The Darkside of Social Media: Cyber Bullying.

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>.