STOP CYBERBULLYING
By Silvia Zhang
WHY DO I CARE ABOUT CYBER-BULLYING
I am a private high school student in Virginia. Since it is a private school, traditional physical bullying does not take place very often; however, unfortunately cyber-bullying thus becomes a severe problem at our school. I personally have experienced slight social media exclusion when I was a sophomore. By then I realized cyber-bullying can actually impact our lives just as much as traditional bullying. My friend was also involved in a cyber-bullying event two years ago which made me recognize that cyber-bullying becomes a issue that does not only occur to me but rather wider groups of people in modern society. First thing first, it is important to analyze the difference between tradition cyber-bullying and the traditional form of bullying. The basic difference is that the internet occurs in cyber-bullying gives the offenders a hidden protection and hurt the victims even more than traditional bullying. This is due to various reasons. From the victims' perspective, some people find it to be shameful to share with others that they are being bullied; therefore, less people around the victim knows about it. meaning less opportunity to be helped and less justice often times. The bullying event becoming a secret is not only unhealthy for the victims but also unfair for the offenders. We all know that education does change the bullying atmosphere at school to a certain extend, but the secretive cyber-bullying is hard for educators to find out in the first place ("Preventing Cyberbullying").
EFFECTS OF CYBER-BULLYING
The effects of cyber-bullying are more under an emotional aspect, compared to traditional bullying. Feelings can sometimes harm us more in the following ways:
Feel overwhelmed
Feel exposed and humiliated
Feel dissatisfied with who they are
Feel vulnerable and powerless
Feel angry and vengeful
Feel disinterested in life
Read more...(Gordon).
WHAT CAN WE DO
Prevention of Cyber-bullying
Be aware of the change in mood or behavior of the student. Adults need to be sensitive about the relation of their kid's mood change to their use of digital devices.
Records also play an important role in prevention. For example, take screen shots for evidence.
School or social media platforms usually have policies clearly stating that any form of cyber-bullying is not allowed. If someone receives threats, the best way to solve it is to report the bully.
Support from others is the most important in the solving the effects part. Trusted friends or adults are oftentimes helpful. Therapy and seeing psychologists are further helpful methods ("Prevent Cyberbullying").
CYBER-BULLYING IN PUBLIC EYES
Celebrity
Cyber-bullying among celebrities is currently going on in our society. Celebrities many times are the paragon of fans. Cyber-bullying among celebrities, no doubt, enlargers the picture of cyber-bullying to the audience and many fans would assume certain actions are acceptable just because their idols do it as well. With the development of internet and technology nowadays, news gets spread around quickly; it becomes significant for us to focus on the potential causes of the increasing cyber-bullying events that are displayed to the audience. Public figures take part responsibility of it for sure. Following are the top five worst cases where cyber-bullying happens between celebrities ("Dir.MsMojo").
VICTIM
Emma
This video is Emma illustrating her experience of being cyberbullied by her best friend in sixth grade "The text message really hurt me and cut me really deep," as Emma stated in the video, her friend told her that she was a horrible person which psychologically really had strong bad influence on her. Emma at first thought it was a total embarrassment because her friend posted offensive things about Emma on Facebook which revealed their bad relations to everyone at school, but later it got into a stage where she could not solve the problem herself, so she reached to her mother for help. Emma's story reminds us it is important and helpful for victims of cyber-bullying to talk to others, solving the problem. "The longer you don't stand out for yourself, the longer cyber-bullying will go on", said Emma("Dir. Common Sense Media").
According to Ed TechReview's "20 Cyber Bullying Quotes That You Must Spread Right Now":
"Unless and until our society recognizes cyber bullying for what it is, the suffering of thousands of silent victims will continue. "- Anna Maria Chavez
"Cyber bullies can hide behind a mask of anonymity online and do not need direct physical access to their victims to do unimaginable harm. "- Anna Maria Chavez
"It's easy to be mean when you're Unknown Author. There's a lot of people who wouldn't have the cajones to say in person what they do online. But you can't listen to somebody you don't even know. Opinions of your friends and family matter, but you can't listen to somebody who is nobody to you." – Brendan Dooling
"Cyber-bullying is poised to turn into the biggest online concern, already affecting up to 35% of all children. "- Dr Martyn Wild
"It’s funny when I’m cyber bullied (anonymously) because when people do it to me, I don’t think of how much I want to hurt them or punch them in the face like my friends do…but I go on this site and write a quote to them back, hoping to kill them with kindness." - Ashley Jackson
CONTACT ETCB
The ETCB (End To Cyber-bullying) is an organisation based in New York City, United States founded by Samuel Lam and David Zhao on may 1st, 2011 which mainly takes care of modern society's cyber-bullying issues. Lam and Zhao initially established the ETCB in hope of educating teens, parents or even educators about cyber-bullying, and, of course, eventually to stop cyber-bullying. ETCB's headquarters in NYC is willing to help victims as well as spreading the positivism of stopping cyber-bullying. There are, in fact, many organizational centers in local areas which help people who are impacted by cyber-bullying. This is definitely a positive and necessary phenomena in modern society. As many victims find it as a shame to share their bullying ("End to Cyberbullying").
experience with people around them, these organizations with physical locations thus become a "lounge" for them to share their stories, express their feelings, and hopefully be cured as soon as possible.
Don't hesitate contacting ETCB if needed! Here is the information of ETCB. Check out their website for open hours and learn more about them now!
16 E 40TH STREET, 8TH FL
NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10016
772-202-3822
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Dir. Common Sense Media. YouTube. YouTube, 08 Apr. 2015. Web. 18 Apr. 2019.
This was a youtube of a girl Emma telling her cyberbullying story as a victim. It simply creates some variety to my website as well as providing clear sources for readers to understand that how horrible the situation could be for young teens to be bullied.
Dir. MsMojo. YouTube. YouTube, 02 Sept. 2017. Web. 18 Apr. 2019.
This youtube video is about top five worst cases which celebrities got bullied. I personally found it significant because nowadays celebrities’ actions influence us dramatically. People even make decisions based on their celebrities’ influence.
"End to CyberBullying Organization." End to CyberBullying Organization (ETCB). N.p., n.d.
Web. 25 Apr. 2019.
This is the website of the ETCB-End to Cyberbullying Organization. It is an organisation based in New York City that welcomes victims of cyberbullying. Although the website itself isn’t necessarily a good looking one. I found it fascinating to a have such organization providing victims opportunity to physically walk in to solve their problems.
Gordon, Sherri. "How Does Cyberbullying Affect Your Child?" Verywell Family. N.p., n.d. Web.
19 Apr. 2019.
This is a website I linked to my own. It provides a lot of details in the effects of cyberbullying especially from parents’ perspective. I personally think cyberbullying can be a bigger issue for kids simply due to their young age and immaturity. Thus it is good for adults to have such sources.
Gupta, Priyanka. "20 Cyber Bullying Quotes That You Must Spread Right Now." EdTechReview.
N.p., 06 Mar. 2016. Web. 20 Apr. 2019.
This website has 20 quotes of cyberbullying which I personally find useful in educating people about the issue. However, I did not use all twenty of them. I picked the ones tend to be more understandable and professional at the same time.
"Prevent Cyberbullying." StopBullying.gov. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2019.
This last website that I used was by “StopBullying.gov” which is a famous and professional website. This specific one contains information for preventions of bullying. To make a website of cyberbullying, preventions should, no doubt, appear as an important part.