Cyber Bullying

Cyber Bullying

Bullying has always reared its ugly head in our society through the ages. But people no longer have to be physically big or powerful, in order to bully and threaten others. They have a new powerful tool at their disposal -  Technology. With technology, bullies can often remain anonymous and that is very empowering for them. Any kind of harassment or bullying using electronic devices is generally referred to as Cyber bullying. 

Cyber Bullying and can in fact be even more damaging to the victim. The cyber bully’s reach is not confined to just the schoolyard anymore. Its reach, haunts them in all aspects of their life, invades their privacy, affects their reputation and may even cause financial losses. It can be as simple as hateful websites about a person, bombarding them with malicious emails or text messages or spamming others while pretending to be the victim. It could even be publicizing , personal information about the victim, which could in effect make them targets for offline bullying.      

I have thankfully never been the victim of cyber bullying.  However instances of cyberbullying abound all around.

Last month, a Rutgers Student University left a webcam on it his room, and livecast his roommate, Tyler Clementi, having sex with another man.  In addition to doing live streaming, his roommate also tweeted about this on Twitter. A devastated Tyler posted a goodbye message on Facebook, and committed suicide.  Maybe he did not want others to know he was gay. Whatever his reasons, they were still his own, and webcasting his personal life was inhumane. 

Amanda Marcuson, of Birmingham, Michigan had reported some other girls in her class for stealing. In response she was spammed with malicious text-messages – as many as 50 in just 2-3 hours. (Incidentally both examples were reported by the press so I have used their original names). 

Some instances of cyber bullying are extreme and can even led to a tragic death like the Rutgers Student. But even milder forms of cyber bullying can lead to lower self-esteem, a drop in grades, depression and being ostracized by peers. 

We always have to be careful when we are online. It is never a good idea to give out our personal information when online – our age, address or even school. We should also be careful about privacy settings on our web browsers and other sites we use. On public forums, it is important to remember that written word really can’t be taken back. We never know who is going to read it. You should always keep in mind that there are people who misrepresent themselves or have less than noble intentions. While teens may like privacy from parents, they are still a trusted source. Our privacy from strangers is even more important and parents need to be in the loop as much as possible.  

As great as Technology is, a small segment of the population always seems to finds ways to misuse it and use it for destructive purposes. We have to be on our guard for that.