Cyberbullying

              Since the surge in social media usage we have new issues arising that were not present before social media became popular. One such issue is cyberbullying. While bullying has always been a societal issue, cyberbullying is different because it is bullying that occurs online. It can occur on any site at any time on any device. Cyberbullying can come in the form of mean text messages, rumors spread online, embarrassing images or videos, websites being created to harass someone, or fake profiles being created. Cyberbullying can often be worse than “traditional” bullying because it can occur anytime and anywhere. So, if Lucy is at school being bullied for her lunch money, she can escape that when she leaves school, but if Lucy’s bully gets a Facebook account and starts posting mean things to Lucy, Lucy cannot really escape that. She can block the bully, but that bully can always make a new account or even a fake account to harass Lucy with. So, cyberbullying can take a person’s sanctuary/safe place away from them. Another piece of cyberbullying that makes it difficult to escape is that there are apps/sites that allow users to post things anonymously. I know one site that allowed people to do this was formspring.me, which was popular when I first graduated high school, and boy do I remember the HATEFUL things people would say what they felt that no one could trace it back to them. Another thing that is difficult with cyberbullying is getting rid of embarrassing/harassing posts after they have been sent. I know a girl who had pictures of her performing sexual acts taken without her knowledge that were later posted to someone’s Facebook account, and even though the pictures were deleted, people had already taken screenshots of the images and now several people have copies of those pictures and there is no way of knowing who has them or making sure that the images are deleted. Often times, the effects of cyberbullying can last long after the actual cyberbullying has stopped. People who experience cyberbullying are more likely to fall into bad habits that can affect their lives for years to come such as alcohol/drug use and skipping school. People who experience cyberbullying also tend to experience low self-esteem and mental illnesses such as depression and/or anxiety. It has been reported that over half of adolescents experience cyberbullying and about half of those that are cyberbullied do not tell their parents when it occurs.