Introduction
Bullying has always been a problem in schools. Physically stronger kids harass, oppress and intimidate other children whom they perceive as weak or unable to stand-up to them. Bullying can be done verbally or physically and in many cases both tactics are used. Bullying will leave both emotional and physical scars that can negatively impact the development of the victim. While children, parents and school officials are still battling with typical bullying they are now confronted with a new enemy – cyberbullying. The principles developed to combat bullying still apply in this case but children and adults will have to learn another set of rules. In the Digital Age they need to be acquainted on how children use cyberspace and mobile communication devices to defame, destroy, and kill.
What is Cyberbullying
In simple terms, cyberbullying is bullying using computers, the Internet, and mobile devices for communication. It is like sending long-range missiles that are destructive and yet can be fired from a safe distance and send it anonymously. According to concerned citizens in the fight to stop cyberbullying, the term is used when, “…the victim or bully is a child or a teen” (Make a Difference for Kids, Inc., 2008). If adults use information technology to bully others it is called cyber harassment. It is important to point out the distinction because kids with access to computers can destroy lives as easily as adults.
This practice of young boys and girls harassing, intimidating and oppressing other kids are called by other names such as online social cruelty or electronic bullying and according to the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) it can involve:
- Sending mean, vulgar, or threatening messages or images;
- Posting sensitive, private information about another person;
- Pretending to be someone else in order to make that person look bad; and
- Intentionally excluding someone from an online group (HRSA, 2006).
Electronic bullying is made possible by personal computers, the world-wide-web, and mobile devices that can instantly send and receive messages. Thus, victims of this type of bullying can find no rest from these attacks and there is no safe haven for them because even at home the bullies can still spew deadly venom through the use of modern technology. The means of attack can be in the form of:
- E-mails or Instant messaging;
- Online School Bulletin Boards;
- Text messages sent on cell phones;
- Web pages;
- Web logs (blogs);
- Chat rooms or discussion groups; and
- Other information communication technologies.
The use of e-mails is a preferred choice for bullies because of easy access to sites that offer free e-mail accounts, Yahoo! and Gmail are just a few examples. Moreover, signing up is not only free but it is very easy to create bogus accounts that is almost impossible to trace and the identity of the true owner difficult to ascertain. Cyberbullies can use e-mails to send messages that are cruel, vicious and threatening. Cyberbullies can also steal passwords and then break into the victim’s e-mail account and send vicious or embarrassing messages to friends and classmates.
Aside from e-mails one heartless method is to send messages to an online school bulleting board. Cyberbullies can spam the school’s bulletin boards and post messages that target a particular student. The hateful message is amplified because it is not only limited to the bully and victim but shared by other students who will read the humiliating messages posted on the bulletin board. This type of cyberbullying can easily emboldened bystanders to join in the teasing and name-calling because for many there is nothing wrong with these type of messages – most of the time it is seen as a mere joke.
As technology continue to improve, so does the capability of school children to manipulate information technology to suit their needs. Unfortunately cyberbullies are also improving their techniques. One effective way to humiliate and harass victims is to create a website that contains stories, cartoons, pictures that makes fun of other children. Websites can be very effective in destroying a child’s self-esteem because it can be accessed by many. The victim can delete an e-mail message with cruel messages on it but the website is untouchable and controlled by the one who created it.
Cyberbullying is not only limited to computers and the Internet. This time around the arrival of high-tech mobile phones is bringing sheer panic to victims of cyberbullies. A mobile phone equipped with a camera can be easily smuggled into a gym’s locker room and the victim unaware that the phone has a far more sinister purpose than being a communication device. And so when the victim is changing his or her clothes the cyberbully can take pictures. The unflattering pictures can then be sent to other children with camera ready phones and they can embarrass the victim for a very long time.
Based on the aforementioned facts it is clear that one major distinction between cyberbullying and ordinary forms of bullying is the absence of physical violence. But this is no consolation because the effect is far more deadly than being punched in the gut. Experts agree that victims of cyberbullying, “…respond much like traditional bullying victims in terms of negative emotions such as, feeling, sad, anxious, and having lower self-esteem” (Make a Difference for Kids, Inc., 2008). But aside from feeling depressed and feeling anxious victims are also prone to carry weapons to school and they can also be driven to commit suicide (Make a Difference for Kids, Inc., 2008). There is therefore a great need to stop cyberbullies from wreaking havoc in schools and homes.
Prevent and Stop Cyberbullying
Since cyberbullying involves kids it is imperative for victims to involve their parents in resolving this problem. Stopping cyberbullies require more than a trip to the office of the school principal. There are things needed to be done and it is best if an adult is part of the process. For instance parents can inform Internet service providers and cell phone companies about the unlawful use of their services. Parents can file a complaint and make it known that there is a violation in the “Terms of Use” and telecommunication companies can terminate the account of the cyberbully.
If the identity of the cyberbully is known then the parents can writ a letter to his or her parents together with the offensive messages that were sent by their child. Parents can also collaborate with school official to put a stop to cyberbullying by students in the said institution. Parents can also assist victims of cyberbullying when it comes to filtering messages and blocking unwanted e-mails and instant messages. Unfortunately victims rarely involve parents or teachers in fighting cyberbullies. According to one survey victims are prone to hide:
- 51% of preteens but only 35% of teens had told their parents about their experience;
- 27% of preteens and only 9% of teens had told a teacher; and
- 16% of preteens and teens who had been cyber bullied had told no one (U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration, 2006).
It is has been made clear why parents and teachers can greatly assist victims in stopping cyberbullying. But cyberbullying can be prevented from occurring and therefore minimizing the damage created by such deviant behavior. The best thing to do is to make sure that kids guard their contact information so that no one can access their account or send unwanted messages to them. The second best thing to do in response to cyberbullying is to ignore it. Cyberbullies will not waste their time with someone who is not affected by their actions. The third best thing to do is to raise the level of awareness that there is a growing menace in the schools. Parents and teachers must not be naïve with regards to how modern technology can be used to make fun, threatened and humiliate others.
Conclusion
Bullying is not a new phenomenon in schools. But the advent of new communication technologies created a new type of bullying, one which does not include physical violence but only the emotional and psychological distress caused by harassing, intimidating and humiliating preteens and teens. The impact of this new type of bullying is multiplied many times over because the victims can no longer find refuge in their homes because communication technologies are so advanced that bullies can sustain their onslaught even after the end of classes. Messages can be sent through e-mail, instant messages, to a website, school bulletin boards and even the victim’s cell phone.
But this has to stop and the best way to do this is to guard the person’s contact information so that cyberbullies will not be able to send them anything. But once cyberbullies succeeded in their attempt to send hurtful messages, the victim must immediately tell his or her parents so that the cyberbully can be confronted and punished for his or her actions. The parents must also coordinate with school officials because cyberbullying occurs in places where the victim is unsupervised by an adult. It is also important to ignore the messages sent by the cyberbully, for if there is no response then the cyberbully achieves nothing.
References
- Make a Difference for Kids, Inc. (2008). “What is Cyberbullying.” Web.
- National Crime Prevention Council. (2008). “Cyberbullying.”
- U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration. (2006). “Cyberbullying: What Adults Can Do.”