I've seen lots of commercials that it's all of a sudden a huge government Canada priority to crack down on "cyber bullying". I think it's a huge waste of time and resources, and here's my reasoning: "Cyberbullying... Lol, don't make me laugh! Cyber bullies aren't real. A freaking robot could be programmed to insult somebody to death online. Would it be the robot's fault? Hell no it wouldn't. Same goes for anybody behind a monitor. If they don't know you, they don't matter. Just like that part of town you steer clear from, you should do the same for places on the internet that you know are pools of random strangers if you can't take criticism or insults. Now, if a person you know is trying to inflict pain in a certain way, that can be dealt with as it is a real bullying situation. As for "cyberbullies", life is about choices, and you can choose to be the better one, don't post that slutty half nude, or delete an existing post, or even better: don't use the computer at all if you cannot keep yourself from doing so." Any thoughts, comments? Is the crackdown a good idea, bad idea? What should the government prioritize when it comes to the internet?
I think the problem is that mostly this affects teenagers and they're not always going to understand what could happen if they do things online. Even if they 'know' about it, they don't actually realize how it's going to feel or how they'll handle it when it happens to them. It doesn't matter how much you warn some kids about the dangers of doing something, they're still going to do it because they tend to think they know better than people with years and years of experience, and nothing can change their minds. I really don't think that someone who flashes their breasts for a stranger in a private chat once deserves to be harassed every single day by pretty much everyone until they try to kill themselves, and then harassed about their suicide attempt until they actually do kill themselves. Young girls/boys making dumb mistakes has happened since forever-- the only difference is that in the past it would have just been forgotten about, whereas nowadays it's going to be recorded and posted online and commented on and shared. You can lose control of that one simple mistake pretty quickly. It's not the same world as the one I grew up in and not doing anything to help people who get into these types of situations is a bad idea. I'm not big on Harper, but I'm willing to admit that he gets things right from time to time and this is one of those times.
There will always be bullies.....in all facets of life. I think more energy should be focused on teaching people how to deal with bullies on their own, rather than telling them to go straight to the authorities and trying to stop bullies from bullying. It's not gonna happen. That goes for online as well as irl. It just so happens that it's MUCH easier to deal with online. I mean come on....turn the damn computer off and go do your own thing.
How are you supposed to ignore naked pictures of yourself being emailed to all of your friends and shared through facebook, exactly? How would you deal with that situation?
Personally, I would "like" each post and try to come up with funny comments, likely containing homo-erotic innuendo. But for those who let that kind of stuff get to them.....I would suggest reporting them to Facebook and/or local authorities, and to then just move on with your life.....taking precautions to not find yourself in that situation again. Chalk it off as an embarrassing yet educational experience.
No. I didn't say it was an easy thing to do. I just believe it would be the best way to handle that specific situation. What would you advise? You could go to your parents, have them contact the other kids parents, the school, bring it to the pta, etc. But all that's gonna do is bring more attention. The bully will seek revenge, continuing the cycle. Bullying has gotten worse over the years even though punishment has gotten more and more severe. Placing more strict rules in place isn't going to solve the problem. Kids need to know how to tackle these things on their own. And I know some bleeding heart will come in here and give links to the most severe cases of bullying and try to make me out to be calloused....but I'm not talking about the extreems. I'm speaking in general terms. Obviously there is a point where my advice won't work. But babying the victims of the general cases is counterproductive. Kids today are being taught to be pussies and it's only going to hurt them in the long run.
The punishment has certainly NOT gotten more severe and I have no idea where you're getting this from. Bullying still happened in the past but it wasn't as severe because teachers had more authority, and parents would co-operate. Nowadays if you tell a parent that their kid is a bully they'll attack the teacher for accusing them of being a bad parent, and blame the teacher for their kids problems. I know because I taught middle school for 9 years. Some parents were on board with everything, but of course their children never had problems. The problems were always with the parents who either didn't give a shit, had rage issues, or thought their child was an angel who would never do anything wrong, or that what they were doing 'wasn't that bad'. I've actually had parents who thought that their 13 year old had the right to smoke cigarettes on school property. Some people are just really messed up. They don't know how to raise their children properly and they don't want anyone telling them they're doing it wrong. They take offense to the idea that they could be directly contributing to their kid's emotional issues... and yet, it happens. Usually if there is enough of an effort made the bully will stop... but a lot of the time these things go unnoticed, or slip through the cracks because nobody gives a shit, or there's simply no policies in place to deal with it. Kids tend to keep this stuff from their parents/teachers, but even if they were more forthcoming, not every teacher or parent will be helpful or supportive if they do bring it forward. If there's a law then they might start treating it like a serious issue and realize that it is a serious problem that can have a lasting effect on someone's life. It would be nice if everyone was capable of dealing with everything, but that's just not reality... good doesn't always triumph over evil and what's more I really don't think it's fair to expect a 14 year old girl to stand up to a 30 year old man, which is one of the biggest reasons that this law is being put forward.
I think its relevant in todays society. And not just to teenagers. Look at the case where the grown woman in her mid 30's harassed a 14 year old girl by creating numerous usernames online and befriending the girl only to belittler and abuse her. The girl ended up committing suicide and at such a young age their minds are so impressionable. We have become so desensitized to violence and abusive language that anything we can do to combat that negativity is a good thing in my book. I see no harm in it at all, so no reason to dispute it.
Sorry the girl was actually 13 , and the guilty party was 20 years old. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/21/us/21myspace.html?_r=0
I have no tolerance for bullying, but honestly if I were to put money towards stopping it, I'd put more of it towards stopping the "in-person" bullying than cyber bullying, though that is an upcoming problem, that is growing rapidly around the U.S.
OP: Cyber bulllying is extremely hard to "get away" from. It's not at all like a shady part of town, especially since the new generation is even more attached to electronic devices and the internet than we are. it is sadly very real and is a problem with youth. It may sound silly to you, and that is the media's fault. The reality of it is not funny though. I've done actual academic research on this so I'm speaking from actual psychology, sociology, criminology and technology peer reviewed journals. Also don't forget the population that is affected by cyberbullying can be as young as 8 years old . . . I see you are 22 years old, and I am 28, so for us we would just laugh it off perhaps or respond in kind. Imagine you are a child, and your parents don't even know what cyber bullying is, and half the reactions you see from people on the subject are "HAW! give me a break! how ridiculous! grow a pair!"
