Cyber Bullying!

Cyber bullying and its impact on society Colleen Saunders

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What is cyber bullying? • when someone repeatedly makes fun of another person online or repeatedly picks on another person through emails or text messages, or uses online forums and postings online intended to harm, damage, humiliate or isolate another person that they don’t like.

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Where cyber bullying occurs… • In today’s society, bullying has become easier throughout using technology, it’s not just the basic school gossip or rumors anymore. • It occurs through instant messaging, text messaging, Myspace, email, phone calls, and even through pictures on a camera. • Cyber bullying gives access to kids to spread rumors to a lot more kids, and faster. • Cyber bullying can cause intimidation, emotional damage, and sometimes even suicide.

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Facts on cyberbullying.. • • • • • •

More than 50% of kids/preteens between ages 9 and 14, in middle schools in the US, experienced bullying on the internet or had a friend who did or had been bullied. Cyber bullying in a growing factor. In 2000, there was a 6 percent increase, and in 2005, there was a 9 percent increase. 41 percent of victims do not tell anyone in their off-screen lives about their abuse 17 percent admitted to bullying another individual online. Girls are affected more with cyberbullying than boys are, they become very depressed. Girls also are more likely to bully a peer than boys, resulting in girls spend more time on the internet. An extreme example of cyberbullying is in 2006, a 13-year-old girl hung herself when people posed her as a teenage boy in myspace and harassed her to the point of her death.

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Some reasons why kids choose to bully other kids only is because they are bored, and looking for entertainment. Susie McLean, cyber sex specialist, said that internet bullying affected more teens than drug abuse. She also stated that, “For some reason, people feel inhibited on the internet, that’s just the psychology of humans.” Kids who bully online more than likely lack communication level in person, so has to do it through the internet, to feel some sort of authority. Myspace is a big factor of embarrassing other kids, example, posting up upsetting picture of other kids. “flame wars”, in chat rooms, is an exchange of insults geared toward one child, and there are multiply kids in on it.

What Parents can do to help prevent cyberbullying… •

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Most parents haven’t got a clue, this is the part of the digital divide. Parents have fallen for the saying that what happens online is private and that children have a right to be online. Majority of kids do not tell there parents when they are being bullied online, and that is a concerning fact. Some guideline parents should follow to protect their child from online bullying: 1. If a child receives an online message that in threatening, do not reply, open it, or block the user immediately. 2. If a child is being bullied online and it gets threatening, they should tell someone or if its life threatening, call the police. 3. To prevent these messages, parents should use a special software to monitor their child’s time on the internet. 4. The bullies goal is for the child to get upset, tell them to be strong and don’t let the bully know that is got to them. A big tip a parent should always give there child, is it ignore!

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2. I think the best thing to do if you are a parent and your child is being cyber bullied is…… • Ages 14-18 • Deal with the situation first, then receive help if it gets bad. • Ages 19-39 • Ages 40 > • These ages groups both said similar things, go immediately to an adult, or if its bad, receive help from the police or school authorities.

6. How important is it for a child to tell authority as soon as they are being cyber bullied? • Ages 14-18 • 4’s- 3 people • 3’s- 1 person • 1’s- 1 person • Ages 19-39 • 4’s- 1 person • 3’s- 3 people • 2’s- 1 person

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Ages 40 > • 4’s- 4 • 3’s- 1

8. I think technology that is used for bullying kids is….. • All three ages groups were aware of the technology that kids use to cyber bully one another. • Computers, cell phones, AIM, email, chat rooms, MySpace, etc.

Conclusion ! :) • These results and information informed me a lot about cyber bullying, which I did not know much about. I think people need to pay more attention to what children are experiencing, and try to stop it now, before it gets worse in the future.