Cyber-bullying may not seem like much, but in reality there are real people behind these monitors with real feelings. Cyber-bulling has caused depression, and even driven some people to have low self-esteem, and insecurities that may sometimes cause them to harm themselves and others. Cyber-Bullying is a growing epidemic with children as well as teenagers that has to stop before someone ends up hurt or worse dead. “Cyber bullying is defined as being cruel to others by using the Internet or other technologies, such as cell phones.
It can include harassing others by sending offensive or insulting messages through instant messaging, posting cruel gossip and rumors on social networking sites, sending embarrassing photos via cell phones, or impersonating someone online for the purpose of humiliation. As the use of the Internet and other technologies has increased, so has the use of these technologies to harass and bully others. ”( “Cyberbullying. ” Prevention Researcher. Web) There are millions of people suffering from Cyber Bullying all around the world.
In Japan there was a Japanese child by the name Makoto he was getting bullied over Cyber-space. People was telling him that he should commit suicide because nobody liked him, after reading this and hearing these things about him, Makoto became anorexic and rarely emerged from his room and tried to commit suicide twice in a year. “When people tell you your life is not worth living you start to think that way. ”(Makoto Web). With Japan having over 96%(Cyber Bullying Bedevils Japan. Web) of high school students having their own cell phone the bullying never stops.
After a boy at the age of 18 jumped off of a high school building and died because children from his high school and other high schools in Japan was posting nude pictures on cyber-space it drew attention to both children and adults of Japan that Cyber-Bulling is more then just calling a person a bad name. Since Cyber-Bullying caught attention to both schools and parents in Japan some are using a E-mail filtering software, computers and special settings on their cell phones to protect themselves and their children from harassment. After interviewing Mr. Lopez the counselor for C. I.
S and asking him what is his knowledge of cyber bullying. His response was.. “Cyber-Bullying has become common placed in recent years. The youth of today have turned to cyber space to maliciously attack their peers by sending such strong messages of hate. The sad part of this is that many social networks, such as Facebook, have settings where the teens allow for everyone to see what is posted I on their pages. ” (Lopez). How many years of experience do you have working with cyber bullying? “Cyber Bullying has gained prominence through the explosion of such online social outlets such as MySpace and Facebook.
This has become more of an issue in the last 3-4years. ”(Lopez). What information would you give me on the topic of cyber-bullying? “Most of cyber bullying comes in the form of hate messages posted online. Unfortunately, as mentioned, many of these online personal pages are set publically so everything that is posted is seen by all. This has traumatically affected those who are cyber bullied to the extent they have gone as far as to take their own lives. ”(Lopez). How many people came to you about this topic? “Through my course of time here at GCM, I have encountered around 10 cases of cyber bullying.
More most definitely exist but only a few have been brought to my attention. ” (Lopez). At the National Institutes of Health or NIH, they survey in “contrast to earlier studies of traditional bullying, which found that the new highest depression scores were reported by another category of youth involved in bullying-bully, and that traditional forms of bullying involve physical violence, verbal taunts, or social exclusion. Cyber bullying, or electronic aggression, involves aggressive behaviors communicated over a computer or a cell phone. ”(National Institutes of Health.
Web). Which means cyber victims are likely more to have a higher depression level then face to face bulling because their attacker identity is kept behind a monitor , so the victim feel more helpless and dehumanized than ever. Many of today’s new technologies are designed for the sole purpose between individuals and not only is it easier to communicate with your friends and family but they can meet new people. Among the young children and teens online on Facebook, MySpace, and other chat rooms there are bond to be harassed are cyber-bullied.
Ellis, Lisa, and Melissa Luhtanen of “Cyber bullying: bulling through technology. ”(LawNow. Web). They had examined and surveyed young Canadians that this new technology my be great and everything but also find out that 59% of the users have a different identity and of those 17% said that they pretended to be someone else just to they wouldn’t get in trouble. Ellis, Lisa, and Melissa Luhtanen also gave some tips how to avoid or at least ignore the harassment and bullying over the internet. Just to name a few.
For e-mail if you don’t recognize the sender as a bully, ignore and delete the message, and for cell phone change your phone number and if the text is really disturbing contact the police. “A new state law defines cyber bullying as harassment, intimidation or bullying of a student on school property by another student using a computer, mobile phone or other interactive or digital technology. Louisiana legislators passed a law this year declaring cyber bullying a crime punishable by jail time. Another law passed this year mandates that all Louisiana school districts have an anti-cyber bullying policy in place by Jan. . ”( New Orleans schools.. Web) “Cyber-bullying has become prevalent among teens, according to Deborah Black, the Beaufort County School District’s lead middle school counselor who works at Beaufort Middle School. Hurtful gossip spreads much faster than it used to, she said. ”(Is Your Child…Web)
Five or 10 years ago, Black said, a classroom bullying incident was limited to whoever happened to see it. Some students might have called friends to talk about it after school. Now, kids have the tools to spread the word instantly. “You can text 100 people in 30 seconds,” Black said. It’s instantaneous and it’s very widespread. “Such an incident led to the arrest of a 14-year-old student at Battery Creek High School on Oct. 4, according to a sheriff’s report. The student was charged with third-degree battery and assault, a misdemeanor, when she attacked another girl after that student forwarded a derogatory text message about her to other students, according to the report. The girl who was charged told a school nurse that a week earlier, the other student had taken a picture of her, put music to it, added derogatory comments and then forwarded the photo to several other students, the report said.
No charges were filed against the other student, according to the Sheriff’s Office. (Is Your Child…Web). Raychelle Lohmann, the district’s lead high school counselor, said, “technology allows students to avoid face-to-face confrontations. ” (Is Your Child…Web). “Cyber-bullying is an easier type of bullying for kids to do,” said Lohmann. “It’s a lot easier to slam someone by posting something online than it is to go to a kid’s face and say something. ” (Is Your Child…Web). “Kick a Ginger Day”—“Fair to say, the majority of adults reading this article have no idea what this means.
A bunch of junior-high-aged kids in Calabasas, California, did, however. On November 20, 2009, at least four girls and two boys were subjected to physical and/or verbal bullying and abuse because of their red hair, freckles, and pale complexions. Ginger. Gilligan’s Island. Redheads. It’s quite a leap. What makes this bullying story relevant is that the call to action was initiated via a Facebook invite to a day of “Ginger bashing,” sent by a thirteen-year-old boy who was inspired by a South Park episode in which the Cartman character describes people with red hair, freckles, and pale complexions as “evil” and “soulless. The Los Angeles County sheriff’s office reported a number of incidents throughout the day. Two twelve -year- old boys were detained and booked on charges of “battery on school property because of cumulative incidents through the day. ” The thirteenyear-old who created “National Kick a Ginger Day” was booked for cyberbullying or making a threat via electronic communication. Sheriff’s officials say at least eight played some role in the bullying of redheads that day. Clearly, the sarcasm and parody of racial prejudice intended by the South Park episode was lost on the thirteen-year-olds and the message didn’t translate.
The larger issue and lesson for camps, schools, and parents, though, is how quickly and easily this kind of online bullying activity can escalate. The stories of how one comment leads to five comments, which leads to a Web of communications, which leads to abuse and even suicide, are becoming more and more commonplace. Anyone working with kids has to know what cyberbullying is, appreciate that it is everywhere, and realize that all kids are at risk of exposure. In this article we will discuss what cyberbullying is, define the dangers, and talk about what camps need to do to reduce its ugliness. ”(A Cyberbullying Protection Plan. Web)
