Day 338

“What makes cyber bullying so dangerous … is that anyone can practice it without having to confront the victim. You don’t have to be strong or fast, simply equipped with a cell phone or computer and a willingness to terrorize. (King, 2006)

Bullying creates memories that often last a lifetime. Simply hearing the name of a person who bullied them, even years or decades after the bullying occurred, may be enough to send shivers up the spines of many people.

When most adults think of bullying, they conjure up the image of a big thug who terrorized kids on the playground at school. The horrible encounters with this bully luckily came to an end as the victim left school and went home.

This is not the case with cyber bullying which, in the age of smartphones and social media, is relentless. It sometimes claims lives as the link below illustrates:

Here are some more facts:

1. 4 in 10 kids have been bullied online, 1 in 4 has had it happen more than once.
2. 70% of students report seeing frequent bullying online. Most teens use a cell phone regularly, making it the most common medium for cyber bullying.
3. 7 in 10 teens agree that cyber bullying is a serious problem, while 8 in 10 think bullying online is easier to get away with than bullying in person.
4. 90% of teens who have seen social-media bullying say they have ignored it. 84% have seen others tell cyber bullies to stop.
5. Only 1 in 10 victims will inform a parent or trusted adult of their abuse.
6. Girls are about twice as likely as boys to be victims and perpetrators of cyber bullying.
7. Bullying victims are at least twice as likely to consider ending their lives.

Low self-esteem, suicidal ideation, anger, frustration, and a variety of other emotional and psychological problems result from this huge and relentless insult. The pity of it is that parents are often the last ones to find out as illustrated by these links:

https://www.dosomething.org/facts/11-facts-about-cyber-bullying
http://nobullying.com/facts-about-cyber-bullying/

Cyberbullying Facts

Such isolation and victimization in the midst of immense connectivity is a terrible tragedy.
Young people who want social change have set up this website  https://uk.dosomething.org/

Let’s all do something and not passively accept this as an unchangeable reality of the present times.