The Truth Behind The Screen: Cyberbullying

Is the threat of bullying a real threat to kids today? Bullying has been a threat for a long time in schools and adding the new advances in technology such as cell phones, twitter and facebook bullying is now being done online and school learning is being affected. Schools should have the power to limit students’ online speech because the percent of boys and girls being cyberbullied is raising, teachers teaching ability is being affected, and students learning in class is being affected. One reason schools should have the power to limit their students online speech is cyberbullying is now a problem in the United States. The Cyberbullying Research Center posted statistics in February 2010 saying 16.6% of males between the ages of 10-18 have been cyberbullied and 25.1% of females ages between 10-18 have also been cyberbullied (Doc A).

In our time today, there are many types of "bullying", but the one type I believe can be the worse and the one I will be discussing will be “Cyber bullying.” Cyber Bullying is an action when people either get together or by themselves purposely threaten or harass another kid through social media, such as Twitter or Facebook. The use of smart phones makes this action so easy to do and we can't really do anything to stop it from happening. These people can go and tweet about something any part of the day. All types of bullying are usually related in some type of way but the action of doing it is usually much different. Cyber bullying is one of the worst types of

The article "Are Under Twelves Disconnected?" states," In one study, half of social media users reported being bullied online. " Technology makes cyber-bulling a much easier think to do. Cyber-bulling is not something to be taken lightly. That article also touches down on the same topic," Technology is an extension of what goes on in the real world. Bullying was around before the Internet, but cyberbullying makes it easier." Kids who are cyber-bullied are probably a lot of those 5.6 million kids that don't meet the age requirement. Lying is a big problem and can have many consequences but cyber-bulling can have much more terrible consequences.

…it is often easier to be cruel using technology because cyberbullying can be done from a physically distant location, and the bully doesn 't have to see the immediate response by the target. In fact, some teens simply might not recognize the serious harm they are causing because they are sheltered from the victim 's response (par. 6)

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.

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/)

School is a place where you can learn, fraternize and feel safe. Well sometimes children and young adults do not feel that way at all, some kids have to deal with being physically harassed at school. Nowadays the bullying isn’t just occurring at school, it’s also occurring online in the privacy of their own home. The Internet is the main contributor because now kids go on social networks and blog sites, which, is one of their main forms of communication because they are apart of the computer age. Scott Meech’s article “Cyber-bullying Is Worse than Physical Bullying” and Amanda Lenhart’s article “Cyber-bullying Is Not Worse than Physical Bullying” both discuss why they believe one form of bullying is worse than the other. Although both

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.

Many negative effects are outcomes of cyber bullies. The impact cyber bullying has on kids is detrimental. Victims can develop psychological problems. For example, victims begin having anxiety, lower self-esteem, and frustration. They may also be diagnosed with depression. It’s tough to ignore cyber bullying. Compared to school bullies, internet bullies cause their victim more emotional pain. Children and teenagers are able to escape school bullies when they return home. However targets of cyber bullying don’t have that advantage.

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

While cyberbullying affects each child differently, there has been a clear correlation between victims and non-victims and their self-esteem. In one study, bullied victims had less self-esteem than those who were not bullied online. Additionally, it was reported that victims of cyberbullying were thirty percent more likely to think about committing suicide (Cyberbullying Research Center, 2012). With the lack of parent supervision, it was found that those who spent more than three hours per school day on social networks were 110% more at risk to be a cyberbully victim as compared those who do not spend as much time online (Gilkerson, 2012). What may be worse is the fact that majority of those bullied online do not tell their parents or an adult about what occurred. Despite the fact that most adolescents state that bullying occurs more offline then online, cyberbullying is still a real and large threat to the youth of America (Lenhart, 2007).

Cyberbullying is different from schoolyard bullying. Teachers can't intervene to the internet. Teens spend the preponderance of their day online just scrolls down seeing objects that may be harming other students, however, students refusal to show their relevance to this important title of cyber bullying. While the internet is an essential mechanism, numerous people compose it a dilemma. The internet is a comparable a reward, once you recognize it you are excited, however having the internet for a while, you tend to comprehend and being tired of doing the same opponent material so you start looking up different objects to accomplish on the internet.

Cyber bullying is quite different from the old traditional bullying. The traditional bullying has a combination of physical abuse, verbal abuse, and emotional abuse. While in cyber bullying it would just be emotional and verbal abuse because the person being bullied doesn’t get physically hurt. The traditional bullying would be face to face usually on school grounds during the school day, and it would have a smaller audience. Cyber bullying is at school and at home, all day, everyday either by the form of a text message, or chat room, or on social networking websites, and it has a large audience, for example if somebody posted on your wall on facebook everybody can see it and then people will comment and it will be a lot of people.

Tests have been conducted that shows 81% of teens believe it is easier to get away with bullying online than in person (Myers). Cyberbullying is the act of using harsh terms toward someone in particular on an online source. It touches the lives of many people, some even suffer from aggression, depression, and suicidal behavior. The dilemma is with the way people think these days. The victims need to understand that life is test, an army of bumps to climb over. The offended need to know that there will always be hardships and that is just a part of life. Other factors they should acknowledge are that it has always been a thing, people need thicker skins, and if something goes too far it should be shut down.

Bullying is no longer the big guy making a third grader give him his lunch money. In order to fully comprehend the word cyberbullying, one must understand that the definition goes into more depth than saying, "kids are being mean to one another behind a phone/computer screen." With how quickly our world is evolving, cyberbullying will not just go away. Since being bullied online follows victims home, they have nowhere to feel safe anymore, and that can lead to obtaining mental, behavioral, and emotional problems. Children are taking their own lives before they even fully begin. Knowing that their classmates saw what was posted about them, being bullied online affects the victim, but the bully as well since he/she can also receive hatred for their own actions. Cyberbullying should be fought by school officials because it’s a fast-growing issue, it can transfer to feeling unsafe at school, and bullying takes a toll on a child's mental health.