Essay About Cyber Bullying
Essay About Cyber Bullying

Essay About Cyber Bullying

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  • Pages: 12 (3245 words)
  • Published: December 23, 2021
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Cyber bulling refers to the act in which someone deliberately threatens to harm or makes an harassment by the use of the internet and other information technology avenues in a manner that is consistent. The act of cyber bulling can take different methods ranging from acts like spreading rumors to even performing acts of defamation in order to make them feel humiliated in the end.

Due to the rapid advancement in technology, the incidences of cyber bulling have been on the rise and the youths are the largest victims due to their high tendency to stay online (McQuade 2009). Cyber bulling takes place any time of the day and the messages are usually from anonymous sources and tend to spread quickly over a very wide audience which therefore makes it very hard to trace the real source. Cyber-bullying may exhibit a neg

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ative and detrimental effect on the self-esteem of adolescent victim. Social media sites like the Facebook, The twitter, MySpace among others have been the leading grounds for the perpetration of cyber bulling. Once this happens, some people choose rather to ignore it while others fall prey to the same. Since these social media sites have a large number of users, those who perpetrate the acts have increasingly enjoyed a large pool of victims over the years.

Another avenue through which cyber bulling is perpetrated is via gaming. This mostly affects men since men indulge in a variety of gaming activities compared to women. There are a variety of ways in which these habits are schemed and perpetrated. These include impersonation. This is whereby the perpetrators come up with fake accounts in order to play around wit

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the victim’s trust. In other cases, they may hack into one’s account and use it to send malicious and dangerous messages to other people (McQuade 2009).

Another approach used is the cyber threats. These are usually messages that are usually sent to them in order to make them feel uncomfortable. Harassment is another method that is used by unruly groups in order to send messages that tend to insult or offend the victims in the end. Cyber bullying like any other harassing habit instills fear and insecurity to the victims.

With consistent exposure to this habit, the victims are affected emotionally and this could lead to a direct negative impact on their levels of self-esteem. Due to this aspect, the victims undergo mental torture and some of them eventually resort to acts like suicide (McQuade 2009). Other effects could include disappointment, depression, and lack of self-confidence among other mental problems. With a consistent exposure to this habit, the individual is likely to portray withdrawal symptoms and due to this, they might find it very difficult to engage in group activities and for those in school, their academic performance may be negatively affected. The study of cyber bullying is of a very important course in the current period since this is a generation where there is a very fast technological advancement. With the pace in which the technology is evolving, it is the same manner in which the perpetrators of the vices are quickly advancing their tactics.

There is therefore the need to bring to attention the possible dangers, highlight the potential risks and let the youth be aware of the potential risks. The social theory seeks to make

an analysis of the changing trends in the current real world situations and there is a very close relationship between cyber bullying and the social theory (McQuade 2009). It is therefore becoming very necessary that researchers and experts take into consideration the necessary measures that can be used in order to combat the vice and make the social media and other information technology networks more secure for use. In any typical society, there is the need for peaceful coexistence and it is therefore very important to make the online space a more amicable place for the users. In matters personality development theory, Freud argues out that an individual’s personality is generally an output of some asp-ects of the brain. These aspects include someone’s ego, feelings among others.

There are avenues through which the brain of an individual can be manipulated to react. Cyber bullying is one major way that has a very direct psychological impact. Since the personality development theory focuses on the conflicts that are experienced in the various parts of the brain, the impact of cyber bullying perfectly fits in. Once an individual becomes a victim to this vice, they are subjected to feelings of fear, intimidation, and low self-esteem among other negative feelings.

Since there are a plenty of withdrawal symptoms, it is very apparent that the victim tends to be undergoing quite a large number of conflicts in their brains. Freud in his theory puts it clearly that an individual’s psychological development takes place when they are still young and since teens are the major victims of psychological bullying, it is very crucial to note that their behavior is likely to be shaped

by the experience they receive from the perpetrators. There is therefore a very close correlation between the vice and the theory under study. With the passage of time and technological advancement, there is a lot that is popping up each day. The first article under analysis is entitled,” Social media cyber bullying linked to teen depression” by Stephanie Pappas. As a part of the introductory bit, the author notes that in most of the cases, the victims who fall prey to cyber bullying usually tend to hide the act and this deters their parents, teachers or even fellow peers from noticing the main reason as to why they are undergoing depression.

Stephanie notes that the rate at which victimization of teens from cyber bullying is under close scrutiny more importantly after the recent reports of how a large number of teens engaged in suicide and suicidal attempts (Pappas 2015). Due to the reports that were released, various sites were prompted to come up with immediate safety measures in order to calm the situation and eliminate chances of any related activity. A good example is a case whereby Twitter announced its plans of removing all the offensive tweets and suspending of any users that the sites deemed to be a potential threat to the other users. A researcher from the University of Alberta notes that a large number of the youth engage in the use if the social media but the potential risks and dangers that they are exposed to still remain unknown to them. This state of lack of knowledge often accounts for their vulnerability of falling under the trap of the perpetrators. It is very

important to realize that majority of the youths who undergo regular bullying via the social media or other information technology networks are likely to have higher chances of facing depression in their adult days (Pappas 2015).

The author notes that a group of researchers made a keen study to identify any close correlation between the habits portrayed by the victims of cyber bullying. AS a conclusion, it was deduced that depression was a common feature among them. They also found out that Facebook was the leading contributor and nearly all the victims had an account on Facebook. As part of the same report, it was apparent that criminals are even making a larger target in the near future. The researchers also clarified that there was a thin line between cyber bulling and other aspects like self-harm attempts or even anxiety; however they made it very clear that there is a link that lie between the phenomenon.

It was also evident that the teens that have in the past underwent the bulling and currently facing depression were vulnerable victims of the same (Pappas 2015) . The level of depression was observed to get worse as more acts of cyber bullying were perpetrated on the victim. Despite of all these negative effects, these victims as noted above did not inform their guardians about the same because of reasons like embarrassment by their parents, withdrawal of internet access and other advantages that teens deem to be a priority to them. The researchers finally concluded that parents ought to guide their children through the use of the internet. There is the need for them to let kids understand the dangers they

are likely to come across while using the internet (Pappas 2015). They should make an attempt of bringing to their attention the subject of cyber bulling in order for them to surf carefully.

The strength of this article is in the capability of the author coming up with a final point after a careful analysis. However, the main drawback is author’s lack of quoting the real statistics of the number affected and he is more clinged to social media compared to other sites that teens use. In the article, “Students warn peers about cyber bullying” by Dawn Turner Trice, the author focuses on the psychological effect that Tiffany underwent before she made a decision to quit Facebook. The author begins by noting that Tiffany is a rare case in her school because currently she doesn’t serve a Facebook account.

Trice makes it clear that the student in the story was forced to close down the account after a series of blackmails and negative compliments on her timeline by her peers. The teens made close scrutiny of everything revolving around Tiffany and they would not hesitate to let her know that they were already informed about everything that was taking place. Due to this close investigation and interference in the personal space, Tiffany felt emotionally affected (Trice 2011). In this article, the author notes that the main idea under study was not the reason why Tiffany quite Facebook but it is a close analysis of the anti-bullying video that Tiffany and a group of students were assigned to come up with as part of their project.

In the given video, the message given made it very clear for everyone

that cyber bullying was worse and it is in no way different from a case of face to face bullying (Trice 2011). It showed that the effects that come along with cyber bulling are equally the same as those that can come along as a result of the common known methods of bullying. Trice noted that Tiffany made it clear that stalking was not the only way in which teens could perform the bullying but also noted that there was a variety of other ways that the vice could be perpetrated. Tiffany gave an example of one of her friends who had an incident of bullying and how it turned around her life till she had to transfer from her school while still harboring suicidal thoughts. The more Tiffany and other members made the campaign against bullying, the more it became apparent that nearly each member of the school had an experience related to the same.

When they performed a research in order to analyze the affected students, it was very clear that the effects which they eventually had where detrimental and others were a life changing consequences. Some of them would end up with broken relationships which, even in a contemporary society tends to change an individual’s life in a very negative manner and can even lead to a negative perception of marital relations. Another apparent effect was a case of severe emotional distress. These would in most cases arise when someone insulted or defamed another and this consequently lowered the victim’s level of self-esteem. This in turn makes an individual harbor feelings of inadequacy and can lead them to hating on themselves. The Video

in which Tiffany and her mates came up with depicted very clear real life situations of cyber bullying hence served a caution to anyone who got a chance to watch it (Trice 2011).

In addition to coming up with the project, the students made out other requests that if implemented, there was certainty of making a revolution to their educational institutions. Tiffany argued out that their main aim of the research was to make Facebook an amicable site, full of fun and a positive site where they could successfully conduct their research. She went ahead to argue that since the video was made, there has been a substantial improvement in the quality of the content that students post online and Facebook is becoming a better platform. In a conclusion, the author notes that Tiffany made it clear that kids are still not aware of the potential perils of the social media and it is therefore important to keep them aware. The author’s piece is a masterpiece in exploring the whole situation of cyber bullying via the internet. In order to support his point, he comes up with a case study of Tiffany whereby everything is brought to light.

The main weakness is the fact that the research focuses only on Facebook and pays no other attention whatsoever about other sites. In the article, “When the cyber bully is you” by Nick Bilton, the author wonders why a certain group of people tend to be so mean on the social media. He claims that the issue of cyber bullying is no longer the old folk tales but is a daily subject of deliberation be it on blogs, radio

shows, Televisions among other networks (Bilton 2015). He argues that the rate of cyber bulling is alarming and with the trend in which it is taking, it is very apparent that anyone in the current generation can be a victim of the same hence it is very crucial to create awareness to the general members of the public. In the article, it is very clear that a greater percentage of the victims tend to be women. In this case, they are usually threatened with rape attempts, being given death threats, being branded all sorts of evil names among others.

These habits when viewed in a close range depict that women are made to feel shameful and this in return can kill down their ego hence their level of self-esteem drops substantially. Psychologists argue out that the main reason why these acts of cyber bullying are performed is the lack of empathy from the criminals. In this case, the perpetrator does not weigh down the most likely possible outcome of what they do (Bilton 2015). Due to this, they tend to perform acts that lack the element of humanity. The author argues out that some people will undertake the vices while following the mob and in this case they do not make a second thought of what they do because they already deem it right since everyone is doing it. It is very important to realize that there is someone who is receiving the attacks hence there is need to make a second thought while using the social media or other information technology networks.

In this article, the author just reviews the whole idea of cyber bullying but

does not give any possible solution to the problem. But it is undeniable that the piece was on point. In the article, “Measuring Cyber bullying: Implications for research” by Justin W. Patchin, the author notes that there has been consistent confusion in the manner in which people perceive the conceptual definition of bulling and the operational one. As a result of this, people have different ideas and in most cases, many of them end up misunderstanding the whole concept. The author then takes it as his responsibility to clearly analyze the whole element of cyber bullying and consequently brings to light some of the most confused aspects (Patchin 2015).

In this article, the author perfectly serves to give light to the society on the idea of cyber bullying. However, the author fails in the sense that the whole idea is portrayed in purely a theoretical manner which to an ordinary citizen, it can hardly help out incase such a scenario comes in. In the article, “How to prevent and stop cyber bulling” by Irene Van der Zande, the author comes out with a list of measures to help teens out of cyber bulling. She argues that parents and guardian should make it clear to the teens about the vice and the detrimental impact associated with it. Parents should come up with a clear list of rules that govern the teen’s use of technology and they should be aware of all what the teen is doing online (Zande 2009). Another measure which she proposes is to punish the teen if they cyber-bully, offer them support if they are the victims and teach the kids to speak out

once they encounter any case of bulling.

The strength of this article lies on the point that it is a practical guide of how cyber bullying can be averted. It gives insights that are worth trying by a guardian in order to help kids survive the vice. The main weakness is the fact that it makes an assumption that it is only teens that are vulnerable to the vice while overlooking the risks that other members face. The article “Cyber bulling: What teachers and schools can do” by Caralee Adams makes a comprehensive analysis of how to recognize a case of cyber bullying.

In addition to this, the author explores the different ways in which the victims respond to the vice. The author notes that although the act is performed on both gender, the impact is more intense on females than on the males (Adams 2006). Careen notes that although the bulling takes place at home, the impacts are usually more pronounced in the school performance. In order to address the situation, the author comes up with a list of measures that tutors and schools should put in place in order to contain the situation. Education institutions should take it seriously, the students should report any cases and inclusion of parents in solving the problems are some of the measures proposed.

This article is a masterpiece for helping out kids; however, the author focuses mostly on the school environment instead of exploring the general situation in the society. Once the necessary awareness has been created, there is the need for further solutions. Schools need to come up with systems on how to include creative and innovation studies in

their schedules. Once these are included, teens will be less likely to fall prey to criminals since they will be capable of making a clear analysis of the situation at hand (Maxwell & Blair 2015). In matters of innovation, students dealing with information technology disciplines should be encouraged to come up with new inventions and applications that will help in rooting up cyber bulling out of our sites. Once this research is put in place, there will be certainty of having adequate security over the social media and other sites.

References

  1. Careen Adams, (2006), “Cyber bullying: What teachers and schools can do.” Vol 21
  2. Dawn Turner Trice, (2011), “Student warns peers about cyber bulling.” Pp. 1
  3. In Maxwell, S. R., & In Blair, S. L. (2015). Violence and crime in the family: Patterns, causes, and consequences.vol 22, Pp 5
  4. Irene Van der Zande, (2009), “How to prevent and stop cyber-bullying.” Vol 1, Pp 1
  5. Justin,J.W. & Hinduja, S.(2015). Defining Cyber bulling: Implications for research. Aggression and Violent Behavior.
  6. McQuade, S.

    C., Colt, J. P., & Meyer, N. B. B. (2009).

    Cyber bullying: Protecting kids and adults from online bullies. Westport, Conn: Praeger Publishers. Vol 12

  7. Nick Milton, (2015),”When the cyber bully is you.”
  8. Stephanie Pappas,(2015), “Social media cyber bulling linked to teenage depression.” Pp 2
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