Teenagers will say anything, especially if it is from behind a computer screen.
According to Pew Research, 32 percent of teenagers who have Internet access have said that they have been the targets of a range of alarming online activities, such as having their private messages forwarded without their permission, having embarrassing photos posted without their permission or receiving threatening messages.
Cyber bullying is the deliberate use of technology to harass, embarrass or threaten another person. Things that are posted to the Internet never disappear completely, even when the buzz dies down and the hurtful posts and comments are soon forgotten.
According to DoSomething.org, 90 percent of teens that have seen social media bullying say that they have ignored it and only one in four victims will talk to someone about their abuse.
Dr. Felicity Duncan, associate professor of communications, teaches social media courses at Cabrini. Duncan believes that as children and young people spend more time online, the behaviors that used to happen offline are now more likely to happen online. Instead of bullying taking place on school playgrounds and cafeterias, it is now taken online to the Internet.
“Social media lets us talk to a lot of people,” Duncan said. “Someone who is being bullied online can find themselves the victim of bullying by a very large group of strangers.”
Social media platforms such as YikYak allow their users to be anonymous, making cyber bullying even easier.
“I think people cyber bully to hide behind computers because they’re mostly afraid to say things in person, Katie Mastrangelo, freshman graphic design major, said. “It is so easy to type something mean on the computer. It only takes a matter of seconds.”
Cyber bullying can lead to depression and thoughts of suicide. Teenagers that go through this form of harassment feel embarrassed pressured or felt that they had nowhere else to turn.
“It is the fact that if someone thinks badly of someone and they have the decency to post it on social media, everyone will think that same way and students walking through the halls will think badly of them,” Steph Mariano, junior at Washington Township High School, said. “If people are talking badly about you, you will start believing it about yourself.”
According to nobullying.com, cyber bullying can be stopped if a stand is taken. It is extremely important report any posts that are considered hurtful, no matter how small.
