Cyber Bullying
Published on Jun 25th, 2006 in Essays with
One thing that I have a strong opinion about is Cyber Bullying.
First of all what is Cyberbullying? Cyber bullying is when a group of people send, post, or put up sites about you that contain death threats, hateful comments and other rude and unwanted sayings about you.
Recently, I had read an article on CBC news about a boy who was humiliated all over the web. A bunch of students who remain anonymous decided to create a site that was dedicated to him. The website was full of hateful comments and slurs and one person even sent him an email that said “You’re gay, don’t ever talk again, no one likes you, you’re immature and dirty go wash your face.”
The situation got so bad that the boy had to drop out of school and finish the rest of the year at home. But this is just one example of Cyber bullying.
Another boy made a video of himself pretending to do the well known movie “Star Wars”; when students got a hold of this tape they posted it on the web for all to see. Many people downloaded it (and still are today) and joined in on the so called “bully game”, adding sound affects making it a parody. What the boy thought was fun, turned out to be a living nightmare.
A recent survey that was done found out that 14% of young Canadians had been threatened while using messengers like msn and yahoo. The other 16% of them admitted to the fact that they were posting hateful comments themselves about kids, parents, and teachers.
A survey that I had found on the net said that 99% of Canadian students have used the internet. 48% say that they use it for at least an hour a day, and nearly 60% say that they use chat rooms and instant messaging.
All children should follow some sort of guideline when they are on the computer. After some research, I came across the following tips for children and teens using the internet.
Guard your contact information (Home phone number, home address, email, school you are attending ect.). Don’t give out your cell phone number our, your instant messaging name.
If you are being harassed online, take the following actions immediately:
• Tell an adult you trust- a teacher, parent, sibling, relative ect.
• If you are being harassed leave the area or stop the activity (ex. chat rooms, online gaming sites, instant messaging, web cam…)
• If you are being bullied through e-mail or instant messaging, block the sender’s message. Never reply to harassing messages.
• Save all harassing messages received, and forward them to your internet service provider. (Ether Hotmail or Yahoo) most providers use appropriate policies that restrict any user from harassing you and others over the internet- which includes kids or teens.
• If the bullying includes any physical threats, tell your local police, don’t try to take it in to your hands.
A computer is a privilege and should not be used to abuse other people in the cyber world. The computer should be used with moderation and not as a toy.
Cyberbullying continues to grow more and more each day. Whether you are the victim or the one that is the bully, it should be stopped. After you look into the damage that can be caused by cyberbullying, I am sure that you will have even a stronger opinion on this problem, because I know I sure do.
Remember every one can make a difference, why not start today. When you Cyberbullying – you are abusing someone. When you stop- they are no longer a victim of your abuse.
Resources: www.cybersting.ca
About the Author
Dragon Boy is an opinionated, outspoken preteen with a lot to say. Visit his blog at http://www.digitalfrenzy.net where he blogs about the daily life and opinions of the world as he sees it.
This is well said and cyber bullying is something that continues to grow it’s very sad indeed and well said Dragonboy