subject: What Is Cyberbullying? [print this page] With the invention of the internet communication has been forever changed from the way things were done even 15 years ago. Along with technology, also the way children and teenagers bully each other has changed drastically. Before, the school bully, or a gang of bullies, used to torture their subjects by beating a kid up in school. If they didn't beat up their victims physically, they beat up people emotionally by spreading vicious rumors, or name calling. The internet took the physical aspect out of how bullies operate, but it made things 10 times worse for victims emotionally. This is because bullies can now take to blogs, forums, and social networking sites to torture their victims. This type of bullying is now known as cyberbullying.
The cyberbully will spread horrible rumors, make fun of people online, and speak of people in offensive ways. The bullies will engage in "trolling", which means going to chat rooms and forums to look for people to antagonise. "Flaming" is another way of cyberbullying by spewing out angry and hateful post on forums and spreading anger on chat sites. Like with all other forms of bullying, the cyberbully is angry. The cyberbully is full of rage and hatred, and is looking to project his or her anger onto others.
Also just as in person, the target of the cyberbully has most of the time done nothing wrong to make the cyberbully angry. The bully is insecure, angry, and simply needs a target. The sad thing is that others join in the bully out of sick pleasure, but most of the time they are scared to not join in fearing they would otherwise become targets themselves.
Parents should remember that if a child is in the house and by the computer, it doesn't mean that the child is safe. Most parents don't consider the online world as being within the scope of child safety, but it is extremely important. Parents need to treat online protection as a serious form of child safety. There are several things parents can do to protect their kids from cyberbullying. First they need to be sure that they are aware of every website that their child visits. Second, they need to enable themselves to view what chat rooms their kids are participating in. The conversations should be saved so that an access can be gained to see what has been typed. Third, if a child becomes a victim of cyberbullying, the parents need to take that information to the police. The police understand, and know how to use the internet to detect any threats against child safety.
Children can't protect themselves against all threats. Local authorities, parents, and the internet providers all need to work together to ensure child safety online. Cyberbullying is a serious issue with serious consequences. It's a heartbreaking fact that children and teenagers are committing suicide because of cyberbullying. Luckily, cyberbullying is now a crime, and the criminals must be pursued aggressively as a means of providing child safety online.
