Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying exists all around us, and follows us home, leaving victims with no escape. With new technology, teenagers can’t get away from the torture, as it seeps into text messaging, Facebook-ing, and tweeting. Oftentimes, school faculty and administrators feel as though they cannot help since the harassment doesn’t occur on school grounds, but that is not true. While they may be considered overstepping their authority, they can teach students and parents what cyberbullying is, why it happens, and how it can be stopped. Education is the best prevention, for most kids would stop once they see just how severe the consequences and outcomes for both the bully and the victim can be.

Websites such as these can be used to teach others all about cyberullying:

http://www.stopcyberbullying.org/index2.html 

http://www.netsmartz.org/cyberbullying

There are many forms of cyberbullying, those of which include: physical threats, rumor spreading, photoshopping, and identity theft, all of these devastating to a teenager in their own way. While most of these seem 'harmless' they are driving many innocent teens to suicide, devastating their peers and families. We have to prevent the bullying before we cause another suicide. Teens who are being victimized can seek help by talking to a trusted adult, teacher, social worker, or counselor. However, many teens are convinced that this will make the torture worse. If that is so, the student can take precautionary actions on their own, such as: blocking the number that is threatening them, or deleting an account from a social networking site. If anyone thinks before they type, together, we can put an end to cyberbullying.