Yasir Monon: Before technology, students are often dealing with school bullies. But, with the development of technology, more problems have occurred. We all have heard about the term ‘Cyberbullying.’ Whether you have experienced it or have become a watcher, we all know what it is about. In the early ages of technology, people were more concerned with hacking and viruses, but now it has twisted. Online harassment can come in many different variations. Starting from racism to trolling. It is a problem we have encountered since the early days of the internet, yet the more people use it, the more they get involved in this type of crime. Many teens are now connected to the internet; as a teenager, I can say that my life without the internet is dull and rigid. Nowadays, we all communicate through social media. Teenagers may often be unkind to one another; every little detail may be twisted into a topic to bully.
To be more specific, cyberbullying has been happening everywhere on the internet. What is cyberbullying, you may ask? Cyberbullying is using superior strength to intimidate someone that takes place over the internet. This type of bullying could happen over the phone, text, social media, etc., and cyberbullying includes spreading false information such as rumors or hoaxes, spreading hateful comments or content about someone else, and spreading private information about someone else to the internet to cause embarrassment and humiliation. Cyberbullying could be about people’s race, gender, physical appearance, religion, and much more.
An example of cyberbullying would be when you look at an Instagram post of a celebrity and see a hate comment on it. That is already a form of cyberbullying. For instance, you go search for your favorite celebrity’s Instagram. Admiring how good the post is, you comment on it. But out of curiosity, you want to scroll up the comments section. Seeing that there are hundreds of thousands of comments, but some of them catch your eye. That comment is a hate comment toward your favorite celebrity. You can be a watcher if you don’t know what to do. You only see the comment and do nothing about it. Or, you could be someone who stands up for them. Being able to stand up for them would take a lot of courage since there is a huge probability that the cyberbully would most likely fight you.
An extrovert who bullies people will want to look powerful; they like to be in control and make people do whatever he or she wants them victim to do. They would mostly do this to maintain or gain popularity. Introverts could cyber bully people to prove that they are not weak, once again to gain power. They could also do it because of their envy towards the victim. If you scroll, You will see thousands of hate comments on a celebrity’s social media. That is an example of cyberbullying. The exact reason why people do cyberbullying isn’t known; there could be many different reasons as to why people decide to do it.
Just like how ‘traditional’ bullying has many forms and types, cyberbullying has different forms, too. There are many forms of cyberbullying. The first form is called harassment. Harassment is when the bully sends hateful comments toward the victim, and it doesn’t happen only once or twice; it is often repeated. The second form is called flaming. Flaming is similar to harassment; the only difference is that flaming is a fight between two people. The fight occurs through the internet, meaning it could be exchanged through text messages, emails, etc. The third form is called exclusion. This form happens when a group intentionally excludes someone and then continues to harass the individual. The fourth form is called routing. The outing is when the bully reveals or leaks personal info about the victim. The bully could share private information, pictures, and/or videos online. The last form, but not the very least, is called masquerading. This happens when the bully creates an anonymous page or a fake identity just to hate the victim.
Some states in America have tried to prevent cyberbullying by upgrading the law towards online harassment. However, not all states have rules and laws on this topic. Conversely, Singapore presses criminal charges against the people who have acted as a cyberbully. Indonesia has taken a law under the ITE wing that cyberbullying is now officially a form of harassment and is taken seriously. Someone who is caught in the act of cyberbullying will face up to four years in jail cells and/or have to pay a fine of Rp.750,000.00. When a student is caught cyberbullying others, some may suspend the student or even expel them. Though there are many laws, cyberbullying is still happening around the world, and people are getting smarter to run away from problems if they ever get caught.
Catching a cyberbully could be hard. They could be an anonymous user who is smart enough not to let their location be seen by trackers, they could be a fake identity or even a robot. People would do so much efforts just to bring other people down. But, it would be a bigger problem when some bully gives death threats to the victim, which is unnecessary even if the victim did something bad. No one deserves something so low like being bullied, or even receiving death threats.
There is no way to completely stop cyberbullying since it is based on the mindset of people. But, there are many ways you can prevent it from happening and what you can do if you are just side watcher. If you are a victim, try your best not to respond to any of the hate. Responding or acting mad may give them satisfaction. Secondly, because being bullied online leaves trace, you can save it as evidence if you ever need it for proof. Third, reach out for help. Know that seeking for help isn’t something to be embarrassed about, don’t feel ashamed to do so.
You can act too for the victim’s parents or close relatives. Know that you are lucky and trusted. Most teenagers won’t tell their parents about any life problems they have. Only about 1 out of 10 teenagers would open up to their parents if they are being bullied online. Be as calm and openhearted as possible; panicking or being angry will make them regret telling you. Act thoughtfully, not fast. You may or may not thoroughly think about the outcome when acting fast. Last, listen to the victim with your heart and mind. What the victim wants is to be heard, to be helped. One thing parents can do so their child knows the dangers of cyberbullying is to educate them. Not all schools teach stuff like this, so the parents need to speak up. They could establish ground rules about internet use and teach them the do’s and don’ts. Parents need to take responsibility for teaching their children the stuff they don’t teach at school, but some parents don’t even bother to do it.
In conclusion, cyberbullying is a serious problem that needs to be fixed immediately. As technology keeps growing, so will the minds of people. Technology is now something we live in daily, so it is essential to know the dangers of things we live in. Cyberbullying could affect someone in the worst way; it could harm both the physically mentally and physically. All parents, teachers, and students should fight against cyberbullying so the internet could be a safe place for everyone. There is almost no possible way right now to completely stop cyberbullying since it is based on the mindset of people. But there are many ways you can prevent it from happening.
The Author is Online Editor at Business Mirror.
