Bullying is no longer restricted to the playground. Children, pre-teens, and teens have found a new way to torment each other using the latest technology. This type of torment has been officially labeled as cyber-bullying.
Cyber-bullying is defined as when a child, preteen or teen targets another child to torment, threaten, harass, humiliate or embarrass them using the Internet, mobile phone or other digital technology, the “Stop Cyberbullying” website states. The temptation to abuse these new toys only increases with the growing access to new technologies at a younger and younger age.
The methods used for this type of bullying are only limited to the child’s access to technology. Twenty percent of children ages 6 to 11 years own a cell phone reported Media Literacy Clearinghouse. This percentage increases drastically as 84 percent of children enter into mobile phone ownership at ages 12 to 17 years.
Children targeted by these bullies often become the bullies themselves. Most often, the targeted child is too embarrassed to report the harassment. The victimized child’s typical reaction to these acts is retaliation states the Cyber-bullying Resource Guide. Thus continuing a cycle that does not end unless an authority figure intervenes.
Many acts of cyber-bullying are discovered after it is too late to help the victim. There have been numerous cases of children committing suicide or even harming others because of the torment they endure, Dr. Justin Patchin, a researcher on children development, says. Cyber-bullying Awareness groups believe that if children are educated more about the consequences of cyber-bullying and what to do if it happens to them, there will be fewer cases of violence due to bullying.
Cyber-bullying is increasingly making headlines. This epidemic of intimidating behavior invades homes all over the world and needs to be stopped. “Cyber-bullying is not a battle, but a plea for improved and increased attention to education, dialogue, bonding and engagement with our young people,” Dr. Shaheen Shariff, an international cyber-bullying expert, says.
