The Negative Side Of Online Communication

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.

Cyberbullying is a type of bullying that takes place over electronic technology throughout all hours of the day that can affect teens and adolescents on their daily basis. This electronic technology includes text, gaming devices, internet, emails, blogs, cell phones, apps, computers, and tablets which can be used for positive activities but can also hurt people. According to Edwina Thomas Washington (2015), these electronic technology gives the bully the capacity to contact the victim without having a face-to-face encounter. In addition, it occurs on different social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter. This harmful behavior incorporates posting, sharing, or sending opposing, conflicting, and false content regarding someone else. Additionally, it includes sharing information referring to someone else with the purpose of producing discomfort and humiliation. Some cyberbullying passes the line into illegal or culpable behavior. Through the years, cyberbullying has become very common in teenagers.

As the drastic increase of social media networks has increased, so too has the cyberbullying prevalence. Merriam-Webster defines cyberbullying as the electronic posting of mean-spirited messages about a person often done anonymously. Kassandra Gahagan and her fellow colleagues studied cyberbullying among students and its outcomes. Studies show higher rates of suicidal thoughts and behaviors with victims of cyberbullying, along with higher rates of depression, anxiety and paranoia (Gahagan, Vaterlaus & Frost, 2015). While cyberbullying can be both intentional or unintentional, it is a negative process which effects the victim. This includes comments, posts without consent and messages. The study conducted sought to determine the prevalence of cyberbullying among young adults and the negative outcomes through asking three questions.

Cyberbullying is a relatively new threat, and it is very similar to traditional bullying. Despite the fact that cyberbullying and traditional bullying both share the common goal of harassment, cyberbullying differs from traditional bullying in that it does not stop at the schoolyard, and can continue when the victim is far away from the aggressor. It is just as devastating as common bullying, and sometimes is even more damaging. Professors Sameer Hinduja and Justin W. Patchin note in their journal, “Cyberbullying Creates Dangerous Stress and Anxiety”, that cyberbullying affects anywhere between 10-40% of students (contingent on their age group) (par. 1). J.D. Kelly A. Albin, in her article “Bullies in a Wired World”, defines cyberbullying as “…the ‘willful and repeated harm inflicted through use of computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices’” (157). It is caused by the fact that children feel their actions are mitigated when they use social media, as it creates the illusion of indirectness, and its effects range anywhere from mild depression to suicide.

Technology is rapidly advancing at a dizzying rate which has seen many amazing feats but has also introduced and increased the act of Cyberbullying. Cyber bullying can be defined as targeting someone using any form of technology (this includes social media) to tease, stalk or humiliate someone online (Dictionary.com, 2016). Cyberbullying is so detrimental because it encourages the targeting of an individual; It is often done in secret with the bully hiding who they are by creating false profiles or names, or sending anonymous messages. It is difficult to remove as it is shared online so it can be recorded and saved in different places. Cyberbullying has such a negative impact that research shows that there is a correlation between the violent

Cyberbullying has been on the rise in the past years because of the rise in the usage of social media. People tend to go to social media with positive intentions, but not everyone’s intentions are positive. Social media can bring what usually takes place at school to the household. For bullies, cyberbullying requires less physical contact and their bullying

Societal norms in the United States in terms of adolescents utilizing the Internet once as an additional source of communication has become the primary mode of communication. Today, “92% of teens proclaim they go online daily to check popular social media platforms such as Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, and Twitter among others” (Lenhart 1). The alteration from physical communication to online communication has exposed a dangerous interaction for social relationships known as cyberbullying. In order to understand cyberbullying, it is critical to understand traditional bullying. Traditional bullying thrives off on aggressive behavior that is repetitive and involves a real or perceived power imbalance. Cyberbullying is a form of violence predominantly seen in teens that has the potential to lead to long-term harm. It involves the use of technology such as cell phones and the Internet with the primary objective of

Cyberbullying is a problem that has only come to light in the last few years. It has many different effects on people; it can cause depression, suicidal thoughts and actions, and effects the way students do in school. Cyberbullying is one of the top leading causes of suicide in teens and young adults (Swearer). Cyberbullying is a major problem that this country needs to get under control because it is leading to self-harm and suicide in teens and young adults. It causes an unsafe learning environment, and the victim cannot get away from the bullying because the attackers stalk them through social media accounts and their cell phones. So, how does

In their e-book, Bullying Beyond the Schoolyard, Sameer Hinduja and Justin Patchin define Cyberbullying as: “willful and repeated harm inflicted through the use of computers, cell phones, or other electronic devices” (36). Hinduja and Patchin are both Ph.D.’s, professors at universities, as well as primary researchers at the Cyberbullying Research Center. The research and community outreach that they are involved in could greatly reduce the number of cyberbullying cases worldwide. Cyberbullies typically operate through social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to harass, intimidate, threaten, embarrass or otherwise target an individual. Cyberbullying is awfully prevalent nowadays and it is a far bigger issue than most people realize. It is an issue that is quickly growing; as there are hundreds of thousands of people signing on to use these networks for the first time every day. According to NoBullying.com, 25% of teenagers report that they have experienced repeated bullying via their cell phone or on the Internet, while 52% report having experienced it at least

In general, social critics and specialists have discussed this abuse in two ways: online bullying and online exploiting. A prominent pediatrician and health journalist, Gwenn O’Keefe, acknowledges, “…cyberbullying is quite common, can occur to any young person online, and can cause profound psychosocial outcomes including depression, anxiety, severe isolation, and, tragically, suicide” (2). The significance of O’Keefe’s statement is that in our society, there are individuals who are not aware that their actions online can lead to detrimental consequences, which has allowed social media to become much easier for someone to oppressing others. Another journalist, June Chisholm, even believes that cyberbullying is thought to be worse than face-to-face bullying as she states, “…cyberbullying is a distinct, separate category of bullying behavior because of the unique psychological processes involved in cyberbullying and being cyberbullied” (n.p.). In making this statement, Chisholm positions that cyberbullying has an entirely different set of psychological effects on the victim. These effects are often caused by anonymity considering that a victim can be cyberbullied by a stranger or even someone close to them, and they will never be able to tell who the perpetrator is. Because they hide behind a computer, bullies may feel empowered to say and do more harsh things to their target than they would

“I wanted to say bye… for, like, ever” (Abigail Pesta). Those were the last words Rebecca Sedwick texted to her two middle school friends before jumping to her death. This is one of many cases where bullying has been a common cause of death especially for young adolescents. A statistic from bullyingstastics.org states that 1 in 3 adolescents have experienced cyber threats online. Based on the research, now with advanced technology and social media sites, cyberbullying is a growing concern today. There is no federal anti-bullying law, but every state has their own laws. With each cyberbullying case being unique, defining this recent phenomenon can be challenging. This paper will look to address the issues behind cyberbullying, ways it can be stopped, and a universal definition that can be applied to these hateful acts.

Bullying is a major problem that impacts many teens over generations, causing an endless cycle of bullying. With the new age of technology, this leads to new issues that are affecting teens’ lives. One of these issues is that cyberbullying is quickly becoming more common than the traditional playground bullying, as more social media are appealing to teens. Cyberbullying is a type of bullying that happens using electronic devices such as phones, laptops, and tablets. This form of bullying includes spreading rumours, sending mean and hurtful messages and sharing embarrassing videos or photos. Cyberbullying over social media has become extremely easy for bullies to victimize other teenagers affecting the victim’s mental health. Therefore,

Laws against bullying and cyberbullying were created to regulate and prevent them; before this society changed drastically on American urban high schools. During that lapse time, numerous amount of students, started to use superior strength or influence to intimidate people who were considered weak and unable to fight back; typically to make the victim do what the bully wants. With time the act of bullying did not only become worse but it grew to have a different branch of bullying. This new kind of bullying is called cyberbullying, it was much worse than the traditional bullying because the victim was more affected and damaged. With the progression of time, laws were also created to prevent cyberbullying

Facebook and other social media platforms have brought communication across the world to a whole new level. The rise of social media has created a place for children to communicate with others in both a positive and negative manner. Although it has made a positive impact on American youth, it has also contributed and exacerbated bullying in our schools. This new form of bullying, often referred to as cyberbullying, has created an around-the-clock atmosphere where bullying can occur even when school is not in session. Many professionals have sought to address the negative aspects of social media and have worked to develop a solution to bring cyberbullying to an end.

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