Bullying is
one of the worst experiences one could go through. At 19 years of age I am lucky
enough to say I have never been bullied although like everyone else I have
witnessed it. Traditional bullying, the
pushing, shoving, name calling is bad enough but the latest epidemic has
bullies using devices to evoke this behaviour, widely known as 'Cyber bullying'.
Cyber-bullying is much different to traditional bullying. With traditional bullying once one
has left the schoolyard workplace etc. they have somewhat ability to turn off
and try and be happy, with cyber bullying this is not the case. It is a constant
24 hour activity that one cannot escape. With cyber-bullying you can be bullied by
excessive members across the globe, not just one or two people, the audience
cyber-space attracts is one of the major devastation's of cyber bullying.
Online ‘Hate’ groups reconcile closely with Rheingolds view
of a ‘virtual community’. As Rheingold suggests these groups of bullies are groups
of people linked by their participation in computer networks. Also as with ‘Virtual
communities’ these hate group participants have no face-to-face contact, are
not bound by the constraints of time or place, and use computers to communicate
with one another. They may not even know the victim, just bully to
conform with other participants and look ‘cool’.
If asked where cyber bullying would be going five years ago I
would have said it will continue to rage although this is no longer the case. Enough
is enough and people are starting to realize this. I think it will continue to
be evident in society as the truth is there are not enough resources to catch
all these bullies and bullies know this. In saying this I believe many people
have second thought cyber bullying in fear of the now know serious
consequences. Completing year 12 in 2012 our whole school was visited by the
Victorian Police who have a whole department dedicated to the capture and
punishment of cyber bullies. In our encounter we were told of the effects of cyber
bullying, spoken to by a parent who lost their child to suicide as a result of
cyber bullying and the consequences of being connected with or participating with
cyber bullying.
One of the most tragic cases of cyber bullying I heard of was
that of Canadian teenager Amanda Todd. Attempting to use social media as a
means of reaching out for help, it is what lead to her down fall and resulted
in her tragically taking her own life. After regretfully sending a topless
video aged 12, she was excessively bullied moving schools three times to try
and escape although the boy sent it to every school she went to. The most
tragic words are those of her mother who stated the pain and worry she went
through daily to keep her daughter alive "I have lost one child, but know
she wanted her story to save 1000 more”(Unknown,2012). Let this be a lesson,
enough lives have been lost to cyber bullying and It has to stop. I have posted Amanda's cry for help below in an attempt to express the devastating affect of cyber bullying and why it has to end completely before another beautiful young life is lost.
Reference
Unknown, 2012, ‘Amanda's tragedy: bullied teen takes own life after telling her story in series of handwritten notes’, smh.com.au, viewed 07th Febuary 2013, http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/amandas-tragedy-bullied-teen-takes-own-life-after-telling-her-story-in-series-of-handwritten-notes-20121015-27lww.html
Such a worrying trend, I know bullying has been around for ages, but the intensity has increased because of the 24/7 access. Such a fine line to walk too, how do you come down on bullies with enough force without destroying their lives in the process ... RIP Amanda
ReplyDeleteAmanda Todd case sounds very tragic but I think there is more to her story than what people hear of. Regardless, it is such a waste of a young life that could have had a better story. I just hope there won't be many more like her!
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ReplyDeleteBeing a victim of bullying is one of the worst experiences anybody can go through. Amanda's Todd's story defines it completely that it cannot only affect one's emotions and feelings but to a point victims want to escape and people don't deserve it. The future for social media in this sense is scary.
ReplyDeleteCyber bullying is messed up, I think it must be a lot more prevalent amongst kids still in school, as i didn't witness it really when i was in school. I just hope that the governments start being far stricter on it. Offenders should be punished just as if they were to have done some comparable in person, time to stop giving these thugs a slap on the wrist.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, well done.