Cyberbullying and its effects get overlooked,
but is an issue that needs attention to be stopped which is why it needs to be
reported.
Cyberbullying is something
that is often slept on and is a negative part of society. I feel that people
overlook cyberbullying since it does not happen physically and is not exposed
to the naked eye. Most of the time you will not know someone is being
cyberbullied unless they express their feelings about the situation or if you
just happen to come across it one day being nosey.
What is Cyberbullying?
I am pretty sure that
anyone can put one and two together to figure out what cyberbullying is before
looking up a definition to it. I bet your answer was not far off from a source
though either. Cyberbullying is bullying that happens through electronic technology.
It occurs with mobile devices, tablets, and computers. Along with those comes
the social media websites, chats, phone calls, e-mails, and text messages of
course and this is where the bullying takes place. Hurtful messages tend to be
the primary form of cyberbullying from what I see, but the spreading of rumors
is a form of this as well. Nearly 43 percent of kids have been bullied on line
and every 1 in 4 has had it happen more than once.
Effects of Cyberbullying
Mobile devices and
computers are a necessity in the world today so you cannot blame them for the
cause of cyberbullying. It is the social media sites that should be blamed
despite how helpful they can be for connecting with friends and family, helping
students with school, being used as news sources, and a great source of
entertainment. Obviously, under the surface of everything social media is good
for, there is cyberbullying, other people emotionally and mentally hurting
other people. Kids who are cyberbullied tend to turn to drug use, such as
alcohol and drugs, skipping school or become unwilling to attend school,
receive poor grades, have low self-esteem, and have more health problems.
Cyberbullying will cause unwanted stress and will just flat out cause sadness
and loneliness. It sometimes turns into physical bullying. In fact, the victims
of cyberbullying are 2 to 9 times more likely to consider suicide. Cyberbullying tends to make the victims feel depressed, scared, embarrassed, angry, and other emotions as well.
Gender Differences in Cyberbullying
According to one article I
read, internet bullies were more likely to be a female because studies show
that young women tend to feel more assertive online. But 60 percent of the
cyberbully victims are females, while 52 percent of cyberbullies are males. So
it is clear that males are more likely to be cyberbullies than the females.
Females are also more likely to report incident to adults more so than males would.
However females do have a high participation rate in cyberbullying. It is
obvious that females are not like males as far as when it comes to showing
aggression. Females prefer showing aggression indirectly. What I think is an
excuse as to why females cyberbully, is because it is related to the way
females are raised, and the way society portrays what it is like to be a girl.
The common themes that females cyberbully are exposure of confidential
information, also known as gossiping, attacks on appearances, attacks on
sexuality, statements about disloyalty and not being trust worthy, and some
threats or desire for physical violence. Although females do not really bully
physically, their cyberbully attacks tend to be organized, planed, and
manipulative. They get their thoughts together ahead of time, reflect on them,
and proceed to carry them out. It is said that females target emotions and
personal issues. Males, on the other hand are more likely to act aggressively
and spontaneously.
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Cyber Bullying Should be Reported
Just like in-person
bullying should be reported, cyberbullying should be reported as well. There a
few resources you can go to in order to report it. You can report it to online
service providers, the law enforcement, and to your school. You should take
action immediately though before one thing leads to another such as some of the
effects cyberbullying can cause. The first step to take is not to respond to
the message and not to forward cyberbullying messages. Secondly, you should
keep evidence of the cyberbullying. This means keep everything! Mark down the
dates, times, and descriptions of the incident when it happened. You should
also screenshot the instances when it happened, such as text messages and
e-mails. This can be used to report cyberbullying to web and cell phone service
providers. Lastly, just simply block the person who is cyberbullying.
Cyberbullying most of the
time will violate the terms of service established by social media sites and
service providers for the internet. So reporting incidents to the online
service providers can be very helpful. Be sure to review the terms and
conditions. That will tell you if you the content is appropriate or not. If
cyberbullying occurs through a social media website, report whatever happens to
that site so they can take action against the users abusing terms of service.
Cyberbullying usually involves threats of violence, child pornography or
sending sexually explicit messages or photos, taking a photo or recording a
video of someone in a place where he or she would expect privacy, and stalking
and hate crimes. When those are involved, it is considered a crime and should
be reported to law enforcement. However, some states are different than others
so you would have to consult your state’s laws and law enforcement for
guidance. Cyberbullying may cause a troublesome environment at school and is
often related to in-person bullying. If it is reported to the school, then
additional help can be provided on how to prevent further instances and
response strategies.
Why do People Cyberbully?
Cyberbullying happens for several
of the same reasons as the other forms of bullying. According to one source, it
may be more appealing because it can be done anonymously. Studies show that
there of two kinds of people who are likely to bully and those are: people who
are popular and people who are on the social fringes. Popular kids look at
cyberbullying as a way to become more popular and to stay popular. They think
that hurting others makes them feel powerful. Kids who are less socially
successful may cyberbully because it helps them cope with personal problems
such as low self-esteem. They also think it will help them to fit in with
others around them. They may also cyberbully because they have trouble empathizing
with those they hurt. Studies also show that in general, bullies behavior
usually branches from their personal problems. Some of those problems may be
that they have less involved parents, they are less excited about school, they
are depressed or anxious, and this leaves them to often have trouble
controlling their emotions and their urges. Due to that, it is hard for them to
follow rules. Some other reasons people may do their bullying online is because
of anonymity, ignorance of the consequences, and social pressure. Anonymity is
where cyberbullying allows bullies to avoid facing their victims. It involves
less courage and provides the impression that bullies won’t get caught. A
survey was conducted by The National Council on Crime Prevention stated that 81
percent of teenagers cyberbully because they think it’s funny. They think it’s
funny because they don’t see their victims’ reaction in person and they may not
realize how much of an impact it may have on others. Social pressure is where
some cyberbullies may think their behavior is normal and socially acceptable,
of course when their friends spur them on.
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Conclusion
My thoughts on
cyberbullying is that it is definitely a cause that is overlooked in this world
today. I agree with the people I interviewed Natasha Chris, Pam Orel, and Shuji
Otsuka, that it has a negative image and that the people doing it are ignorant
and don’t realize the effects of it. I feel as though if the cyberbullies knew
how the people being bullied felt they would stop. Well I hope so at least.
Suicide, depression, and many other outcomes of cyberbullying should just be
enough to bring this to a stop. Awareness of the problem though is very vague
to those on the outside. Due to the world we live in today where many things
are electronic based, cyberbullying is more likely to happen in this generation
as supposed to previous generations. Being that many things are electronic
based, being able to hide cyberbullying is quite easy these days. Because of
this, I very much agree with the fact that cyberbullying should be reported as
much as it can. Also because it isn’t visible like in-person bullying. We need
to watch out for those who perform these acts because their personal problems
are effecting how others live their lives and that shouldn’t be happening. It isn’t
fair at all. Cyberbullying is a terrible thing and needs to be looked at as a
bigger issue so it can be stopped.