Cyber Bullying Essay
Cyber Bullying Essay
Cyber Bullying Essay
Cyberbullying includes sending, posting, or sharing negative, harmful, false, or mean content about
someone else. It can include sharing personal or private information about someone else, causing
embarrassment or humiliation. Some cyberbullying crosses the line into unlawful or criminal
behavior.
“Cyberbullying is when someone repeatedly and intentionally harasses, mistreats, or makes fun of
another person online or while using cell phones or other electronic devices.” (Hinduja & Patchin, 2019 ).
One student shared that “all bullying hurts, whether in person or through technology, the end
result is that bullying in any form is emotionally damaging.”Some of the most common
cyberbullying tactics include:
Posting comments or rumors about someone online that are mean, hurtful, or
embarrassing.
Threatening to hurt someone or telling them to kill themselves.
Posting a mean or hurtful picture or video.
Pretending to be someone else online in order to solicit or post personal or false
information about someone else.
Posting mean or hateful names, comments, or content about any race, religion,
ethnicity, or other personal characteristics online.
Creating a mean or hurtful webpage about someone.
Doxing, an abbreviated form of the word documents, is a form of online harassment
used to exact revenge and to threaten and destroy the privacy of individuals by
making their personal information public, including addresses, social security, credit
card and phone numbers, links to social media accounts, and other private data.
Unique Characteristics of Cyberbullying
While all bullying is characterized by intentional, often repetitive, hurtful behavior toward another
person or group, there are distinguishing elements when it happens online or via smartphone,
which include:
Persistent. Most students have access to some form of technology at all times,
which means cyberbullying can happen any time—in the morning, afternoon, and
evening—not just while children are at school. It happens while at home or in the
community.
Hard to detect. While some bullying is very overt, such as pushing or damaging
belongings, cyberbullying happens through phones and on computers or tablets,
making it much more difficult for adults to detect.
Anonymous. Cyberbullying can be done anonymously. Those being bullied might not
even know who is perpetuating the behavior, which makes it easy for one child to
hurt another and not be held accountable.
Shared to a potentially larger audience. Information online can be easily and quickly
shared, which makes it difficult to contain or stop negative messages once they are
posted online.
Easier to be hurtful. It is often easier to bully using technology because of greater
physical distance The person bullying doesn’t see the immediate response from the
person being targeted They might not recognize the serious harm caused by their
actions because technology distances them from the real-life pain they could be
causing.
Permanent.* Once something is shared on the internet, it is often available to
everyone, everywhere It can be challenging to completely delete information once it
is on the internet.