Cyberbullying

-- By SylviaDuran - 23 Dec 2011

My elementary school tormentor was named Omar. He was a stocky, angry child who had few friends, but I was surprised he had any at all. Every day after school he would find me with the sole purpose of trying to make me cry. His favorite chant was the unoriginal, "Hey, Miss Piggy! Hey, Miss Piggy! Oink, oink, oink!" It was true that my family's love of Mexican food had given me round cheeks, but I did not enjoy being reminded of it by Omar. Although his insults were childish and silly, they were very hurtful and obviously unforgettable. I dreaded seeing him every day, but I knew I could survive because he was only a small part of my day. From the moment I got into my mother's car to go home, Omar's words vanished for at least another day. Today's children and adolescents do not have the luxury of running away from their Omars. As is frequently reported in the media, children are bullied constantly -- anywhere they are technologically connected, which means they are bullied everywhere. History shows that the world has always had bullies, but our desire for continuous connectivity has created unrelenting bullies.

Just as bullying will always exist, cyberbullying cannot be entirely eliminated. This would require society as a whole to promote greater civility and acceptance of others, which has so far not occurred (Exhibit A? and Exhibit B). However, one solution is to transform our young people from mindless consumers of technology to creators of it. Cyberbullying illustrates how idle hands truly are dangerous.

Creating technology

There are many theories for why young people find it so easy to bully one another online. Some say it is the anonymity of being online, but this is contradicted by the prevalent cyberbullying that happens on Facebook, where users reject anonymity and embrace disclosing private details about themselves. Others say cyberbullying occurs for the same reasons bullying occurs - kids will be kids. Yet this reasoning does not explain why the cyberbullying is so unrelenting. Cyberbullying among young people occurs because these individuals are always connected to one another and they are bored. If we want to reduce cyberbullying we need to demand that our young people stop being mindless consumers of technology and begin learning how to create technology.

Creating technology

Subsection A

Subsub 1

Subsection B

Subsub 1

Subsub 2

Section II

Subsection A

Subsection B

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