Of the many threats prevalent online to children and young people,cyberbullying is perhaps one of the most common. Bullying is,sadly, a fact of life. There will always be the bully, who preys on those they perceive as we aker, different, or purely out of spite.Now, however, they have the ability to bully from the Internet.
Bullying someone online doesn't always involve threating remarks. What may seem like a playful comment on one side could be taken as a cutting jibe on the other.It's not always an easy thing to specify,as we all have moments when we may say or do something to upset someone without meaning to do that person any emotional harm. Usually though, we are quick to apologise for our mistake once we realise that we've upset the other person with our thoughtless use of a loose and throwaway comment.True cyberbullying, however, is the persistent harassment of an individual. The cyberbully will goad, threaten, send nasty messages,even take images of the victim and Photoshop them in inappropriate situations,through the use of many different forms of online communications.
It's a sad fact too, that a lot of young people are already in a heightened emotional state over their body image, thanks to the media and unrealistic Photoshopping of celebrities.Where young people, especially young teens, are very conscious of their image, a slight remark to someone can impact the young person in an incredibly negative way.
Social Media - Probably one of the main platforms for cyberbullying, social media is an ideal hunting ground for the cyberbully.The effects of social media bullying have been devastating on some families. Teen suicides, self harm, and elevated cases of depression among young people are widespread in the media, and bring to light just how powerful and dangerous social media is as a communications tool. Facebook, Twitter, lnstagram, and other examples have all become the haunt of those who will prey and harass on others. From the point of view of a child, whose emotional state is quite vulnerable, even a simple 'like' of a comment can embarrass or hurt.
Online Gaming - Another prime source of modern cyberbullying; online gaming has proved to be, for some, a vicious place to inhabit. The problem with online gaming,of course, is that the bullying comes from anywhere in the world. There are cases of gamers targeting females, different religions,or those who come from different parts of the world. With the use of headsets,the gaming cyberbullies are able to shout threats and taunt other gamers, rallying others around them until the victims feel overwhelmed by bullies.There are numerous games that have adopted a more sport-friendly approach,introducing policies whereby instances of bulling can be reported and the bullies themselves have their gaming accounts suspended. Often online gaming bullying is just someone shouting 'Noob' at another,degrading the victim as a newcomer, or someone who isn't as good as them. Other times the bully will say things like 'I hope you die', or, 'I'm coming to kill you', or something similar. In short, any abusive behaviour,including destroying your online game creations or belongings, is a form of bullying.
Text Messaging - With more and more young people having access to their own phones or tablets, abusive text messaging is becoming a major issue. WhatsApp isn't alone in this, but as the world's most popular chat app, it's often focused on more.Another aspect of cyberbullying via text message is sexting. This is when someone takes an explicit image, or video, of themselves and sends it to someone else.Sometimes, a person can bully someone into sending them images, or videos, of the victim, then send those images on to others or upload them to popular sites and inform an entire group of their location.
Email - Sending abusive emails is a large area of concern for those involved in protecting young people from cyberbullying.As we've seen, the double-edged blade of anonymity can cut both ways: it'll protect your identity online, but it can also hide an individual who is bullying someone.Anonymous emails sent from a bully can be just as harmful as social media, online gaming and texting. It's a more personal form of bullying, much like having an abusive letter addressed and posted directly to you. Cyberbullying covers many different forms and platforms. It can be a single, throwaway comment, a like on a Facebook comment, or just someone calling someone else a 'noob'; it can be very serious indeed, including death threats, threats of violence, or the sending or posting of explicit images or videos.
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