Cyber-bullying
May 8, 2009 by Kine
As in the real world where people experiences harassment, lack of respect and gets victimised, the internet is unfortunately a fertile soil for these kinds of action, and especially the young ones would be familiar with this on different levels. Cyber-bullying is defined by Wikipedia as to “involve the use of information and communication technologies to support deliberate, repeated, and hostile behaviour by an individual or group, that is intended to harm others.” The National Crime Prevention Council say that cyber-bullying is “when the Internet, cell phones or other devices are used to send or post text or images intended to hurt or embarrass another person.”
Cyber-bullying can be as simple as continuing to send e-mail to someone who has said they want no further contact with the sender, but it may also include threats, sexual remarks, pejorative labels, ganging up on victims by making them the subject of ridicule in forums, and posting false statements as fact aimed at humiliation. From this is obvious that social media can be taken advantage of when it comes to cyber-bullying, e.g. hate groups on Facebook, embarrassing pictures, humiliating messages and gossip written on walls, accounts opened in fake names etc. Though the use of sexual remarks and threats are sometimes present in cyber-bullying, it is not the same as sexual harassment and does not necessary involve sexual predators.
In school: ”. ..you don’t want anyone to think of you as a “gossip” or someone who says things about other people. Everyone wants to be “nice.” You don’t have to be nice if you don’t want to online.” - 13 year old girl, Edmonton. (Source: Young Canadians In A Wired World Survey Focus, Media Awareness Network, 2004)
This statement makes me sad, and determines the fact that Internet and social media can be a really damaging tool in the hands of people with the wrong intention, this stated by a girl who’s only 13.
I just recently came across the term cyber-bullying for the first time. But it’s existence was not surprising at all.
This negative side of the web is really scary because it’s even less controllable than the ‘offline-bullying’. Who knows what’s going on anywhere in the web? At the same time it is a very hard and complicated task to set online boundaries to prevent it. Where to start? And how to control such a massive space like the internet? Isn’t it somehow like controlling the world?
Unfortunately bullying will exist in any social environment, and I’m sure often it is no less damaging in an online environment.
Apparently it happens frequently at my brothers high school. They’ve had a number of letters about it in recent years.
I agree with you and find it very sad, that the web provides opportunities for people to bully others. It does so many great things, but offers channels for bad behaviour as well. Baring in mind how many criminals use the web for their actions is just frustrating.
Hence, as Tom says, in any social environment there is people who are good an honest as well as the ones who enjoy being evil. This leads me back to a conclusion I’ve made already a long time ago: don’t believe all what is written in the web and don’t take things personal from people you don’t actually care about. And for the children: Keep it real and have REAL friends in the REAL world – they are much more fun