Cyber Bullying Vs Traditional Bullying Essay

Colvis 1

Cyberbullying: Worse Than Traditional?

For many years, kids have been getting bullied around the world. From harassment to punches, children become emotionally and physically scarred. But traditional bullying has taken its toll in a new form- cyber bullying. More kids have been getting computers, cell phones and social media accounts. Many adults have dealt with traditional bullying growing up, but cyber bullying is much worse, especially for the new generations. It is much easier to harass and play with people over the internet as the years go on.

In “Cyberbullying vs Traditional Bullying”, RaychelleLohmann asks, “Just how different is traditional bullying from cyber bullying?” Most teenagers think whatever they put online will not be seen, or will be taken as a joke, but

for 52% of America’s teenagers, they become emotionally scarred victims. 25% of surveyed students have reported being bullied online, but only 12% could say the same for traditional bullying. According to galegroup.com, traditional bullying is defined as any type of bullying carried out through non-electric means, weather it is punches, harassment or verbal abuse. This also involves harassment of a victim by an aggressor whose intent is to conflict harm. Cyberbullying is the use of electronic communication to bully someone. “Although cyber bullying is less physical, it can have devastating and long-lasting affects. Even with the stereotypes of a large student picking on a smaller kid, cyber bullying has completely changed society.” (Meech). Even somebody small can be the bully, especially because it is much harder to identify cyber bullying. Anyone can be the bully, and anyone can be the victim.
Cyberbullying can lead to many factors, such as depression. “Victimization of young people online has received an increasing level of scrutiny of teenagers who have reported being bullied on social media.” (Pappas Depression). Ask.fm, a social media site where teenagers can ask questions anonymously, was linked to many teen suicides in the US. Most kids used ask.fm as a way to bully because the site will not mention their name. Jessica Laney, a 16 year old in Florida, took her life after having an ask.fm account for only two months. People would write posts on her wall saying “kill yourself” and “nobody cares about you”. 20% of teens attempt suicide because of cyberbullying, one in five are successful. Only 9% of children who are traditionally bullied attempt suicide. Pappas also found that 36 social media sites had an effect on teen health ages 12-18. “Children who are bullied online are more likely to experience anxiety and depression” (Pappas). About 30% of children who are bullied had or have mental health problems and needed medical treatment. The effects of cyber bullying for these victims are long lasting and aggressive.
Since new technology has been placed in the hands of teenagers, cyber bullying is much more common.

The act of terrorizing and ridiculing others online has increased the number of victims. “Cyberbullying gives the perpetrator an extra degree of protection” (Gale 2016). Bullies can hide their identities and attack victims anonymously. Knowing that their identities will be hidden allows the bully to antagonize more and more, thinking they will not get caught. “Another way cyberbullying differs from traditional bullying is that the victims of cyber bullying are less likely to report incidents because of fear of punishment,” says Gale in Differences in Bullying. Kids are also afraid of losing their electronics because their parents want to protect them. Victims of traditional bullying sometimes do not even have to report being bullied because the bully will already be caught, considering it is easier for adults to see. Only 58% of parents have a social media account, so they cannot always see when their child is being bullied. One in seven children have admitted to actually being the bully. They either were pressured to bully, or they did it because they were unhappy with

themselves.
Cyberbullying is an ongoing problem around the world. Although many children have also been traditionally bullied, cyberbullying created longer lasting effects. Cyberbullying has also caused depression, anxiety, and many suicides all over the United States. Traditional bullying and cyberbullying have significant differences, but as these generations and technology grow, cyberbullying becomes one that needs to be solved.