Teen Topics
Cyberbullying
What is it?
By definition cyberbullying is the online bullying of another child through forms limited only by their own ingenuity. The whole purpose is to torment and humiliate the victim for a myraid of reasons.
Who does it?
Cyberbullying is one child versus another (this means a minor under 18). It is NOT an adult harassing a child, it is strictly child bullying another child.
Why?
Some kids cyberbully for revenge, others cyberbully because they think its funny, some bully because they've been bullied, and others simply have too much time on their hands. There are many other complicated reasons also, but for the most part kids think that they are untraceable, won't get caught, can't get in trouble for this, and they don't think that what they are saying can truly hurt the other person. That is absolutly, 100% WRONG. You can easily be found by anyone if you are bullying, especially the police.
How?
Cyberbullying can take many formats. It can be done through text messages, social networking sites, instant messaging, emailing, and any other form of technology. Bullying is hard to clearly define because there are so many ways in which people can be bullied. Kids can pretend to be their victims by either hacking into their account or by creating a profile with a very similar screen name and then sending/posting mean or embarassing things. Another way is to have a more direct approach and send /post hurtful things outright that are aimed at the person, and sometimes kids even try to gather groups and can have tons of kids ganged up on one victim. Plus there are "warning wars" where bullies either click the warn/report button many times to try to get the Internet Service Provider to delete their victim's profile or, if ISPs scan to validate the warnings/reports, bullies try to provoke their victim into saying something that will get their profile deleted.
Repercussions (Consequences) of Cyberbullying
It truly depends on what form of cyberbullying is used as to what the consequences are.
LEGAL REPERCUSSIONS:
If the dispute is small and only containing mean words directly aimed towards a person, it may involve the victim and bully's parents having a chat or the school getting involved and taking disciplinary action. If hacking or pretending to be someone else is involved or if threats were made, the authorities may become involved because identity theft and threats (death, especially) are against the law.
SOCIAL REPERCUSSIONS:
Bullying someone else can damage your reputation as well as the victim's, because people generally don't like to hang out with mean people. Plus, the victim can have major social problems, including being attacked and harassed by other kids, and can be severely hurt by mean words. In extreme cases victims have even lashed out and killed or wounded their bullies or they have taken their own lives.
LEGAL REPERCUSSIONS:
If the dispute is small and only containing mean words directly aimed towards a person, it may involve the victim and bully's parents having a chat or the school getting involved and taking disciplinary action. If hacking or pretending to be someone else is involved or if threats were made, the authorities may become involved because identity theft and threats (death, especially) are against the law.
SOCIAL REPERCUSSIONS:
Bullying someone else can damage your reputation as well as the victim's, because people generally don't like to hang out with mean people. Plus, the victim can have major social problems, including being attacked and harassed by other kids, and can be severely hurt by mean words. In extreme cases victims have even lashed out and killed or wounded their bullies or they have taken their own lives.
