Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying is defined as the use of any technological means of communication, such as email, text messaging, websites, or discussion forums, to intentionally hurt, defame, or intimidate another person. Cyberbullying can occur in the following forms: a threat of violence, hate speach, harrassment, peer pressure, bribery, psychological abuse or extortion. As technology immerses itself further into the lives of society, cyberbullying can follow a victim anywhere through a cell phone, computer and other emerging communication devices. Compared to traditional bullying, cyberbullying occurs because the increased use of technology had made bullying even easier with chat rooms and social networking sites. Nevertheless, cyberbullying is just as unethical as traditional bullying. The ubiquitous nature of cyberbullying has made it into an important social issue, and has led to the formation of initiatives such as Stop the Rage and Stop Cyberbullying which were obviously created to prevent cyberbulling from occuring.

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An example of cyberbulling in which the bully enters the victim's home and types their insult on Wordpad

Background

While traditional bullying is not a new concern, the emergence of cyberbullying brings to light many new methods of harassment and questions about solutions to stop the hurtful behavior. Cyberbullies feel they do not have to face the consequences of their actions in the online environment and often say things they would not normally say in person. One environment in particular where ramifications of cyberbullying are seen is in schools, as any form of bullying is most commonly displayed between children and adolescents. This generates discussion of ethical responsibility because the act of cyberbullying does not occur in the school, but the effects are very evident in the environment. The idea of cyberbullying can also be extended to include hurtful tabloid talk and exploitation of celebrities.

Cyberbullying vs. Traditional Bullying

While traditional bullying in schoolyards or hallways has been a long problem, cyberbullying creates new methods of harassment with a much greater effect.

Anonymity

There was a time when all bullying happened face to face. However with Internet, people can bully anonymously through social networking sites. A cyberbully can cloak his or her identity using anonymous email addresses or pseudonymous screen names. The victim usually doesn’t know who is bullying them or why they are being bullied.

Widespread

Traditional bullies have to let their victims see them and can only gain supposed from friends around them. Cyberbullies, on the other hand, can threaten or humiliate their victims without their identity being known to an audience of thousands of people. Using social networking sites, a cyberbully can post stories to a large number of people with minimal effort. There are potentially an unlimited number of witnesses.

Location

It is easier to be cruel using technology because a bully will not feel the repercussions of their actions in a timely manner. They do not get the social cues from the victim, such as crying or pained facial expressions, that let them know they have gone too far. Those around them do not a chance to ostracize or scold the bully due to the lack of an audience. The lack of normal social cues from others enhances the victimization.

Increased Level of Damage

Cyberbullying is more threatening than traditional bullying because the potential harm of damaging statements is greater. With cyberbullying, victimization is more prevalent and the dangerous effects of bullying are amplified. Cyberbullying communications are difficult to completely delete; they persist online for longer than a vocal jeer made in public. The increased threat is also due to the anonymity associated with forms of cyberbullying. Because the victim does not necessarily know who their attacker is, there is a more realistic threat. In turn, a victim has the same opportunity to lash out at their bully. The equal opportunity to this type of harmful speech continuous the cycle of victimization.

Characteristics

Cyberbullies share many of the same characteristics as those of traditional bullies. Both parties are known to have poor relationships with parents or guardians.

Cyberbullies are also more likely to:

• be victims of traditional bullying
• be frequent and daily Internet users
• be involved with harmful substances
• be responsible for other delinquent behavior

Motivations

Cyberbullies find many different reasons for their actions:

• protection of another friend under attack
• establishing power by instilling fear
• invincibility through anonymity
• technological manipulation skills
• boredom
• attack of a weaker peer

Platforms

Cyberbullying can occur anywhere technology allows it. Examples include social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, as well as cell phones, chat rooms, forums, blogs etc. Social media sites stand as the most common instruments employed by cyberbullies to harm their victims. Social media sites, with their sense of anonymity granted as a result of the complex social organization found within them, allows for users to speak up against bullying that they see taking place.

Victims

Victims of cyberbullying are most commonly vulnerable members of the population being examined. They are often also victims of traditional bullying. They often experience isolation or exclusion from other peers because of a lack of popularity or other factors. Victims often suffer from depression, anxiety, and low self confidence. Because of these factors, victims are more likely to experience cyberbullying because they seek attention and/or acceptance from peers and hence are easier to manipulate. They are also apathetic in observing Internet safety strategies, in relying on their parents for guidance or help, and in reporting abusive situations.

Effects

The main effect of cyberbullying is significant emotional hurt. Victims have trouble in school, including poor concentration, poor class performance, and tardies or absences because of low self confidence, depression, and anxiety. Because cyberbullies are commonly anonymous, victims can become hypersensitive and paranoid in their environment. Some serious documented effects include violence, severe dysfunction, and even suicide.

Prevention and Solutions

There are no magic solutions to combat cyberbullying and other threats over the Internet. However, people can take preventative measures to reduce any risk that exsists. On the Internet, there are many public displays of connections. For example, on Facebook, the list of friends people have allows access to friends profiles and then to friends of friends profiles. Keeping friend lists on Facebook accurate and up to date is an important way to avoid unwanted encounters. Cyberbullies seek a reaction from the people they harass. When they fail to get one, they often give up.

Ethical Implications

Bullying in any form is considered an unethical action. Because of the pervasive nature of technology in people's lives, a very efficient outlet for harassment is created in a technological environment with the birth of social networking sites and other communication portals. Techonology progresses faster and easier, but our moral principles are no different from what existed before; rather there are the same ethical issues just on a larger scale. For many victims of bullying, the virtual environment is only another place for them to be bullied. Anonymity online has made it easier for bullies to target their victims because at times they are able to generate fake profiles on multiple social networking sites to target their victims.

Some people have questioned whether or not cyberbullying constitutes legislative action, and how cyberbullying can be defined as to be precise enough in an ever diverse technological world. With different technologies for virtual communication, cyberbullying can extend to various media. Recently the state of Michigan has signed into law that would require schools to have a policy for bullying, including cyberbullying. Some critics of the legislation believe that the accounts of bullying in an online environment does not translate into the offline world.

Cases

Phoebe Prince was a 15 year old girl who in early 2010 hung herself after months of bullying and ridicule that occurred both in person and over the popular social media site Facebook.

Megan Meier is a 13 year old girl who committed suicide a few weeks before her 14th birthday. She was humiliated via hurtful messages through MySpace from a fake profile created by a former friend's 49 year old mother.

Tyler Clementi was an 18 year old student at Rutgers University who committed suicide in 2010 by jumping off of the George Washington Bridge after a webcam video displaying him kissing another male classmate was posted on the Internet.

Cyberbully Quiz

Stop Cyberbullying has created a test to see whether or not you are a cyber bully and to what degree. You may not know you are a cyber bully because what may seem innocent fun to you can cause harm to others. The unclear definition of cyberbullying makes it hard to convict as well as hard to determine what bullying content looks like. Quiz