Did you know that more than half of kids on the internet say they have experienced cyber bullying by either doing it to someone or having it done to them? And more than one out of three say that they have experienced it more than once. Cyber bullying is the harassment of a child by another child. If it involves an adult then it is no longer cyber bullying, it is cyber harassment or cyber stalking.
We may not be subject to cyber bullying but many of our younger siblings may be, and unfortunately they don't know what to do about it so most of them don't tell anyone. This causes many tragedies some may not be as extreme but others may have irreparable consequences. In isafe.org they reported that many children commit suicide or murder because of cyber bullying. Many children get threaten through calls, text, and the Internet and once they feel they have no way out they rather commit suicide. Many children get bullied through the Internet because the children doing the bullying are not afraid of what might happen if they get caught.
I'm sure that there are many kids out there that start cyber bullying their classmates as just a game but these kids do not realize what their jokes and games are causing. We as adults should help educate children and give them information about what can be do to prevent situations like these both for the bully and the child being bullied. You may ask your self how can we help exactly, we might not have time to go far out of our way to try and create a program or class but we do have siblings we can create a trust connection with. We should create a trust bond with children in our families to have a greater possibility to be informed if they are in a horrible situation like cyber bullying. We can also help teach them what is wrong to do online, and what they can do to help their friends who are being cyber bullied. We may think that doing these things is not going to make a great change but if everyone where to do them we could see a greater change!
I think that there just needs to be a general class on bullying. As discussed in "Born Digital," bullying going on offline is as prevalent as bullying going on online. There is never going to be a time when we see not a single incidence of someone being bullied, but i do believe the number of incidences can be greatly reduced. This all starts with education from when the kids are little.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on the fact that we need to teach everyone the effects of cyber bullying. The fact that a child who is bullied cannot even have peace in their own home, away from school, is utterly ridiculous. Does the bully not have a life of their own, or do they just live to torment others to the point of suicides. It pains me and enrages me anytime I hear that a child has committed suicide from being constantly bullied by another. If parents knew more what their children are doing in school and occasionally monitored their activities online, I'm almost sure the actual amount of harassment children received would drop.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what all of you said. There does need to be classes on cyber bullying; but I don’t believe it needs to be for the kids, but rather the parents. As parents you should have more control over your kids and not let them be so involved with an online life. I know you won’t be the popular kid in school but there is more to life than middle school, high school, or even college. The parents need to know how to steer their kids through these times and introduce them to other alternatives than playing online, you’re only a kid for a little while, be one.
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