Cyberbullying: A Growing Problem

Bullying has been around forever, however with today’s technology bullying has become easier than ever. It is easier to bully in cyberspace than it is to bully face to face. With cyberbullying a bully can pick on people with much less risk of being caught. Bullies are natural instigators and in cyberspace bullies can recruit the participation of additional students who may be unwilling to bully in the real world. Cyberbullying is any harassment that occurs over the Internet. Vicious discussion posts, name calling in chat rooms, posting fake profiles on web sites, and cruel email messages are all ways of cyber bullying. Cyberbullying can be more serious than conventional bullying. At least with conventional bullying, the victim is left alone on evenings and weekends. Many people may think that cyberbullying is not a problem in life; well, think again, it can change a victim’s life forever by just one offensive comment about them. It will make the victim want to commit suicide, drop out of school, and suffer from self-esteem issues like depression and anxiety. We must fight for what is right, the sooner the better. The movement into the digital age has change the behaviors and interactions of minors and it is time our culture to rethink its relationship with the Web and social networking.

Cyberbullying is an old concept just in a new world. Pre-Internet bullying involved socially engaged children and teenagers picking on their friends and other children in the school yard. Traditional discipline included detentions, phone calls to their parents, and some sort of reconciliation between the children involved. Today, however, the atmosphere for bullies has dramatically changed and the risk-reward balance has been significan...

... middle of paper ...

...." Teaching Tolerance. Southern Poverty Law Center, 2014. Web. 31 Jan. 2015.

.

Medina, Jennifer. "In Person or in Pixels, It's Still Bullying." New York Times 13 Feb. 2014: 7. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 31 Jan. 2015.

Toppo, Greg. "High-tech bullying may be on the rise." USA Today n.d.: Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 31 Jan. 2015.

Willard, Nancy E., Cyberbullying and Cyberthreats: Responding to the Challenge of Online Social Aggression, Threats, and Distress. Champaign: Research Press, 2007. Print.

Zickuhr, Kathryn. "Defining Generations | Pew Internet & American Life Project." Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project. 16 Dec. 2012. Web. 31 Jan. 2015.

.