Cyber bullying has become one of the most prevalent
and damaging parts of social media, and internet use for many people online.
Cyber bullying is any kind of harassment or bullying done online or using
technology and can be public and hard to remove from the internet (Reach Out
n.d.).
 |
| (Wado 2012) |
Cyber bulling differs from traditional bullying; as
it is difficult to escape the harassment as it follows, you were ever you go
and depending on the type of cyber bullying may resurface as once something is
on the internet it never disappears (cyberbullyingstatistics 2013). You cannot
move away from cyber bullying and victims of cyber bullying can feel unsafe in
their own homes.
Cyber bullying takes on many forms, including
sexting, which is the sending of sexually explicit pictures or content to other
persons; the sending of threats or hurtful and mean content; the sending of
emails, or text messages, or spreading lies and rumours through social media
sites such as Facebook or Twitter.
Cyber bullying can also occur through the
impersonating of someone online to hurt or embarrass them, or stealing someone
else’s account information to send unflattering or degrading messages to other
people (cyberbullyingstatistics 2013). All forms of cyber bullying are damaging
and hurtful and can result in depression, low self –worth and suicide. Victims
of bullying are between two to nine times more likely to commit suicide than
non-bullied victims (cyberbullyingstatistics 2013).
The Australian Federal Police in conjunction with
Microsoft Australia, ninemsn and Datacom have setup ThinkUKnow, with the aim of
making parents, carers and teachers aware of the issues teenagers may face
while online (Australian Federal Police 2014). The website presents plenty of
information on different technologies and apps that teens can use to have fun
and be safe on the internet, details who and where to report to if something
goes wrong on the internet, and offers plenty of information and fact sheets to
parents (Australian Federal Police 2014). ThinkUKnow is a great resource for
parents and teachers to utilise to ensure the safety of their children and
students when online.
As a community, we need to unite to break the
vicious cycle of bullying and victimisation. If you or someone you know is
being bullied and you feel like you have no one to talk to, ReachOut.com has
care lines and chat forums available to support you. Alternatively, help can be
found by calling Life Line on 13 11 14, or the kids helpline on 1800 55 1800.
References
Australian Federal Police 2014, ‘Cybercrime: Crime
Prevention’, accessed 9 February 2014, < http://www.afp.gov.au/policing/cybercrime/crime-prevention.aspx>.
Cyberbullyingstatistics 2013, ‘Cyber Bullying
Statistics’, accessed 9 February 2014, <http://www.bullyingstatistics.org/content/cyber-bullying-statistics.html>.
Reach Out n.d, ‘Cyberbullying’, accessed 9 February
2014, <http://au.reachout.com/Cyberbullying>.
Woda, T. 2012, ‘Global Perspective on Cyberbullying’,
[image] accessed 9 February 2014, < http://info.uknowkids.com/blog/bid/159164/Global-Perspective-on-Cyberbullying>.
