Cyber Bullying

1461 Words3 Pages

Stutzky suggests that cyber bullying is the use of modern communication technologies to embarrass, humiliate, threaten, or intimidate an individual in the attempt to gain power and control over them. Bullying has been around since the beginning of time. These days however, bullying isn’t just happening on the playground, it’s happening on the internet and mobile phones, making it possible to bully a child 24 hours a day. Cyber bullying follows children around the clock and into the safety of their own bedrooms. A recent survey by MindOh!, an educational company that follows youth trends, reported that nearly 80% of the 5,500 teens that were surveyed said that they had been exposed to cyber bullying. Cyber bullying affects the mental health of so many young adolescents around the world, and the issue is steadily increasing as more and more ways to bully are created.In extreme incidents, cyber bullying has led teenagers to suicide. Most victims, however, suffer shame, embarrassment, anger, depression and withdrawal. While technology continues to evolve, new means of communication enable today’s bullies to become more effective in terrorizing and tormenting their victims. The aim was to increase awareness and decrease the prevalence of cyber bullying- Year 9 at Meridan State College being the stakeholders (people involved). The Health Education students hypothesised that educating the Year 9 students at Meridan State College about cyber bullying in the 21st century, and providing them with strategies to effectively deal with being a target will increase general awareness and decrease the prevalence of bullying online or via phone. The Anti-Bullying Alliance states that up to one in five pupils has been cyber bullied.The action pl... ... middle of paper ... ...ch 2011, http://www.surfnetkids.com/go/safety/60/how-to-avoid-cyber-bullying/ • McDougall, B, "Victim of a cyberbully", The Daily Telegraph, Sydney, 23rd February 2005, pg. 29 • Cyberbullying and Sociocultural Theory May 2009, , accessed 20 March 2011, http://wik.ed.uiuc.edu/index.php/Cyberbullying_and_Sociocultural_Theory • Yuritta, K 2009, School attacks cyber bullying head on, accessed 24 March 2011, • Hope Saves Lives newsletter February 2011, Salvos, accessed 24 March 2011, • Purcell, 22 March 2011, Working to Stamp Out Bullying, Finda Sunshine Coast, accessed 30 March 2011,

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