way to make a difference and try to stop bullying and cyberbullying is if the parents are there to help. “Parents of bullies are advised to take the problem seriously, looking for the causes of anger or frustration, letting them know that hurtful behavior will not be tolerated, supervising their behavior more closely, “punishing”bullying with positive acts toward others and teaching nonviolent ways of solving problems.” (PERSONAL HEALTH pg. 3) This illustrates that not only the school and parents but the community to must collaborate to control bullying. Parents need to supervise their children on social media and all places in their life, until the children can understand that this is not okay and that we can stand up to bullying. Bullying and cyberbullying can lead to serious causes to the victims and everyone around them. “It is found that children who bully are at risk for engaging in more serious violent acts, like fighting frequently and carrying weapons.” (PERSONAL HEALTH pg.) This proves that the actions of the bullies are long term effects. If someone is to hurt themselves or one another because of how someone made them feel not only will those certain people be hurting inside but the other family and friends in their lives. All of this combined shows that people do bully and

Cyberbullying is the use of electronic communication to bully a person, typically by sending messages in an threatening nature or tearing down an individuals character based on religion, gender, ethnicity, or disability. In terms of effects overall, cyberbullying has increased the use of communication via technology and has become more common among teenagers (Cabral 3). Technology has made it easy for bullies to find individuals via social media in the privacy of their on own homes., which has allowed them to express how they feel anonomously. This has become an issue that is occurring more and more in High Schools and Middle Schools across America. One of the biggest discussions when dealing with bullying and cyber-bullying would be how do we stop this epidemic to save the soul of our youth? Education is key, we have to educate one another on the effects of bullying to know that this is real and affects so many people to this day. Much of cyberbullying is the

Bullying can cause people to cause serious harm to themselves and the human beings around them. Many people think that bullying is easy to stop but it’s not. Some people think that even just the little things that they say won’t make a big impact. You never know what people are going through at home. Most bullies don’t understand that hurting people’s feelings isn’t going to make anybodys life better. Hurting or saying rude things about people on social media

Since the beginning of time people have always had to deal with bullies. Just like anything else, however, things tend to evolve with technology. With the evolution of social media and technology some adolescents and even adults are simply unable to escape harassment from their peers in school and in the workplace. This social phenomenon is what has come to be known as cyberbullying.

Bullying is generally defined as any deliberate act of aggression towards another person with the intentions of causing harm or suffering. Cyber bullying can be termed as the use of electronic communications (e-mail, text messages, instant messaging, social media, etc.) in which to humiliate, intimidate, threaten, or harass others and is often done anonymously. Though it as not as prevalent as “traditional bullying”, it has become a much more popular version of bullying because of the convenience of anonymity and the fact that it can be done any time of the day or night and anywhere.

According to a study done by the University of British Columbia about 25 to 30 percent of adolescents have admitted to taking part of or experiencing cyberbullying and a staggering 95 percent of adolescents claimed that what happened online was meant to to be a joke and not harmful. Rather than traditional bullying that have characteristics like aggression, a need for power/control, and proactively targeting the victim cyberbullying does not. Research shows that cyberbullying is done impulsively this is why there has been such a quick rise of this form of bullying. Cyberbullying also affects victims differently. Where as traditional bullying ends when the victim leaves school cyberbullying follows the victim in their personal life. This often leads to the victim being forced to deal with it alone because it is a part of their personal social

There have been instances where cyber-bullying has led to self-harm, severe despair and even death. The reasons why the bullies act the way they do or why they do such things to their victims is in such an extensive range.

Our generation spend a lot of time stuck with our sleep-deprived eyes glued to the computer screen. Or cell phone, take your pick. But it is usually both. The internet is a strange place, but it is so extremely entertaining. It is a way of connecting and engaging with other individuals. As well as in online games with different people from all corners of the earth. Amazing, right!? But what happens when you run into a bit of… trouble? I am not talking about computer viruses or a slow internet connection. I am talking about cyber-bullying. But what is the big deal? Why don’t they just ignore it? You may ask. It really is not at all that simple. For some it could just be a thorn in their side that can easily be taken care of. But for others it could be… a bullet in the chamber. The final knot at the end of the rope. A forceful push off the edge of a building. Cyber-bullying hurts and it can, if the bully is persistent enough, destroy a person’s life. Cyber bullying could be happening right now as you read these words, this sentence. Most of the time, you really do not know who is the perpetrator. It could be a so called “friend” or a total stranger. (Albeit, a rather judgemental stranger.) Or you may have an idea of who it is, but you are too scared to make accusations or confrontations and point fingers without solid proof. You see, a cyber-bully has a small advantage, which is the benefit of anonymity. They can hide behind the virtual safety of a display screen typing away,