Being Bullied When You Are All Alone Essay Examples

Could you imagine being bullied constantly, even when you are sitting home alone on your computer? Thousands of teens and children experience the feeling of hate and anger while just sitting in their computer chairs. It is true that someone can feel so disconnected socially while being the most connected socially the world has ever been, both thanks to technology. This paper will be looking at a few aspects of social media and mainly focusing on social media’s role and effect in bullying. Bullying is obviously not something new and many people have had the unfortunate experience of being bullied growing up throughout their lives. Sometimes bullying occurs on the playground or in the hallways of schools. With this new presentation of social media and its ease of access to those in high school and middle school, bullying has also found a place in the social media field. This paper will first address stats that show that bullying is prevalent on social media and that it affects more people than one may realize. From there the paper will discuss the reasoning behind this bullying. And finally there will be a description on how this bullying can be stopped and sometimes reversed. It is not only necessary to point out the fact there is a problem with bullying but there also needs to be an attempt at a solution. Some people view cyber bullying as just another form of bullying and people really need to toughen up, while others see cyber bullying as a greater issue. Victims of cyber bullying are not weak, and they are definitely not the minority, as this paper will show.
The amount of teens that are on social media must be close to 100%. This is not limiting us to one form of social media such as Facebook but looking at a grand idea and plethora of social media sites including, but not limited to, Instagram and Twitter. A website which conducts internet safety research observed the following, “95% of social media-using teens who have witnessed cruel behavior on social networking sites say they have seen others ignoring the mean behavior” (Enough is Enough, Cyber bullying statistics). This is a staggering number of people that are witnessing social media bullying. Almost everyone that is on social media, and many of them are everyday, are witnessing bullying. The website continues with more staggering statistics, “Only 7% of U.S. parents are worried about cyber bullying, even though 33% of teenagers have been victims of cyber bullying” (Enough is Enough, Cyber bullying statistics). This stat is not only surprising with one number, but with both. Nearly one-third of all teens on the internet are experiencing some form of bullying, and only seven percent of their parents are concerned about this bullying. There seems to be a disconnect between the teens that are using the social media and the parents of these teens.
The reason why students and teens bully each other over the internet is not clearly definite. Some people believe that many of these people who are the bullies are the same ones that are doing the bullying off the internet, in the form of the schoolyard, buses, and school hallways. Another very valid point which has been brought up is that the people who are doing the bullying over the internet are simply doing so because they are not face to face with the person they are verbally harming, and this may allow them to say things that they usually would not say had they been face to face with the “victim”. Bullying in person is tough enough, especially when the person being bullied is surrounded by peers and those he or she wants to be friends with, now it has taken to the internet. Not only is the victim being put on display in front of a few friends, but usually it is in front of hundreds of peers that the teen will see almost on a daily basis. Cyber bullying is not only happening because the victim and the perpetrator are not face to face but because many people see this form of bullying as “funny” and “cool” and believe it will get them the credibility and popularity they desire. The US Department of Justice came out with a pamphlet stating that “eighty-one percent of youth said that others cyber bully because they think it is funny” (Department of Justice, page 1). Bullying in the cyber world is something that is obviously apparent and there is an issue, so something needs to be done. The next paragraph will discuss efforts being made to stop cyber bullying.
CNN has a discussion in an online article about efforts to limit cyber bullying, “They want to set up a system that would give bullying victims coping strategies, encourage potential bullies to stop and think before posting something offensive, and allow onlookers to defend victims, said Henry Lieberman” (CNN, When Bullying Goes High-Tech). These strategies appear to be ones that would work effectively in creating an environment where bullies will not only think twice about what they are posting but one that also allows the person who is being bullied an opportunity to cope and handle the situation. The article discusses ways in which this system will be in place and that is by having messages pop up when someone is about to post something offensive. These messages will state things that will make the poster reconsider posting something offensive and hurtful on the internet. This is just a small part of what can be done to stop cyber bullying.
Cyber bullying is obviously something that is widespread and affects a lot more children and teens than anticipated and expected by not only parents but people in general. There are many things that need to be done and can be done as technology progresses. There was a discussion of preventive measures put in place on the internet to not only stop the bullies from posting hurtful things but also to help children who are being bullied cope with these hurtful measures. It is obvious that cyber bullying is not only prevalent because of the face to face interaction not being present but also because it is viewed as “cool”. Cyber bullying is something that is not going to go away on its own, it is going to continue to grow like the technology that it is on. There needs to be continuous research, as presented in this paper, for ways to stop cyber bullying. Not only is stopping cyber bullying needed but also there needs to be more education and understanding by all generations on how cyber bullying effects people, especially teens and children, who have daily access to the internet and social media sites.

Works Cited

Internet Safety 101. Enough is Enough,Copyright 2009-2013. Website, http://www.internetsafety101.org/. February 24, 2015.
Lendau, Elizabeth. When Bullying Goes High-Tech. CNN, April 15, 2013. Website, www.CNN.com. February 24, 2015.
United States. U.S. Department of Justice. Stop Cyber Bullying Before it Starts. Washington: 2007. Print.