As of 2012, Facebook, one of the biggest social media sites in the world, has made it extremely clear that they are against cyberbullying and would like to see it come to an end. According to an article written by Jordan Cook of Tech Crunch, a site that focusses on breaking technology news, Facebook launched a page in 2012 with the goal of raising more awareness about cyberbullying. In the article titled Facebook Reaffirms Its Commitment To Stop Cyber Bullying With New Activist Page, Partnership With The Ad Council, Cook makes it clear that this new page “helps users navigate through different partners and all the specific actions that can be taken to prevent bullying, like how to report bullying and education around the Support Dashboard.” (“Facebook Reaffirms”) This shows that Facebook has been making an effort to raise awareness on the issue. The social network website has also worked with the Ad Council to produce and launch an advertising campaign which focused on the prevention of bullying. Being that Facebook is one of the most prominent forms of social media today, it has been a very dominant voice in the conversation of cyberbullying and its prevention. As of now, Facebook seems to be focusing on raising awareness on cyberbullying as well as how to prevent it. So what is cyberbullying and why is it such a big problem that Facebook would make it their interest to raise awareness on the issue? I too asked myself these very questions when I first began conducting my research for my line of inquiry.
The purpose of my blog is to stress the importance of raising awareness on how cyberbullying can be prevented. However, before conducting my research on cyberbullying, neither myself or any of those close to me had been impacted by cyberbullying, which caused me to have a lack of understanding as to why it is such a big deal. The only knowledge that I had prior to my research was that cyberbullying was a form of bullying that existed online instead of in person. Because my knowledge on this topic was so limited, I began my research by finding the definition of cyberbullying. In the Merriam Webster online dictionary, cyberbullying is defined as “the electronic posting of mean-spirited messages about a person (as a student) often done anonymously.” So basically, cyberbullying is the use of cellphones, instant messaging, and/or social network sites to intimidate or torment another person. After having a firm grasp on what cyberbullying was, I was able to begin my research on why it was so prominent in today’s society.
When I first began conducting my research on why cyberbullying is a big deal, I came across an article titled Cyber Bullying and Other Social Bullies, which I used to better understand why cyberbullying is such a big problem. The purpose of this article was to show that cyberbullying occurs so frequently today because of the increase in the use of technology and social media. I also watched a video on YouTube that corresponded with the information that I found in the article. While the article and video helped me to better understand why cyberbullying occurs so often and made it clear that it should be prevented, they did not provide me with statistics on how many teens dealt with cyberbullying. As I continued my research I found an article titled Cyber Bullying Statistics, which made me better understand that the majority of teens have dealt with at least one case of cyberbullying. In fact, according to this article “over half of adolescents and teens have been bullied online, and about the same number have engaged in cyber bullying.” (“Cyber Bullying Statistics”) After reading these two articles, it was clear to me that cyberbullying is very prominent today due to the mass use of cell phones, social media and other technology and that it is a big deal because this mass use of technology has caused over half of teens to experience cyberbullying.
After learning more about why cyberbullying is so prominent in today’s society, I began conducting research on how to prevent cyberbullying and soon came across the Be Web Aware Project. Web Aware is a website that gives helpful tips to parents so that parents can prevent or put a stop to cyberbullying. According to the project, because most victims of cyberbullying are teens and tweens, the responsibility to prevent cyberbullying from occurring falls mostly on the parents of the victims as well as the bullies. The Be Web Aware project has made it clear that the best way to prevent cyberbullying is for parents to talk to their children about being responsible when using the internet. Children must learn how to react to an online bully, which means that parents should teach their children that when dealing with an online bully, they should stop communicating with the bully and talk to a parent or teacher about the situation. Parents also must teach their children not to post anything on the internet or send anything via text that they wouldn't want the rest of the world to see. The Be Web Aware project has also pointed out that parents are often times in the dark when it comes to their children's experiences on the web. This highlights the importance of parents being aware of what their children are doing online but also shows that the responsibility of stopping cyberbullying also falls on the bystanders or witnesses to the cyberbullying (the peers or friends of the victims). Although preventing every case of cyberbullying is very improbable, and maybe even impossible, with the help of parents, teachers and other bystanders the amount of cyberbullying cases that occur could be greatly reduced.
The issue of cyberbullying is such a relevant one today because the mass use of technology has caused the majority of teens to experience at least one case of cyberbullying. But why is it important that parents, educators and bystanders do their absolute best to prevent and/or stop cyberbullying? Because cyberbullying is wrong and it can hurt people, sometimes to the extent that it causes people to commit suicide. When I initially began conducting my research on cyberbullying I came across an article that described a particular case of cyberbullying. The case was that of Rebecca Sedwick, a twelve year old girl, who committed suicide by jumping from a concrete silo after being tormented by two girls. According to the article titled Teen Charged in Fatal Cyberbullying Case of Rebecca Sedwick to Remain in Jail, Rebecca began to be bullied in December of 2012 when one of the suspects (who bullied Rebecca), who was fourteen at the time, started dating a boy who used to date Rebecca. This girl sent messages to Rebecca on Facebook encouraging Rebecca to kill herself. This girl even convinced Rebecca’s friends to turn on her. In fact, one of Rebecca’s previous friends was encouraged by the fourteen year old suspect to beat up Rebecca. Although Rebecca changed schools the following year with the hopes of escaping the bullying, she was not able to escape the bullying that occurred online. The information which I found in the article was also supported by a video which I found on YouTube. Another example of cyberbullying that led to suicide was the case of Amanda Todd, which also occurred in 2012. Amanda Todd hung herself after a nude photo of her was posted online. Although these are very extreme cases of cyberbullying, they help show the importance of the prevention of cyberbullying. Although most other cases wouldn’t be quite like this one, all cases of cyberbullying have the potential to snowball into something more serious than kids simply picking on one another.
It has been proven that over half of teens experience cyberbullying, mainly due to the fact that there has been a huge increase in the use of technology and social media. In conclusion, because cyberbullying occurs so frequently, and because cyberbullying can lead to things such as suicide, raising awareness on how to prevent cyberbullying should be a large concern in our society today.
Bibliography
(n.d.). Retrieved November 23, 2015, from http://abcnews.go.com/US/teen-charged-fatal-cyberbullying-case-rebecca-sedwick-remain/story?id=20580689
Facebook Reaffirms Its Commitment To Stop Cyber Bullying With New Activist Page, Partnership With The Ad Council. (n.d.). Retrieved November 23, 2015, from http://techcrunch.com/2012/10/18/facebook-reaffirms-its-commitment-to-stop-cyber-bulling-with-new-activist-page-partnership-with-the-ad-council/
Cyberbullying. (n.d.). Retrieved November 7, 2015.
Cyber Bullying and Other Social Bullies (n.d.). Retrieved November 5, 2015.
Cyber Bullying Statistics (n.d.). Retrieved November 5, 2015.
The purpose of my blog is to stress the importance of raising awareness on how cyberbullying can be prevented. However, before conducting my research on cyberbullying, neither myself or any of those close to me had been impacted by cyberbullying, which caused me to have a lack of understanding as to why it is such a big deal. The only knowledge that I had prior to my research was that cyberbullying was a form of bullying that existed online instead of in person. Because my knowledge on this topic was so limited, I began my research by finding the definition of cyberbullying. In the Merriam Webster online dictionary, cyberbullying is defined as “the electronic posting of mean-spirited messages about a person (as a student) often done anonymously.” So basically, cyberbullying is the use of cellphones, instant messaging, and/or social network sites to intimidate or torment another person. After having a firm grasp on what cyberbullying was, I was able to begin my research on why it was so prominent in today’s society.
When I first began conducting my research on why cyberbullying is a big deal, I came across an article titled Cyber Bullying and Other Social Bullies, which I used to better understand why cyberbullying is such a big problem. The purpose of this article was to show that cyberbullying occurs so frequently today because of the increase in the use of technology and social media. I also watched a video on YouTube that corresponded with the information that I found in the article. While the article and video helped me to better understand why cyberbullying occurs so often and made it clear that it should be prevented, they did not provide me with statistics on how many teens dealt with cyberbullying. As I continued my research I found an article titled Cyber Bullying Statistics, which made me better understand that the majority of teens have dealt with at least one case of cyberbullying. In fact, according to this article “over half of adolescents and teens have been bullied online, and about the same number have engaged in cyber bullying.” (“Cyber Bullying Statistics”) After reading these two articles, it was clear to me that cyberbullying is very prominent today due to the mass use of cell phones, social media and other technology and that it is a big deal because this mass use of technology has caused over half of teens to experience cyberbullying.
After learning more about why cyberbullying is so prominent in today’s society, I began conducting research on how to prevent cyberbullying and soon came across the Be Web Aware Project. Web Aware is a website that gives helpful tips to parents so that parents can prevent or put a stop to cyberbullying. According to the project, because most victims of cyberbullying are teens and tweens, the responsibility to prevent cyberbullying from occurring falls mostly on the parents of the victims as well as the bullies. The Be Web Aware project has made it clear that the best way to prevent cyberbullying is for parents to talk to their children about being responsible when using the internet. Children must learn how to react to an online bully, which means that parents should teach their children that when dealing with an online bully, they should stop communicating with the bully and talk to a parent or teacher about the situation. Parents also must teach their children not to post anything on the internet or send anything via text that they wouldn't want the rest of the world to see. The Be Web Aware project has also pointed out that parents are often times in the dark when it comes to their children's experiences on the web. This highlights the importance of parents being aware of what their children are doing online but also shows that the responsibility of stopping cyberbullying also falls on the bystanders or witnesses to the cyberbullying (the peers or friends of the victims). Although preventing every case of cyberbullying is very improbable, and maybe even impossible, with the help of parents, teachers and other bystanders the amount of cyberbullying cases that occur could be greatly reduced.
The issue of cyberbullying is such a relevant one today because the mass use of technology has caused the majority of teens to experience at least one case of cyberbullying. But why is it important that parents, educators and bystanders do their absolute best to prevent and/or stop cyberbullying? Because cyberbullying is wrong and it can hurt people, sometimes to the extent that it causes people to commit suicide. When I initially began conducting my research on cyberbullying I came across an article that described a particular case of cyberbullying. The case was that of Rebecca Sedwick, a twelve year old girl, who committed suicide by jumping from a concrete silo after being tormented by two girls. According to the article titled Teen Charged in Fatal Cyberbullying Case of Rebecca Sedwick to Remain in Jail, Rebecca began to be bullied in December of 2012 when one of the suspects (who bullied Rebecca), who was fourteen at the time, started dating a boy who used to date Rebecca. This girl sent messages to Rebecca on Facebook encouraging Rebecca to kill herself. This girl even convinced Rebecca’s friends to turn on her. In fact, one of Rebecca’s previous friends was encouraged by the fourteen year old suspect to beat up Rebecca. Although Rebecca changed schools the following year with the hopes of escaping the bullying, she was not able to escape the bullying that occurred online. The information which I found in the article was also supported by a video which I found on YouTube. Another example of cyberbullying that led to suicide was the case of Amanda Todd, which also occurred in 2012. Amanda Todd hung herself after a nude photo of her was posted online. Although these are very extreme cases of cyberbullying, they help show the importance of the prevention of cyberbullying. Although most other cases wouldn’t be quite like this one, all cases of cyberbullying have the potential to snowball into something more serious than kids simply picking on one another.
It has been proven that over half of teens experience cyberbullying, mainly due to the fact that there has been a huge increase in the use of technology and social media. In conclusion, because cyberbullying occurs so frequently, and because cyberbullying can lead to things such as suicide, raising awareness on how to prevent cyberbullying should be a large concern in our society today.
Bibliography
(n.d.). Retrieved November 23, 2015, from http://abcnews.go.com/US/teen-charged-fatal-cyberbullying-case-rebecca-sedwick-remain/story?id=20580689
Facebook Reaffirms Its Commitment To Stop Cyber Bullying With New Activist Page, Partnership With The Ad Council. (n.d.). Retrieved November 23, 2015, from http://techcrunch.com/2012/10/18/facebook-reaffirms-its-commitment-to-stop-cyber-bulling-with-new-activist-page-partnership-with-the-ad-council/
Cyberbullying. (n.d.). Retrieved November 7, 2015.
Cyber Bullying and Other Social Bullies (n.d.). Retrieved November 5, 2015.
Cyber Bullying Statistics (n.d.). Retrieved November 5, 2015.