The Survival Of The Fittest

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.

When there is such a rise in social media, people are able to say what they want because they feel safer than they would in person, which can lead to a rise in cyber-bullying.

Whilst cyber bullying is not physical it’s emotional and psychological effects are devastating for the victim and can often lead to suicide and depression (Hinduja & Patchin, 2010). Social Networking sites act as a platform where bullies can say things they might not usually say to someone in person, anonymity and less physical proximity act as a wall between the bully and the victim, none the less, the words or rumors’ that are shared are still just as hurtful. Bullies often feel more confident online and they can contact their victims anytime, anywhere, day or night, not just in the school yard (Smith et al., 2008).” (Procon. (24 O). Retrieved from http://socialnetworking.procon.org/)

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

Heterozygosity is the measure of the genetic variation in a population at a particular gene locus. Genetic variation within a population is important in maintaining or increasing the fitness of members in the population and ultimately the survival of the species.

Cyberbullying is a new fad, per se, in today’s technologically advanced society. “In fact, some behavior in such

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

It is a form of compensation mechanism that arises out of feelings of inadequacies and other insecurities. One of these has been cited to be poor parent-child relationships. Many of the students who actively bully other people online tend to come from turbulent families whereby related issues are not handled well (Hamm et al. 772). It further points to the fact that cyberbullying in the colleges is an extension of the processes that are rife in the lower stages of the education system. In addition to this, the wrong friendships and company have also seen others participate in cyberbullying at the college level. At the college level, there is a strong culture that requires many of these students to identify with a group. In particular, fraternities and sororities have been guilty of this behavior in recent times. In the effort to form strong bonds and to ward off competition, various aspects of cyberbullying are exposed to these scenarios, thus leading to severe depression and emotional instability for those caught in between (Heiman and Olenik-Shemesh

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

There are some who see the rapid growth of Facebook and similar social media platforms as the vehicle that enables a new form of bullying that is even more devastating than the physical bullying we’ve always seen in schools for centuries. However, this form of bullying is even more insidious because it is invisible to all but the perpetrator and the victim. The victims have no way of avoiding the attacks because it even follows them into their bedrooms when they check their social media accounts. As the internet continues to grow, cyberbullying will continue to grow along with it – if not even more quickly. It either is or will soon become a crisis of

Cyberbullies have used this to their advantages by threatening people anonymously by calling them names or by sometimes by telling them to not show up at school, or to die and kill themselves. (Shah 1-2). This type of behavior is unacceptable because by bullies being able to go undercover people who might have been afraid to say something can now do so being without having to worry about being discovered. Social media is the key to all of these bullies, without the use of social media most of these bullies wouldn't even bother anybody. They would realize that they will most likely get caught or get into a fight. Most people are too afraid to do this.

Social Networking has taken bullying to the extreme. Before advanced technology, children and teenagers were troubled by school bullies. Today, they are targeted by bullies via internet. Most people undergo some form of bullying in life. Growing up, I experienced the typical name calling and spiteful comments. I also dealt with minor cases of virtual bullies. These bullies are known as cyber bullies. I find this topic compelling because it’s a matter that has spiraled out of control.

There is a lot of bullying that goes on in this world, a majority of it being cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is a constant problem with young kids on social media. Cyberbullying is a risk for anyone, “Cyberbullying is deliberately using digital media to communicate false, embarrassing, or hostile information about another person. It is the most common online risk for all teens and is a peer-to-peer risk” (AAP). Nonetheless, bullying is always going to happen and cyberbullying allows it to happen

Additionally, a large amount of cyber bullying tends to take place within social groups. Perpetrators of need not be the traditional strong, powerful bully but could be the individual who is too shy to intimidate others in the traditional sense so they turn to the cyber world where they may remain somewhat anonymous (Juvonen & Gross, 2008; Mishna, Cook, Gadalla, Daciuk, & Solomon, 2010; Mishna, Saini, & Solomon, 2009). One study showed that over half of the perpetrators of cyber bullying are friends of the victim, and a further amount of perpetrations know the victim (Kowalski & Fedina, 2011).

Technology can be used in many ways to cyber bully. Barnardos released a booklet in 2012 outlining a number of key risk factors of cyber bullying. Personal intimidation includes actions such as sending out threatening text messages, posting abusive and threatening comments on the victim’s Facebook profiles or other websites and the use of instant messaging in chat rooms etc. to threaten the victim further. Impersonation involves setting up fake profiles and web pages that are attributed to the victim; this also involves hacking or gaining access to the victims profile to contact or instant message others. Exclusion encompasses blocking an individual from a class group or community group on a social media website. Personal humiliation is a behaviour that involves posting images or videos of the victim that are intended to embarrass or humiliate them. This can be done on Facebook or by text messaging etc. And lastly false reporting, this is where the bully reports the victim to the service provider for a range of behaviours with a view to having the account suspended, blocked or deleted (Get With It, 2012).