The Pros And Cons Of Cyberbullying

The author Isabeau Doucet discusses on the growing prevalence and cruelty of online harassment and bullying. This has become a serious problem of this generation because kids are committing suicide over online bullying. Online bullies even target families of ones that have died, harassing grieving relatives in their hard times.

Theres a big difference in this generation between cyberbullying and traditional bullying. Cyberbullying is more severe. While victims of traditional bullying feel more safe at home, cyberbullying victims can be attacked from anywhere at anytime.

Cyberbullying is defined as behaviors among peers such as making fun of, spreading rumors, telling lies, sending threats, and sharing private information or private photos without permission to do so. It is very difficult to escape this type of bullying, as long as the victim has a mobile phone or a computer. Internet access allows children to access a much larger virtual community than in the past, so they become more of an easier target. The internet also allows anonymity, a bully can target a victim while shielded behind a computer or mobile device.

While this technology held out promise of a new era for information sharing and education, it also came with a dark side. The Web Sites that were created overtime has evolved with the technology, yet they continue to be a very effective tool for spreading hatred, giving people that strongly and unfairly dislike other people the ability to reach a potential audience of millions. Now the ability to spread hateful messages has reached new dimensions. It has taken on a new life in the form of cyberbullying or the ability to use and abuse the fairly new technologies.

The new form of bullying has been more prevalent in m...

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... actions. They are not present to deal with their targets reaction or response.

Many teens shrug off cyberbullying as merely annoying, or even funny, although it could have serious consequences. Targets of cyberbullying, can experience emotional distress , including anger, frustration, embarrassment , sadness, fear, and depression. Cyberbullying has also been linked to what we have read to delinquency and violence, substance abuse , possession of weapons on school grounds and most commonly suicide.

Because teens spend so much time communicating with their friends online, they can possibly be losing the social skills needed for real interactions with other people, face to face. The internet makes friendships seem more valuable than real human relationships. This makes cyberbullies continue their behavior as a casual thing without consequence in the real world.