INTRODUCTION
The prominence of the internet shifted the paradigm of how people interact with one another. Internet was the catalyst for the expansion of worldwide affairs. For instance, communications has evolved from postal messages to efficient video calling. However, along with the positive of worldwide communications, it has also brought about a new subculture of bullying. Cyber bullying is a new age of terrorism that any individual can become a bully, especially online bullies. This type of bullying is extremely common with little to none regulation. A researcher had shown that cyber bully can be uncontrollable due to the low level of regulation. Cyber bullying consist of numerous negative effects that can harm an individual’s social, mental, and physical well being. In addition, the negative effects caused by the cyber bully may lead to depression, and ultimately death from suicide. Online bully is an ongoing social problem that aims to abuse online users in our society. Furthermore, Cyber bullying has been ingrained in our society and has withstood the test of time, it is detrimental in our society now taking on the form of cyber bullying.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Bullying in General
In general, bully is a defined term use to identify a person who is harassing another person. The topic of a bully is often broken down into two subcategories such as traditional bullying and nontraditional bullying. Patchin and Hinduja (2010), presented the idea that face to face physical bullying near schools is considered to be a traditional style of bullying, whereas the usage of technology to harass another person is seen as a nontraditional style of bullying (Hinduja and Patchin 2010, 738). The harmful use of developed technolo...
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...esource of strain causes natural aggressive behaviors. Therefore, teenagers are actively using facebook, text messages, multiplayer games, and web chats as a resource in bullying other people.
Suicide
After surveying 2,000 middle schoolers, an astounding 20% of students thought of suiciding, while 19% attempted suicide due to the harassment done online. In extreme cases, cyber bullying often lead to suicide. People as young as middle schoolers are already thinking of suiciding because of the danger of online harassment. Litwiller and Brausch (2013), suggested that “violent behavior, substance use, and unsafe sexual behavior were tested as mediators between two forms of bullying, cyber and physical, and suicidal thoughts (2013).” The role of violence contributes to the fact that children are used to being bullied which result in anxiety and suicidal behavior.
With the use of the internet increasing, researchers are finding a higher amount of cyberbullying. According to Hinduja and Patchin, “There is no shortage of potential offenders or victims of cyberbullying because of the widespread availability of computers and the Internet in the developed world,” (Hinduja and Patchin, 132). Both the writers make a good point stating this fact. With the amount of technology that is available to students, on different devises, has allowed them to freely communicate. While this is not all bad, there are major downfalls, cyber bullying being a big one.
The internet presents on opportunity for cyber bullying. Cyber bullying is exactly what it sounds like bullying by electronic means to include social media cites. Children who are bullied are usually able to escape from their bullies when they go home. Children who are on social media sites cannot escape their bullies, they are always there on posting on their accounts or sending messages. Smartphones and other devices now send you notifications to let you know someone has posted on your page or sent you a message. A bully can now post a message or picture and humiliate you in front of all of your peers and friends. According to a study published by JAMA Pediatrics, “Cyber bullying was more strongly related to suicidal ideation compared with traditional bullying”(van Geel, Veder, Tanilon168:5) An internet search of teenagers commit suicide on social media sites produced numerous sites documenting teenage suicides because of cyber bullying on various social media sites. One particular site, Nobullying.com, detailed seven teenagers from the ages of 12 years to 17 years of age, who had committed suicide due to cyber bullying on a particular social media site. Consequently, when we allow are kids to access social media sites we are exposing are children to potential cyber bullying, which can result in suicide ideations and suicide
The definition of bullying uses broad statements to define the actual meaning. Because of this, people may view the definition differently than others. Bullying can range from physical violence to verbal abuse to even cyberbullying. Most people do not realize how common cyberbullying actually is. Over half of teens and adolescents have been bullied online and almost the same number have engaged in the bullying (“Cyber Bullying Statistics”). Cyberbullying is becoming more and more prominent throughout this time period because of the technology continuing to expand around the world. Each year this statistic increasingly grows due to the technology
No matter where we are in the world, we all have witnessed bullying occur right in front of us countless of times. We see bullying occur every day in various different forms whether it be full on physical contact between two people or the exchange of messages intended to hurt someone via computers or smartphones. Bullying can be traced back to the 18th century, occurring in much the same way as it does today where one person is harassing another person (Tamietti). The term bully first originated in 1872 in a newspaper. (Tamietti) The act of bullying has evolved like anything else in this world, especially over the past two decades, an example of said evolution would be that now we see more cyberbullying than regular physical bullying. (Peagram) Cyberbullying are acts of “victimization, aggression, control & manipulation” towards someone via the internet or any device. (Nuccitelli) Bullying is causing so many issues to young ladies and gentlemen all over the world, many are getting
Although bullying has been around for numerous years, it has been considered a way to "toughen up" a child and prove their worth. As society changed so did other material, such as technology becoming more advanced. New accomplishments were achieved, however, the way people communicated among others through this new technology became just as bad as being bullied face-to-face. According to a book called Cyber Bullying, the word never existed before the year 2000, "before that time, there was no need for such a word to describe this type of bullying" (Hunter 8). Cyber bullying has become extremely prevalent in this new technological age that it is affecting countless lives without people realizing the outcome. There are many different ways bullies can make their victim feel rejected by others: cell phones, e-mail, instant messaging (IM), chat rooms, and even the very famous social networking. Behind that screen, the bullies feel more secure and confident to harass their victims in varies ways because it is harder to catch them and they are not facing the victim in person.
Teens use technological devices as weapons through the use of social networking websites, text messaging and other ways. Teenager use these social networking websites and text messaging to make fun of one another, call each other names and threaten one another all to the point where the victim feels worthless and ends up with psychological problems or in the worst scenario, committing suicide. The most famous website that teenagers use these days for cyberbullying is Facebook; they login to their account and write a status about their victim and tag their victim on the status or ask a friend who has the victim as a friend to tag him or her in a comment below the status. Teenagers also use chat rooms to post pictures of their victim and publicly humiliate and make fun of their victims and others usually join in adding to it. I decided to write about cyber bullying because it has been happening a lot lately and as a mother I am really concerned about it, so I would like to know what to do in case my children were to go through a situation like that. I took advantage that it’s a good topic for a research essay...
In recent decades, there have been numerous technological advances. Due to the availability of such advances, the use of this technology, particularly the use of Internet, is overwhelmingly present in our society for people of all ages. For instance, 93% of teenagers, ages 12 through 17 use the Internet, matching the 93% of young adults. Whereas, 74% of adults, ages 18 and older, use the Internet (Lenhart et al, 2010). Studies found that adult users over the age of 18 consider the Internet as a means of completing tasks such as shopping and paying bills, in comparison to those under the age of 18 who considers it a tool for social connections (Bhat, 2008). About 73% of teenagers and young adults as well as 47% of adults use social networks, the most commonly used being Facebook (Lenhart et al., 2010). The use of the Internet is not only limited to that of computers considering cell phones now offer mobile Internet. A large number of the population have cellphones, with 58% of 12 years old, 75% of teenagers, and 93% of adults owning cell phones (Lenhart et al, 2010). With advances in technology and its increased use, we have become perpetually in contact with one another, opening ourselves up to a new form of bullying: cyber bullying.
According to psychologist Anthony Pellegrini, Bullying is a specific form of aggression and one that is used deliberately to secure resources like friends, self-esteem, and self worth. Sites like Facebook and MySpace make this easy through public posts and retaliations that encourage other mutual “friends” to join in. In fact, peer to peer harassment and bullying is the most common disadvantage to these sites. “This is where students are finding their identity and terrorizing each other. Cyber bullying is contributing to a generation of socially maladjusted adults and social networking sites are paving the way. The hostile environments on these sites have helped cause this generation of girls to become superficial and cutthroat by behaving more like or worse than boys." This electronic meanness can lead to depression and more serious, suicide. [3]
Bullying has always been a worldwide issue faced in many schools, neighborhoods and public places. In the past, bullies targeted their victims by acting tough and intimidating in person. As our society advanced in technology, the types of bullying advanced as well. The creation of the internet and social media sites now allows bullies to now hide behind their computer screens to torment their victims. Social media negatively affects our society more than it benefits us because it has created cyberbullying. Cyberbullying has become a worsening issue in our society that is difficult to prevent. We need to reduce our usage of social media networks in order to decrease cyberbullying on the internet.
Traditional bullying that used to occur commonly on school-grounds has now been over shadowed by harassment through the Internet and other technology related devices. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary “cyber bullying” is defined as ...
In her article “How the Internet Has Changed Bullying”, Maria Konnikova explained how bullying has reached technology, and in the workplaces of many adults. The Internet has made it harder to escape from bullying, and easier for bullies to escape from confronting their victims. Furthermore, the author stresses that cyberbullying not only targets high schoolers, but it’s affecting the lives of college students as well (Konnikova 1). Cyberbullying takes place in the Internet world where is easier for a bully to gossip and humiliate multiple of victims in a faster pace. The studies have shown that cyberbullying is making a greater impact in the victims’ and the bullies’ lives more than the traditional bullying and many people are not aware of it; therefore the schools, witnesses, and employers should work together to fight against cyberbullying and provide help to the victims and bullies.
The most common type of bullying in today’s society is cyber bullying (Smith et. al). Cyberbullying is becoming more familiar among teens throughout the United States as our country becomes more advanced through the use of technology. Online bullying generally happen on social media websites. Cyberbullying can happen at any time of the day. It can be done anonymously or even using a different identity (Hoover). Over 80% of teens use a cell phone regularly (Cartel). This makes the cell phone the most
Technology has given individuals the opportunity to change the game of bullying. Cyber-bullying is one of the most common forms of bullying as of today. The Internet has no boundaries so the public has access to endless and countless number of things. Cyber-bully is the electronic posting of mean-spirited messages about a person (as a student) often done anonymously according to Merriam-Webster dictionary. While traditionally bullying and cyber-bullying are very comparable in forms of technique that also have many differences. Cyber-bullying gives the bully the benefit of hiding their identity behind a screen. This makes it easier to tear people down because they do not have to come in contact with anyone. It’s the easiest form of bullying. These can happen in text messages, chat rooms, email, websites, excluding people from certain online activities, digital photos, and social media. Cyber bullies have unlimited supplies of ways to hurt someone. It is difficult to conduct a study on cyber-bullying because the majority of people will not confess or admit to it. Instead, in the article “Cyber-bullying among adolescents: Measures in search of a construct.” Researchers sit and listen through the grapevine on what is going on inside of schools. They found out that cyber-bullying is more dealt with within adolescents than traditional interaction bullying. (Mehari, K. R., Farrell, A. D., & Le, A. H.) Cyber-bullying can cause more
“Bullying is a specific subset of hostile aggression in which (1) there is an imbalance of power with a more powerful person or group attacking a less powerful one, (2) the behavior is intended to disturb or harm, and (3) the behavior occurs repeatedly over time. The aggressive behavior may be verbal (e.g., threats, name-calling), psychological (e.g., exclusion, rumors), or physical (e.g., hitting, kicking). Bullying can be done directly in the classroom, hallway, or playground or indirectly and anonymously through e-mail messages and other Internet social networks. The power differential may be psychological or physical” (McWhirter, 2013, p. 299). Anyone can be a bully or victim. However, bullying is considered more common for adolescents. Due to the advancement in technology cyber bullying has also become common. However, cyber bullying can occur between people with little to no interaction with each other.
A great number of children and young adults are the main target of bullying via the internet. In most instances the youngsters cannot understand that they are being bullied as this shows that that the once safe internet environment is over time becoming a great sources of anxiety and confusion (Berson, Berson & Ferron, 2002). Cyber bullying tend to have negative effects of the one being bullied in that the victim attains a confused feeling and are hurt since they have been targeted and insulted for no justifiable reasons. With time the victims develop feelings of loneliness and fear and may opt to stay at home where they feel secure and may even avoid to schools or in other social gatherings. This is likely to affects