Pains of Cyberbullies

Cyberbullying is a prominent problem in the digital age. The effects of cyberbullying don’t just affect the physical wellbeing of the victims, but also the mental and emotional state of the victim.

Although most schools have dealt with bullying issues, cyberbullying has its own separate definition when it comes to bullying. With cyberbullying becoming an epidemic among young individuals, this also leads to concerns for school officials. This leads to questions if schools or campuses equipped to teaching students what cyberbullying is, the effects of cyberbullying, and the consequences of those who choose to cyberbully. There is much enlightenment about the problems of cyberbullying as well as what it looks like from an outsiders perspective.

When defining the definition of a bully; it’s a when an individual persistently attacks another person on an on-going base. In the book, Bullying Beyond the Schoolyard (2015), it is stated that a bully is someone that shows “aggressive behavior that is intentional and involves an imbalance of power” (Hinduja, S.K., & Patchin, J.W., 2015). The imbalance of power can be many indicators such as popularity, social competence, extroversion, or socioeconomic status (Hinduja, S.K., & Patchin. J.W., 2015).

When understanding the indicators of how a bully gains power over their victim, it was the socioeconomic status that resonated the most. It reminds me of the recent viral video of a student being bully by his peers due to his clothing which was a reflection of his socioeconomic background. Although that particular case could have gone wrong, it was two boys who returned to school with a bag full of new clothes for their classmate after witnessing the bullying. This video was filmed as the boys (who became upstanders) gave the bullied child new clothes. One way to ensure that bullying isn’t part of the culture is to take way the imbalance of power from the perpetrator; individuals who witness the bullying behavior must become upstanders. The boys who came back to school with clothes for the bullied boy took the imbalance of power away from the perpetrators by becoming the upstanders.

This also goes for the University of Tennessee story about the boy being bullied about his homemade college t-shirt, the university took the bully’s power away by creating the t-shirt as their official design and rewarding the boy with a free ride to the university. If these actions were continued in all cases of bullying then the imbalance of power will be taken away from all perpetrators.

Cyberbullying is the act of using technology in a manner similar to bullying to inflict mental, and emotional harm. Cyberbullying can be intentional or unintentional but otherwise, some of the results are devastatingly harmful to the victims (Hinduja, S.K., & Patchin. J.W., 2015). It’s quite heart wrenching to hear the stories of Amanda Todd, Megan Meier, Ryan Halligan, and Jeff Johnson. These victims of cyberbullying ended their lives due to incessant cyberbullying. Not one individual stood up to say something until it was too late and these individuals took their life by suicide.

In order to end cyberbullying, schools should adopt cyberbullying programs to not only teach victims of a place to go but also what bystanders could do to end cyberbullying before it gets worse. Also teaching parents about the particular Apps that are available to students and their potential risk to create situations of cyberbullying is needed and to also teach parents on how to communicate the wrongdoing of cyberbullying and the results of such actions.

Bullying is something to be quite familiar with, but cyberbullying is an entity that continues on after the bell has rang for the end of day, and a student returns home. It’s an incessant virus that can consume an individual to seeking harmful behavior to “cure” the pain of those cyber actions. It’s important to create programs for students, parents, and teachers to understand and learn how to deal with the process of cyberbullying.

References

Hinduja, S.K., & Patchin. J.W. (2015). Bullying beyond the schoolyard. Thousand Oak, California: Corwin.