The Social Problem: Cyber Bullying

Amanda Todd was a teenager that committed suicide because she got cyber bullied. In 7th grade Amanda used to video chat on the internet with new people to hope to make new friends and she got compliment on her looks. Amanda did not realize that talking to someone she does not know is sometimes not so good. One day she was talking to a stranger. She did not know him and hoped to become friends with him. Well she did not realize that she was talking to a cyber-bully. He asked her to show her breast. A couple hours later the creeper black emailed Amanda and said he will publish those pictures in the internet unless she gives him a “show”. During a Christmas break the police told her that the pictures of her were found on the internet. She was really depressed so she started to use drugs and alcohol and her family moved to a new home. But the stranger knew that she was moving so he sent people of her new school the pictures to the students. So she changed school again. Her “old guy friend” used Amanda for sex while he is within a relationship with another girl. His girlfriend found out and she and a group of other people just beat her up. After the attack decided to committed suicide by drinking bleach but she was rushed to next hospital to get her stomach pumped. While she was in the hospital people were making fun of her failed suicide attempt on Facebook and other social networks. So Todd moved to another school and hoped to restart her life. But her past was not forgotten. People from her old school kept on teasing her on Facebook for 6 more months after she left. Amanda had to go to the hospital because of depression for two days. On her new school students teased her for her bad grades and for going to the hospital for her depressions. Amanda could not take it anymore and posted a video on YouTube of her holding flashcards about her life and depression and showed her arm which had several cuts on it. Amanda Todd was found hanged in her room on October 10th 2012. (Wikipedia)

Cyber bullying can ruin somebody’s life like Amanda’s life. She was just a girl who wants to meet new friends with him. But she talked to the wrong guy and she ended up being depressed and committed suicide. This could happen to anybody on this world, because they are tons of people who use Facebook or other social networks to stalk people. In my paper I am going to write about what cyber bullying actually is, how you can stop it, and why people do it.

Well what is cyber bullying? Most of the people think it is just teenager just making fun of other people on the internet. It is true that teenagers are making fun of other teenager but there is more about it. The web page “stopcyberbullying.org” says cyber bullying is “when a child, preteen or teen is tormented, threatened, harassed, humiliated, embarrassed or otherwise targeted by another child, preteen or teen using the Internet, interactive and digital technologies or mobile phones”. (STOPcyberbullying)

Internet has become a big influence in our daily life. We use it to shop, to look up information, play online-video games or listen to music. Even our phones have internet now. One of the main reason we use it though is to communicate and meet new friends on social networks like Facebook or Twitter. Zuckerberg announced that they are 500 million daily active users (Protalinski, zdnet.com).

Cyberbullying is probably the worst to bully someone. Not only students from their own school will humiliated, embarrassed and many other things that person. Every single teenager or adult could make fun of her or him if they wanted too. To be bullied and alienated from the whole word is not the greatest feeling. It is depressing and the victims feel like that everybody hates them. But they do not only get bullied on the internet. Most of them also get bullied in person and not only on the internet.

On October 7, 2006 Ryan Patrick Halligan committed suicide. He was bullied and cyber bullied. Ryan was a “sweet, gentle and lanky thirteen year old fumbling his way through early adolescence and trying to establish his place in the often confusing and difficult social world of middle school.” His parents said he “had the magic ability to bring a smile to anyone that looked his way”. Seems like Ryan is great kid and want nothing bad for nobody else. But no human is perfect neither is Ryan. He had problems with his speech, language and motor skills and needed special education from pre-school until fourth grade. The special education team loved Ryan because of his sense of humor. Eventually Ryan had go back to school and knew that he was not academically strong like his class mates are. It bothered him that he is not like his classmates are. One day Ryan thought he finally met a girl that actually likes him. So they started to message each other and having deep conversations and Ryan starting to like her a lot. The thing is that he did not know that girl just played him for her and her friend’s amusement. She showed her friends the messages he sent her and the girls just start humiliating and embarrassing him. They called him a loser and other names because of problem with speaking and reading and writing. Ryan could not take it anymore and committed suicide on the October 7, 2006. (Halligan, Ryan’s story)

His parents were so upset about their sons lost; they wanted everybody to know about Ryan’s story. So they made a web page and travelled from school to school to tell the children about how giving somebody names for and making fun of someone can hurt the victims really bad and make them have thoughts about killing their self.

Why do people bully other people on the internet or even person when it is obvious that it hurts them? There are actually two main reasons for teenagers to bully other people. One of them is when somebody is famous and popular at school. They might bully to stay popular. The other students think since the popular kid is doing it they also should start bullying the victim. So the popular teenager has the whole school against one person. Hurting other people make them more powerful. The other reason is someone who is less socially successful and wants to be accepted by their peers and cliques. They do not get enough respect from somebody else. So by bullying somebody they are hoping that they will get the respect from others. Also they do not really understand the victim feels when he gets bullied and is just hoping that he or she is not the next one. (Delete cyberbullying)

There are other reasons like a student has a problem with his parents so they let their anger out on other students, or that they are depressed because they cannot get what they want. The main reason why they bully is because they want to make them feel better about their self. And it is even easier to cyber bully. You can humiliate somebody on the internet without knowing who the bully is. People make fake accounts or post videos about someone and can be totally animus about it and the whole internet can see it.

Here is another example. A beautiful 17 year old girl goes to a high school in a big city and has friends and actually has no problems at school. Well one night she made a bad choice. She went to a high school party. She saw her friends drinking alcohol so out of peer pressure she drinks too. Everything seems to be fine but then she met this guy on that party. He knew that she was drunk so he used her. That girl loses her virginity on that night and some people knew about it. A Couple weeks later the girl finds out that she is pregnant. She gets called bad names at school and everybody is making fun of her. When she comes back from school she starts crying in her room and just wishes that she never even went to that party. Later when she was on the internet she saw people posting a video. In that video a girl was wearing her mask with the face of her and she put stuff under her shirt to look pregnant. The girl on the video says “hey my name Elizabeth smith and I’m so drunk. Does someone wants to have some fun with me?” the girl just breaks apart and cried for hours and does not come to school anymore because she knows that people will talk bad about her. She saw on Facebook how everybody calls her a “slut” and other names. So she thinks to commit suicide because she does not see a future in her life. Everybody knows her name and story because it is all over Facebook and other social networks. No matter what she does or goes people will embarrass her about the bad choice she made and call her names.

This story is just made up but what it does not mean it could happen in real life. Or maybe it already has. It could happen so easy. How can you stop cyber bullying then? What can you do to avoid things like in cases of Amanda or Ryan or even the story above?

One thing you can do is ignore it. If somebody says how ugly or stupid you look on a picture on Facebook then you should just ignore it. Cyber bullies want to grab your attention and they want you to think you are ugly or fat or stupid. If the bully still comments bad things about you then you should talk to someone like a friend or adult and show them what the bully has been saying about you. Ask for their advice and help. Maybe they can talk to the bully and tell him or her to stop. If possible cut the communication with the bully. Delete and block his number and block him from your social networks account. What also may help is if you report the bully on that web site so he might get kicked out. If none of the above helps and he keeps on bullying then you should talk to the police about it. (Delete cyberbullying)

Here are the things you should not do. You should never come to the bully’s level and try to talk bad about him because that is what he wants. The bully will always find something against you. Also do not forward messages from the bully. It could make the problem worse because you never know how far an email chain can go. One big mistake some victims do is believing the bully and thinking it is true what he says about you. The bully just wants to break your self-esteem. (Delete cyberbullying)

It is really important to do the right thing if you are in situation like that. If you do not do anything about it and just take the attacks from someone like that, then you might end up being depressed and do not feel like it is important to live anymore since everybody “hates” you.

What is difference between cyber bullying than just normal bullying? Why is cyber bully so more dangerous? The difference is not only that cyber bully is on the internet or on the cell phone; there is a lot more behind it. Real life bullying usually end when school ends but cyber bullying continues and does not stop. One big factor why it is so dangerous is the anonymity. Now it is a lot easier to be anonym on the internet. Everybody can make an email account and then create a fake account on YouTube, Facebook, twitter and many more. If you a person bullies in person well everybody knows him and in the worst scenario parents can do something about it. But what do you if you have no clue who the bully is? Also it makes it easier for the bully to say things to the victim per message than talk in person and say it in his face. Also once something really embarrassing for the victim is on the internet; it will stay in other peoples mind forever and will not forget about it so easy. Best example is Tyler Clementi. He got caught on video by his friends having sex with an older man. Tyler could not hold the stress anymore so he jumped off a bridge and died. So once it gets on public the whole world knows about it. This is another factor that makes cyber bully so dangerous. (Delete cyberbully)

So what are the effects of cyber bullying? How bad has it become? 2 13 million 17 year olds were victims of cyber bullying. 8 percent of them affected by cyber bullying try to commit suicide. (Chacha) Those are only the facts about one age group.

The movie “Cyberbully” is probably a good way to show cyber bullying. Taylor Hillridge a teenage girl iss a cyber-bullying victim and the cost it nearly takes on her and her family. Taylor is a pretty 17-year-old high school student but she is a little awkward, and she knows it. When her mom gives her a computer for her birthday, Taylor is excited by the prospect of freedom and the independence of going online without her mother always looking over her shoulder. Taylor soon finds herself the victim of bullying on a social website, and afraid to face her peers at school, including her best friend, she is pushed to a breaking point. It’s only after this life-changing event that Taylor learns that she is not alone – meeting other teens, including a classmate, who has had similar experiences. Taylor’s mom, Kris, reels from the incident and takes on the school system and state legislation to help prevent others from going through the same harrowing ordeal as her daughter.

The movie is not a true story. ABC made that movie to show people what cyber bullying is and what it can do to people. It is a warning to people and they were hoping that by making the movie that at least some people stop it.

“Nearly 43% of kids have been bullied online. 1 in 4 has had it happen more than once.” Almost half of American teens and kids have been cyber bullied and to some people it has happened more than once. It gets worse. “70% of students report seeing frequent bullying online”. If so many people see cyber bullying, why don’t they do something about it? Why can’t just anybody tell the bully to stop because he is hurting the victim’s feelings? The answer is because they are too scared to get also bullied because he is helping the victim. So the bystander just watches how one person ruins the other person’s life. The best thing about it is that 68% teens agree that cyber bullying is a serious problem but they don’t do anything about it. But there are people who tell bullies to stop. “90% of teens who have seen social-media bullying say they have ignored it. 84% have seen others tell cyber bullies to stop.” (Dosomething.org).

It is obvious that cyber bullying is a big problem. Most people are too scared to help or stop it because they do not want to become the next victim and the victims don’t ask for help because they don’t want to make it worse. “Only 1 in 10 victims will inform a parent or trusted adult of their abuse.” But a lot of people are bullying. 54% teens admit that have bullied some online or through text message or said something that hurt the victim’s feelings.

Since the victims are sometimes too scared to tell their own parents. How do you know that your own child is getting cyber bullied? There some symptoms. One of them is that maybe your child acts differently and does not is own routine anymore like waking up too late or too early, sleep longer or less, or the teen does not want to hang out with his friends so much anymore. Also if the parents know that their kid is being bullied at school could be a sign of cyber bullying because like above bullies don’t just stop bullying when school is over. Nowadays most kids have phones and internet and have Facebook or twitter account. So they can harass the victim 24/7. Another sign is low-esteem. If the parents or teacher see that the kid has low-esteem and he thinks bad about them self the whole time, then the parents should start thinking about what is wrong with their child. When the teenager gets really aggressive all off sudden is also a sign. One other symptom is low grades. The victim loses focus on school and his grades are getting worse. (Cyberbullyingfacts)

Of course there are more signs and symptom for cyber bullying. Like use of alcohol and drugs, skipping school, depression. But those are the main once. Parents need to make sure that their children can trust you with anything and then they will open up to you and tell what their problem is.

Over all cyber bullying became a big problem in America and other countries. It hurts people and makes them feel bad about them self and it is the worst way to harass and humiliate somebody. Even celebrities notice it or had experience of it. Demi Lovato was cyber bullied in middle school. People were harassing her in middle school. Demi created a web page that helps teens who have problem with cyber bullying. But also other famous people are against it and helping. Cyber bullying can get so bad that some teenager get depressed and sometimes kill them self because they don’t see an end in this. There is not much you can do about it because of the anonymity in the internet. But there are some things a victim and friends and adults can do to help the victim and to stop the cyber bullying. The victim can block the bully and ignore the harassment. Friends can help them by telling the bully to stop and that their friend is not what the bully tells him. Parents, teachers and other adults can tell the bully to stop and threating him with telling the police about his bullying. Those are the main points of stopping it. But people are actually need to do it and don’t be scared of the consequences if they tell an adult or a friend for help. If they don’t do anything about it early then it might be too late and the victim has already thoughts of suicide or other things. Words can hurt more than physical bullying because bruises from a fight will stay won’t last long but those words stays in the victims mind for a long time.

Work cited

“11 Facts About Cyber Bullying.” Do Something. 26 Jan. 2013 <http://www.dosomething.org/tipsandtools/11-facts-about-cyber-bullying>.

“Amanda Todd.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Dec. 2012. Web. 12 Dec. 2012.

“How Many People Die Because of Cyber Bullying?” Questions & Answers. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Jan. 2013.

“Delete Cyberbullying.” – Why Do People Cyberbully? N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Jan. 2013.

“Latest PostsCyber Bullying Facts.” Cyber Bullying Facts. 26 Jan. 2013 <http://www.cyber-bullying-facts.com/>.

“Ryan’s Story.” Ryan’s Story Presentation. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2013.

“STOP Cyberbullying: What Is Cyberbullying, Exactly?” STOP Cyberbullying: What Is Cyberbullying, Exactly? N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Dec. 2012.

“Zuckerberg: 500 Million Daily Active Users on Facebook.” ZDNet. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2013.