Imagine being
bullied on the internet, and there is nothing you can do about it. That is how
most teenage kids feel when they are being bullied online. Social media
platforms such as Facebook has made it easy for kids to get bullied. People sit
behind their computers and attack viciously with their words without caring
about the amount of emotional pain they are inflicting on these kids. Internet
bullying causes depression amongst kids and brings down their self esteem.
Internet bullying can sometimes lead to suicides and severe mental damage if a
child doesn’t get help.
Depression is
one of the first stages of hurt a child faces after being bullied which is sad
because this brings their self esteem down. At this young age kids do not know
how to deal with this situation so they can sometimes take it out on
themselves. They start to believe the things that are said to them as being
true, and this affects them is a negative way. A couple of years ago, there was
a report on the news about a girl who was being bullied on Facebook through her
comment feed. She posted pictures of herself, and people would comment saying horrible
things to her like calling her names and telling her she is ugly. This girl was
about 14 years old and didn’t know how to handle this situation. She started believing
the horrible things that were said to her and started cutting herself and ended
up committing suicide. How many more teenage lives are going to be lost for us
to start taking internet bulling seriously and take immediate action.
Internet
bullying is not a joke and should not be done for fun. People need to watch out
for what they say to young people. Ask yourself, would I be able to say this
horrible statement right in front of the person? just because you are
comfortably sitting at the behind your computer does not mean that you have the
privilege to say anything you want. People should think more about how they use
their words because words are very powerful. Bullying is not accepted in any
shape or form and should be terminated.
The answer to the question, "How many more teenage lives are going to be lost for us to start taking internet bulling seriously... " is "None."
ReplyDeleteBefore anyone can give a response to, "...and take immediate action", you're going to have to make a concrete proposal.
If you don't have enough information to make a proposal, I recommend the works of dana boyd to you, at http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/ .
I agree with this blog immensely. I have read many online blogs where people state that internet bullying is "not a big deal" and how simple it is to "close the computer and walk away." However, in most cases, it is not that simple to just "close the computer." Just because the computer is closed does not mean that you are still not being ridiculed... it just means that you cannot see it.
ReplyDeleteI completely understand how internet bullying can directly correlate to suicide and depression.. I believe that it is much easier for "bullies" to bully online because they are hiding behind a computer rather than having a conversation face to face. Chances are, most of the time what people say on the computer is not what they would actually say had they had the chance to say it to their faces.