Online safety is a big concern in this day and age. People have learned to hack, steal, even bully online. Internet safety is something everyone should be concerned with. Cyber bullying is a topic that has been coming up a lot lately. TV movies, commercials and legislation have been bringing awareness to the issue. Cyber bullying is the use of the internet and related technologies to harm other people, in a deliberate, repeated, and hostile manner. The reason this is becoming more prevalent in society is the much more frequent use of the internet and social networks, such as Facebook and twitter. Even though this type of bullying may not be physical in any way, it is very emotional and psychological. Not to mention that this type of bullying can be seen by anyone on the web as opposed to just the school yard full of kids.
I believe that cyber bullying is a horrible act to commit and I am glad that this issue is becoming more public. I am unsure how this issue can be solved, but raising awareness will definitely help. I know that Facebook is a big part in every young person’s life right now and even the older and younger generations are being introduced to Facebook, which is why I feel that cyber bullying can really hurt. Someone hacking or posting a mean comment on someone’s Facebook can really affect that person because all your friends and even family can read that, which is where the emotional and psychological damage of cyber bullying can come from.
I agree with you on the topic of raising awareness. I am not sure of the solution either, but bringing it to the attention to more and more people is a good start! As for Facebook, I think many people sign up for it with the wrong mindset. They want to use it for things other than keeping in touch with friends and family. This is where the cyber bullying comes into play.
ReplyDeleteI really like how you mentioned that cyber bullying involves emotional and psychological factors. I feel that since so many people are communicating online where we usually can't physically see each other, we may react differently when we see a harsh or rude comment made. Since we may be in the comfort of our own home, we are able to express our reactions that we may have hidden if we were physically in the presence of our attacker. This probably causes us to be more sensitive to material we read about ourselves and may affect us more on the emotional level.
ReplyDeleteCyberbullying is a major issue, which is, much too often, overlooked. Even after the 2007 suicide of Abraham Biggs, when people online were egging him on to overdose to his death, legislation for cyberbullying has not yet been put into effect, even though cyberbullying suicides have not ceased.
ReplyDeletePeople need to realize that each crude joke and hateful comment is impactful, and can mean the difference between life and death to someone else, especially when magnified with the publicity of social networking. I absolutely abide with your statement on emotional and psychological effects; that cannot be overemphasized, in many cases.
I completely agree with Amyy. After hearing some of the devastating stories about kids who have been the victims of cyber bullying, I feel that there needs to be some sort of legislation that makes it an actual offense, punishable under law. I think that all too often, kids go online with the idea that just because it is not a physical thing, that means it is not serious. Because we are increasingly living more and more of our lives online, legislation needs to account for that and aim at protecting people there as well. I have talked to a police officer about it once and according to him, there is really nothing they can do about it besides track down the kid and talk to him and his parents. In my opinion, this is not enough when people are dying from it. I strongly feel that until there is a law aimed at preventing it, not much will change.
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