“Rachel Ehmke, 13-Year-Old Minnesota Student, Commits Suicide After
Months Of Bullying”
“Phoebe Prince, 15,
Commits Suicide After Onslaught of Cyber-Bullying From Fellow Students”
“Rutgers Spycam Suicide-Cyberbullying Case
Goes to Trial”
“Teen's suicide raises long-standing concerns about cyber-bullying”
These are the alarming, and terrifyingly real
headlines of teenagers who have chosen suicide as their only way out of being
cyber bullied. Today access to social
networking sites, cellular phones, chat rooms, and other online sites such as
YouTube is at an all time high. However,
with the increased access to these resources comes an increased risk to be
bullied online, also known as cyber bullied. Cyber bullying is a
growing epidemic in America. In order to
stop headlines like those above, we must change the way our nation acts towards
one another online. However, before we
can prevent it we need to have a better understanding of what cyber bullying
really is, what causes it, the effects it has on the victims, and finally prevention methods.
What
is cyber bullying and how is it different from “traditional” bullying?
Cyber bullying has numerous definitions,
due to the fact that it has countless distinctive mediums. Internet Safety 101 defines cyber bullying
as, “…willful and repeated harm (i.e., harassing, humiliating, or threatening
text or images) inflicted through the Internet, interactive technologies, or
mobile phones”. Some different mediums cyber bullying
takes on are social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, or Xanga;
instant messaging sites like AIM; chat rooms; cell phones; and in some cases
the medium is email.
Unlike “traditional” bullying, cyber
bullying does not end when the school day does.
The victims can’t escape from being cyber bullied since it is being
directed at them with every different type of technology available. When they log onto the computer to do
homework, or play a game, a bully is there waiting for them. When they turn their phone on to call or text
someone there is an abundance of hurtful voicemails and texts. Cyber bullying can have so many different
schemes that traditional bullying does not.
There is gossip, which reaches many more people when it’s being done
online. There is impersonation, which is
when the bully breaks into the victims accounts (email, Facebook, Skype etc.)
and sends messages that knowingly will hurt, or embarrass that person. Another is cyber stalking, when someone sends
unsolicited messages, which can turn into another type of cyber bullying, which
are cyber threats.
With
all of these schemes available for cyber bullies it raises the question of
statistics of cyber bullying…
Statistics of cyber
bullying
Statistics from the i-SAFE foundations,
the Harford County Examiner, and Cyberbullying Research Center have found
similar, and shocking statistics relating to cyber bullying in 2011. More than half of adolescents have been cyber
bullied; around 10-20% of those are being continuously cyber bullied. Of those being cyber bullied, only about 1 in
10 tell a parent. And fewer than 1 in 5
report to law enforcement. The two most
common forms of cyber bullying are rumors started and spread online (13.3%),
and hurtful comments online (14.3%).
These
are alarming statistics of how often cyber bullying occurs, it leads to
concerns of the effects cyber bullying has on the victims.
Effects of cyber bullying
There are many psychological effects of
cyber bullying. A reported number of about 160,000 children skip school
everyday due to being bullied physically and through the use of technology.
One study found that cyber bullying
causes high levels of anxiety, with many of the participants saying that they
became less confident, were timid at school, and had to see a therapist for
depression (Hoff, and Mitchell 658-659). One of the reasons victims
stated anxiety as their main effect was because in many cases the bully was
anonymous, making it nearly impossible to stop the bullying. Other people from the same study reported high
feelings of anger. They stated that they
became mean; they started spreading mean rumors, and became threatening to
others. For some male victims who felt predominately angry with the cyber
bully, they chose to assault the cyber bully in order to stop the harassment. For the females who felt predominately angry, they chose to fire back with mean words.
Some, however, felt the only way out was to delete their account, or
change all of their passwords and account names.
But what about people who are so
relentlessly bullied that they feel the only ways out of their hell and anxiety
are by taking extreme measures?
We have all heard about someone who was
cyber bullied that chose suicide as a way out.
Like Ryan Halligan, whose father found him after he committed suicide. He chose suicide due to being relentlessly bullied online by girls who thought it would be funny to pretend to like him. Tyler Clementi, who committed suicide after his roommate posted a
video of him having a sexual encounter with another male online. Phoebe Prince, who after moving to the United
States from Ireland found herself a constant victim of cyber bullying,
ultimately leading to her suicide. Or
Megan Meier who committed suicide after the boy she was talking to through her
MySpace account turned hateful and began bullying her. (It was found out later
that it was not even a boy, but only a neighborhood mother trying to find out
if Megan was gossiping about her own daughter).
There are also those who choose to act upon their anger and go on a rampage of shootings. A study found that 75% of all school shootings take place because the shooter was relentlessly harassed and bullied (either cyber bullied or traditionally bullied)...
There are also those who choose to act upon their anger and go on a rampage of shootings. A study found that 75% of all school shootings take place because the shooter was relentlessly harassed and bullied (either cyber bullied or traditionally bullied)...
Image combination from komonews, msn, rawstory |
Becoming a cyber bully is often not
a choice. There is an idea that many times children begin
cyber bullying because of the environment they are in on a daily basis. If a child grows up in a household where
people make fun of each other, and are rude to each other, that becomes the
norm to a child, and it becomes justifiable to do the same to others. Some children act out because of their
friends. If their friend is bullying
people through a medium of technology the other child will join, in order to
fit in. But there
are some reasons more serious. Some
children have low self-esteem and in order to build themselves up they tare
others down. Ronald Alexander, author
of, “Cyber-bullying: It’s Not Cool to be Cruel”, says that it is a lack of
parents teaching their children empathy for others. Another factor Alexander says contributes to
it, is the ability for someone to become anonymous online. It makes them feel more powerful, and is
easier to bully behind a mask than it is when you can’t hide who you are. Some
children don’t have a daily structure, and becoming a bully happens because of
too much free time to spend online and dedicated to using technology. Whatever the reason may be for someone to
think that cyber bullying another person is ever okay, there needs to be a way
to prevent it.
So how do we prevent someone from
becoming a cyber bully? Alexander says
that when he councils families whose children may be on the wrong path he tells
them to take any opportunity they have to talk to them about compassion and
empathy for others, and how being cruel can “destroy lives”, it can be as
simple as talking over the dinner table, or on the way to soccer practice.
In a
survey from Pew Research Center 90% of adolescents (age 12-17 years old) are
online daily, in that same survey more than 50 % of those adolescents have cell
phones (Gabel, Snakenborg, and Van Acker 89). Since some children do fall into the habit of
cyber bullying because of misdirected energy (from the same source above, a
study by Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundatition found that in the past 2 years
people are now using a type of media or internet 2.25 hours more daily than
before) , we need to make sure they have the right daily structure. Whether it's that they’re involved in
sports, music, art, or any other extracurricular that will take time away from
their being “plugged in”. In this case,
the less time children have to dedicate to the use of technology, the
better. Stopping a child from becoming a
cyber bully could also be as simple as changing the way the family acts at
home. Spend less time being negative,
have a routine where you say something good about another family member every
night, and make sure to reinforce that making fun of someone is never a
respectable thing.
Although
those are ways to prevent a child who has not yet engaged in cyber bullying, it
raises the question, what do we do to prevent ongoing cyber bullying?
How have key members in
society society helped prevent cyber bullying, and what can we do?
Congressman Mike Honda (D-Calif.) supports
the new movie, “Bully”, as a way to teach children why cyber bullying is
bad. He and thirty-five other congress
members helped petition through a letter to get the controversial movies rating
from R to PG-13 so it can be viewed in schools and reach children who may be at
risk to becoming cyber bullies. Honda
thinks that the more public awareness that can be brought to the eyes of
people, the more chance we have at ending this epidemic.
Other celebrities like Ellen DeGeneres and
Meryl Streep also supported changing the rating of “Bully” through the
change.org petition....
The government is
also doing something about the new epidemic of cyber bullying. A bill that has just passed into Delaware’s
senate would allow
Attorney General Beau
Biden's office, and the state Department of Education to collaborate to make a
cyber bullying policy for Delaware’s schools.
If this goes through there would be a way to punish children in school
for cyber bullying they do when they are done with the school day. Currently a chart shows that 49 of the 50 U.S. states have laws against bullying and only 14 of those laws include
cyber bullying, and only 6 other states have proposed for it to be added to the law.
But
what can we do to help prevent cyber bullying? Many people think that because
they aren’t in congress, or because they aren’t a big named celebrity that they simply
can't make a difference, that couldn’t be more false. The biggest way you can help is by not being a bystander. If you see that someone is being cyber bullied don't stand by and assume it will end with time. Being a bystander is one of the worst things to do in that situation, take action. If you can, and feel confident, stand up to the person cyber bullying. Tell them that being cruel to someone is never acceptable, even if you dislike them. If you don't feel comfortable standing up to the cyber bully, tell a teacher, a parent, a guidance councilor. Tell anyone that will listen, and help respond to the problem. Being a bystander can kill. All it takes is for one courageous person to stand up and say, "this is never OK", it can change a persons life.
Another prominent way to take action, and make a stand against cyber bullying, is to sign a petition. Websites, like change.org have numerous petitions against cyber bullying available for anyone with an account to sign. It is simple, and free to sign up, and empowering to see a petition you have signed win, and have amazing results. Here is a petition against cyber bullying that you can sign, Cyber Bullying.
STOP cyberbullying, an organization whose goal is to put a complete end to cyber bullying believes that everyone can take action. They have tips on how ordinary people can do extraordinary things. Some of their tips include:
- Education Campaign: The best way to stop it is to educate people about it
- Take 5!: Before you respond to a cyber bully's hurtful words take 5! put the mouse down and take a step back
- Stop, block and tell!: If you find yourself in a situation of being cyber bullied stop, take 5!, block the bully from all resources, and tell someone you trust and know can help (there are also hotlines)
This epidemic is
claiming innocent peoples lives. The number
of people who choose everyday to end their life due to this is rising. We as a nation need to take a stand behind
these victims and put and end to cyber bullying. The statistics are alarming. The emotional and psychological effects are endless. The possibility for change is real. And the ways to help prevent this epidemic
are endless.
Notes:
1.) The background of this blog is from voanews
Notes:
1.) The background of this blog is from voanews
Printed Works Cited
Hoff, Dianne L., and Sidney N. Mitchell. "Cyberbullying: Causes, Effects, and Remedies." Journal of Educational Administration 47.5 (2008): 652-65. Print.
Snakenborg, John, Richard Van Acker, and Robert Gable. "Cyberbullyin: Prevention and Intervention to Protect Our Children and Youth."Preventing School Failure: Alternative Education for Children and Youth 55.2 (2011): 88-89. Print.