Thursday, December 11, 2014

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 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.
Kids and teenager should be able to report cases of cyberbullying to one of the three options if they cannot tell their parents or a trusted source. In facts, only 1 in 10 victims will inform a parent or trusted adult of their abuse.
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.




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