Bullying remains one of the most urgent problems for teenagers. It is not some kind of complications – rather a problem we are not able to solve for years, even decades! A phrase “all people are different” sounds like another cliché in this situation. The way things are at schools, for instance, hasn’t change since the middle of the last century. The world develops so rapidly that new technologies become outdated in days, however, people still haven’t learnt how to respect each other and understand that appearance or interests aren’t criteria for judging or even worse, humiliating others. In this case, technology works against us. Bullying still exists, and doesn’t seem to stop its existence. Even worse than that: now it has acquired one more form, a technologically advanced one. Doesn’t that mean that in the age of freedom, democracy, and technological progress people are still undefended against bullies?
“Bullying is generally seen as intentional behavior to harm another, repeatedly, where it is difficult for the victim to defend himself or herself; it is based on an imbalance of power; and can be defined as a systematic abuse of power” (Slonje et al., 2). Cyberbullying is exactly the same process, only the main means become different. Aggressive attitude and harassment remain, but attacks against those who cannot defend themselves and abuse happens via electronic devices and media space. There are several features that make it different from bullying. First of all, it may be both face-to-face and anonymous abuse, which depends on the level of technological expertise. It can happen with the help of different means of communication and expressed in different forms, ranging from “‘flaming’ (the posting of provocative or abusive posts) to ‘outing’ (where personal information is posted). [] it has been noted that common threats include harassment. The NCH also found bullying taking place via mobile telephone” (Gillespie, 124).
Logically, an important question arises: is one kind of bullying worse than another. If yes, than which? Taking into account all possible consequences, it becomes completely clear that both actions may have tragic (or in a better case just negative) outcomes. However, psychological and sociological studies provide a bit different statistical data. “In the global YouGov survey of more than 4,700 teenagers from across the world, a fifth of those who had experienced cyberbullying said it had made them consider suicide, and more than half said being taunted online was worse than being bullied in person” (Elgot, n. p.). Modern children depend a lot on the Internet and web technologies in general, which have already become an inseparable part of their daily living. If some time ago it was possible to distinguish between Internet and mobile phone cyberbullying, in recent years the situation changed. Smartphones let users check everything, send and receive messages, surf the net and open any website with the help of only one gadget. Thus, “sufficient concern has been raised to warrant a more detailed consideration of the impact of the internet on children’s and young people’s mental health, and in particular the use of social media and impact of pro-anorexia, self-harm and other inappropriate websites” (Campbell, n. p.). Cyberbullying is in this list, too. Taking this into consideration, we get an undeniable truth: before finding the way to cope with bullying, people created its new type, spreading around like a poison ivy, like a cancer on society’s tolerance and virtues.
If you need an example of how technologies influence our lives negatively, a story about cyberbullying will be the best example. The more you want to find out about it, the harder you try to understand, the more shocked you become. Just think: if one of the main motifs for traditional bullying is gaining a status because of the public abuse of another person, what motivation exists here? Most often, an offender remains anonymous, and a victim remains silent. Does it mean that cyberbullying is a new “advanced” form of massive psychosis? The potential audience possible to affect gets bigger, as well as the opportunities for offenders. Everyone is within easy reach. It is impossible to escape and hide from cyberbullying. Isn’t it a sign that specialists should finally devote more time, attempts and resources for handling this problem? Or are we going to wait for a while more, till another new form of craziness appears? Now we get a couple more questions destined to remain without an answer. At least, in the nearest time.
Works Cited
Campbell, Denis. “Mental health of children and young people ‘at risk in digital age’”. The
Guardian. 5 Nov 2014. Web. Retrieved on 28 July 2016 from
<https://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/nov/05/children-cyberbullying-self-harm-gaming-mps-concern>.
Elgot, Jessica. “One in five young people has suffered online abuse, study finds”. The
Guardian. 22 Sept 2015. Web. Retrieved on 28 July 2016 from <https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/sep/22/cyberbullying-teenagers-worse-than-drug-abuse-says-report>.
Gillespie, Alisdair A. “Cyber-bullying and Harassment of Teenagers: The Legal Response”.
Slonje, Robert, Smith, Peter K., and Frisén, Ann. “The nature of cyberbullying, and strategies
for prevention”. Computers in Human Behavior. Web. Retrieved on 28 July 2016 from <http://agnesday.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Slonje-Cyberbullying.pdf>.
