July 16 2012 Cyber bullying Cyber bullying is the use of technology to harass, threaten, embarrass, or target another person. By definition, it occurs among young people.
When an adult is involved, it may meet the definition of cyber-harassment or cyber-stalking. Bullying is a national public health problem affecting millions of students, bullying that involves emotional or physical intimidation is associated with a major public health concern facing youth today. With the rapid increase in electronic or online communication, bullying is no longer limited to schools; cyberspace has been implicated as a new risky environment for bullying. This can be described as repeated harmful events, which over time are directed at usual persons that are carried out by one or several other people who are stronger than the victim.
Harmful events can be aggressive physical contact in the form of fights and shoving, and verbal threats. Behaviors of a bully will consist of actions such as hitting, kicking, pushing, teasing, or threatening an individual, also bullying can be relational social segregation, harming friendships, spreading rumors; although physical bullying cannot happen but by the use of technology, both verbal and relational bullying can be harmful which can lead to depression, suicide, low self-esteem, and intense stress. Cyber bulling lead to depression because technology has given rise to a relatively new form of bullying which inflicts emotional harm in a stealth manner, working through Web sites, chat rooms, e-mail, cell phones and instant messaging. And according to a new national study by Iowa State University researchers, one out of every two lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) and allied youths are regular victims of “cyber bullying,” which causes psychological and emotional distress to victims — producing thoughts of suicide in some who are repeatedly victimized. In the online survey of 444 junior high, high school and college students between the ages of 11 and 22 — including 350 self-identified non-heterosexual subjects — 54 percent of the LGBT and allied youth reported being victims of cyber bullying in the 30 days prior to the survey.
Cyber bullying includes attacks such as electronic distribution of humiliating photos, dissemination of false or private information, or targeting victims in cruel online polls. Among the non-heterosexual respondents, 45 percent reported feeling depressed as a result of being cyber bullied, 38 percent felt embarrassed, and 28 percent felt anxious about attending school. More than a quarter (26 percent) had suicidal thoughts.
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“Theres a saying that weve now changed to read, Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can kill,” said Warren Blumenfeld, an Iowa State assistant professor of curriculum and instruction and the studys lead author. And especially at this age — pre-adolescence through adolescence — this is a time when peer influences are paramount in a young persons life. If one is ostracized and attacked, that can have devastating consequences — not only physically, but on their emotional health for the rest of their lives. Cyber bullying is also the cause of suicide in teens just like Amanda Cummings??™ Suicide Leads to New York cyber bullying Bill Posted: January 10, 2012. Amanda Cummings After the tragic suicide of 15 year old Amanda Cummings last week, one New York State lawmaker is planning on attacking cyber bullying. Senator Jeffrey D. Klein has introduced a bill to make the penalties for cyber bullying much stronger.
In a written statement, Klein??™s office said, ???Tragically, we??™re seeing modern technology used as a weapon and our laws have not kept pace with that technology. This legislation will give prosecutors the tools they need to treat cyber bullying as the crime it is and also send a message that this type of reckless and potentially deadly behavior will not be tolerated. Among other things, it would fully address the idea of using electronic communication to harass or stalk someone. The bill would make the following changes to current law, Include bullying of a youth by electronic communications a crime of Third Degree Stalking Include electronic communications as a form of Aggravated Harassment. It would also provide hate crime status to certain types of cyber bullying.
According to the Huffington Post, Senator Diane Savino said, this is a new world where bullying, once confined to the school yard, now follows its victims wherever the Internet goes. Before there is another tragedy, we need to treat cyber bullying as the crime that it is. Amanda Cummings killed herself by jumping in front of a bus two days before Christmas. It came out after she was in the hospital that there were a group of kids at school who bullied her incessantly.
Low self-esteem bullying is about control. It is considered by some people as a way of gaining self-esteem. Cyber bullying usually happens in school and online. Many professionals and parents are having a hard time stopping it. Psychologists used to believe that bullies have low self-esteem, and put down other people to feel better about them. While many bullies are themselves bullied at home or at school, new research shows that most bullies actually have excellent self-esteem. Bullies usually have a sense of entitlement and superiority over others, and lack compassion, impulse control and social skills. They enjoy being cruel to others and sometimes use bullying as an anger management tool, the way a normally angry person would punch a pillow.
Every day, thousands of kids are afraid to go to school because of bullies, says a curriculum provided to schools by the state department of education. Studies show that bullying can cause depression, low self-esteem, and truancy among children of all ages. Parents of the victim often resort to moving to another community or transferring their child to another school, but the suffering goes beyond that. Without intervention, bullies also suffer.
As adults, bullies require more support from government agencies, have more court convictions and alcoholism, and use more mental health services. Scientists from the American Psychological Association say cyber bullying can cause intense stress that may be worse than being harassed in person. Trauma associated with being stalked or tormented via modern technology can have far-reaching implications for mental health. Cyber bullying is taking an emotional tool on the adolescents who experience it, and some resort to becoming bullies themselves, according to research out of Wayne State University. Cyber bullying is increasingly becoming a problem with adolescents, It used to be you went home and it was a safe haven, said Marlene Seltzer, medical director of No Bullying Live Empowered (NoBLE), an anti-bullying program at Beaumont Childrens Hospital launched last month. But with technology its 24/7. There is no safe place for the bullying to stop.
The goal of the Wayne State study was to examine the physical and psychosocial impact of cyber bullying on adolescents. Carter said students who said they were cyber bullied were more likely to experience sadness, fearfulness and sickness. More than 60% of the students in the study, who ranged in age from 10 to 18, reported they knew someone who had been cyber bullied. Other findings: — Students spend an average of 2.
78 hours a day using technology. The highest amount was eight hours. — They average sending 189 text messages a day. The highest amount was 3,000. — They average having 2.12 e-mail accounts. So therefore cyber bullying is the use of technology to harass, threaten, embarrass, or target another person. Which lead to depression, suicide, low self-esteem, and intense stress Sometimes cyber bullying can be easy to spot ??” for example, if your child shows you a text message, tweet, or response to a status update on Facebook that is harsh, mean, or cruel.
Other acts are less obvious, like impersonating a victim online or posting personal information, photos, or videos designed to hurt or embarrass another person. Some kids report that a fake account, web page, or online persona has been created with the sole intention to harass and bully. Cyber bullying also can happen accidentally. The impersonal nature of text messages, IMs, and emails make it very hard to detect the senders tone ??” one persons joke could be anothers hurtful insult.
Nevertheless, a repeated pattern of emails, text messages, and online posts is rarely accidental. A 2006 poll from the national organization Fight Crime: Invest in Kids found that 1 in 3 teens and 1 in 6 preteens have been the victims of cyber bullying. As more and more youths have access to computers and cell phones, the incidence of cyber bullying is likely in rise.
Just like the case Taylor Hillridge (Emily Osment), a teenage girl who falls victim to online bullying, and the cost it takes on her as well as her friends and family. Taylor is a pretty 17-year-old student dealing with her parents recent divorce and painfully aware of her lower social status in high school. When her mom gives her a computer for her birthday, Taylor is excited by the prospect of going online to meet new friends without her mother always looking over her shoulder. However, Taylor soon finds herself the victim of betrayal and bullying while visiting a popular social website. Obsessed with the damaging posts, she begins to withdraw from her family and friends, including her life-long best friend, Samantha Caldone (Kay Panabaker). Tormented and afraid to face her peers at school, Taylor is pushed to an extreme breaking point.
It is 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. Taylors mom, Kris (Kelly Rowan). 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.
