In the recent decades, there have been numerous technological advances. Social media has become a
well known past time of young individuals today. It plays a crucial role in out daily activities and development of
identities, and because of this, a sweeping progression of how people see each other has taken a direction on its
own. The internet is full of dark pits, full of lies that can trick anyone into confusion, it is a sinister and a silent
enemy. Many individuals today are at risk of succumbing to social media and the danger that comes along with it.
We have become perpetually in contact with one another, opening ourselves to a new form of bullying:
cyberbullying.
Cyberbullying is increasing dramatically as more children are becoming victims of this type of bullying.
They may also post personal data of their victims at websites or even pretend to be someone else in order to
publish different materials under the victim’s name that can humiliate him. Groups such as the youth, bisexual
people, lesbians, gays, disabled, and socially isolated people are usually subjected by this. Sites such as Facebook
and Twitter have become the hub and yielded to a more accessible form of cyberbullying. And unfortunately,
making it the unacceptable face of new technology.
The question is why does a bully bully other people? We can consider someone a cyberbully if he or she
repeatedly tormented, threatened, harassed, humiliated, embarrassed or otherwise targeted another child using
any type of digital technology. Generally, a cyberbully may be a product of his own environment in which he too is
abused in many ways, either physically or verbally or he might have been cyberbullied as well. On the other hand,
some might just be simply bored or completely mean and he finds satisfaction in making everyone else’s life
messy. But like the objectives of any other bullies is to have power and have control of each situation. They want
to dominate and subjugate everyone.
Another thing is, why is cyberbullying different from other types of bullying? Many of us have probably
heard the phrase “Sticks and stones may break your bones but words will never hurt you” I personally don’t agree
with this claim. Although cyberbullying is less physical it has very destructive and longer lasting effects on
individuals. Online, everyone can be a bully even a small, physically weak child. However, the difference is that
someone is now capable to cause even greater damage than a big brute can cause. If your bullied at school, you
can just go home and end it, but if you were cyberbullied, you have nowhere to go, especially now with the
existence of fake profiles which are sometimes impossible to trace.
Cyberbullying is responsible for the many of the social anxiety and depression problems that teens live
with. It results in long term psychological impacts on the minds of the bullied. They gradually get feelings of fear or
sometimes or loneliness, fear of leaving their homes or going to school. If the victim is being bullied continuously,
his grades may drop and they may also withdraw themselves from usual friends or family.. It also decreases their
self-esteem as well. They may also end up using alcohol, drugs and have more health problems. But in extreme
cases of constant bullying, self-harm and suicide may be part of the story.
Cyberbullying may seem like something that is impossible to solve, but if we put our efforts in dealing
with this issue, maybe we can. Although teachers can’t preach kindness to students, but they can teach them how
to be nice to one another. Another thing is, ignore the bully, don’t give him any signs of fear or make him feel the
superiority, it is possible that they may get discouraged and they will move on to their next victim. We should also
address cyberbullying with laws that will call the action of bullying that cause severe emotional distress illegal.
Because of this, the school administration gains freedom to punish those who deserve it. We ourselves can also
play a crucial role in preventing cyberbullying by never passing on humiliating information or pictures of other
people. And to avoid being cyberbullied or to be a cyberbully “think before you click”. Anything that we post online
can resurface later, we should not post information that we do not want the world to see. There’s no guarantee of
privacy online. We should face cyberbullying bravely and report any incidents to parents or teachers immediately.
And to the bullied, we should communicate and explain to them that they should not take the blame and make
them feel that they are loved. I f you see someone being cyberbullied online, say somethings, you can seriously
save a life.