Bullying is a major problem in today’s society. Every year, schools give consequences to students who bully others. However, as technology advances, it becomes easier for kids to bully undetected. Cyberbullying is the new bullying. Instead of physical violence, now it is emotional, and can be hidden easier. Bullying is reaching new levels every day. Now, when two parties are slightly different, they get defensive, and claim whatever difference they have is better, and the other person’s is worse. This disagreement can lead to mean messages and blackmail, which can eventually lead to self-harm or physical violence against the other party.
Before all of the technology advances, if kids were bullied is was typically physical, such as knocking someone’s books down in the hallway, or beating someone up. However, hall monitiors heard when books hit the ground, and could punish the offender, and if someone came in with multiple bruises and a black eye, it was noticeable and they would be questioned. It also could have been mental bullying, such as name-calling. However if a student shouted a mean name at someone in the hallways, the hall monitor would hear, and the problem would be taken care of.
Now, kids resort to cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is saying or doing mean things with the assistance of technology. Kids can now go online and can unanimously post something about another without getting in trouble, or without getting revenged upon because their identity is secret. They could also make a profile in another person’s name and say or do things that will get that other person in trouble with their friends or family. Another way of cyberbullying is photoshopping pictures. Photoshopping pictures is changing pictures to make a person look different, or putting their picture into different scenes or backgrounds to make them appear to be doing something they didn’t actually do. Bullies can either use these pictures to embarrass the person, or to blackmail them.
Bullying, no matter which method is used (physical, mental, or emotional) takes a toll on the body. Some kids resort to self-harm when they are being bullies, if they are being called ‘fat’, they may starve themselves. We need to do something as a community to stop bullying. It all starts with a person who stands up for what is right and tells a trusted adult about a bullying situation. If kids think, ‘well it’s none of my business, I should stay out of it’, they are wrong. Adults rely on kids to tell them if they or one of their peers is having problems with a bully. If adults don’t know about it, they can’t do anything to stop it. Also, if you witness someone bullying someone else, tell the bully to knock it off, and then talk to the victim. Bullying can be prevented, but it takes the efforts of an entire community. If we all stand up against bullies and the mean things they do, they will back down, and lives will be saved.