Cyberbullying Vs Traditional Bullying

Reports by the Bureau of Justice indicate that 28% of middle and high school students experience traditional bullying, with 18% experiencing cyberbullying. Traditional bullying has been defined as “intentional aggressive behavior repeated over time…when supervision is at a minimum” (Simmons & Bynum, 2014, p. 452-453). Cyberbullying has been defined as “willful and repeated harm inflicted through the use of computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices” (Patchin & Hinduja, 2010, p. 615). Face-to-face and virtual bullying have grown to such proportions that the U.S. Department of Education has referred to bullying as an “urgent social, health, and education concern” (p. 789). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, The American

Certain children and adolescents have used this increased access to harass and intimidate others. Cyberbullying can take many forms including online conflict with vulgar language, repeatedly sending insulting messages, posting rumors, impersonating another individual and sending false information, sharing someone’s personal (embarrassing) information online, excluding individuals from online groups, and intense harassment that escalates into threats of physical harm (Simmons & Bynum, 2014).

Unlike traditional bullying, cyberbullying has the appearance of anonymity, and thus may appeal to individuals who may never consider face-to-face confrontation. The apparent invisibility of being online can entice adolescents to engage in behaviors they may normally never consider. Social norms are different online especially when individuals hide behind aliases and distance themselves from their actions. Not having visual contact with their victim, perpetrators cannot see the pain they are inflicting and have no need for empathy (Accordino & Accordino,

The persuasive force of education can truly make people realize how harmful cyberbullying really is. By teaching empathy, proven to be a protective factor against cyberbullying as well as a correlative factor for intervening in cyberbullying situations, the incidences of the behavior can be reduced. Showing the fallacies behind prejudicial thinking and behaviors, people can see that we really are not all that different after all. Misperception leads to conflict, and by teaching children that everyone has the same basic emotions, feelings, and thoughts, as we are all human, would dissuade bullies from targeting their victims in the first place. By harboring cooperation between conflicting groups, such as a bully and his/her victim, eventual cohesiveness will be reached. By learning that they share more in common than previously thought, and seeing the negative effects of the bully’s actions on his/her victim, peace can eventually be reached between the two parties. In this type of situation, mediation would be the most effective approach to solve the conflict, as a third-party should be present in order to make sure the bully does not continue to victimize their target. This provides a safe situation for the victim to confront their aggressor and allows for a middle ground to be found among the