Cyberbullying
The Internet has created a whole new world of social communications for young people who are using e-mail, Web sites, instant messaging, chat rooms and text messaging to stay in touch with friends and make new ones.While most interactions are positive, new technologies have given young people a new – and powerful – platform from which to target peers. In a 2008 University of Toronto study, half the students reported having been cyberbullied.
There is little doubt that cyberbullying, which can be the equivalent of “social death” for many young people, is traumatic. It differs from traditional, face-to-face bullying in that it is relentless and public and at the same time anonymous. Cyberbullying has turned the usual image of “the bully” on its head; it’s no longer only the “tough kids” who may act aggressively – it can just as easily be the shy, quiet types, hidden behind their computers. Added to this is the potential presence of countless, invisible witnesses and/or collaborators to the cyberbullying, which creates a situation where victims are left unsure of who knows, and whom to fear.
How does cyberbully occurs?
According to a study, young people are most likely to encounter cyberbullying through instant messaging, followed by e-mail, Web sites for games and social networking.
Built-in digital cameras in cell phones are adding a new dimension to the problem. In one case students used a camera-enabled cell phone to take a photo of an overweight classmate in the shower after gym. The picture was distributed throughout the school e-mail list within minutes. The emerging trend of sexting also exposes teenagers to cyberbullying: personal messages and photographs, even those sent to real friends or boyfriends/girlfriends, could end up being embarrassing if the relationship sours and private photos are made public.
On social networking sites, you can now tag images with the names of people who are in the photo. This simple act can lead to cyberbullying, as these photos will appear in any search into this person’s name and it could be that misappropriated profile settings do not protect access to them.
Multiplayer online games and virtual worlds can be venues for harassment and cyberbullying when kids are playing or using the chat features to talk to other players. According to a 2008 Pew Internet & American Life Project report, more than half of teens who play games report seeing or hearing “people being mean and overly aggressive while playing”; a quarter of them report that this happens “often.”
Who are cyberbullies and why?
Cyberbullies:
A quarter of youths who perpetrate cyberbullying are teenagers who have also bullied others offline. However, the remaining three quarters do not bully others in person – implying that the Internet has empowered youth who would never consider bullying anyone in the physical world to do so in the virtual world.
Technology can also affect a young person’s ethical behaviour because it doesn’t provide tangible feedback about the consequences of actions on others. This lack of feedback minimizes feelings of empathy or remorse. Young people say things online that they would never say face-to-face because they feel removed from the action and the person at the receiving end.
Targets
Targets are the victims of cyberbullying behaviour. Although there is no physical violence, cyberbullying may be more frightening to targets because there are, potentially, an unlimited number of witnesses. When bullying is anonymous, targets don’t know who to watch out for or respond to – which can lead to feelings of helplessness. Over half (52 per cent) of teenagers who are targets of cyberbullying never actually report it.
Bystanders
Cyberbullying often occurs away from adults. Thus, witnesses or bystanders to cyberbullying have a very important role to play when it comes to putting an end to it. They represent social consensus and in this capacity, have an important role to play in stopping or supporting cyberbullying.
ARE YOU AT RISK?
Online Predators
Using Internet communication tools such as chat rooms, e-mail and instant messaging can put teenagers at risk of encountering online predators. The anonymity of the Internet means that trust and intimacy can develop quickly online. Predators take advantage of this anonymity to build online relationships with inexperienced young people.
How do online predators work?
Predators establish contact with teenagers through conversations in chat rooms, instant messaging, e-mail or discussion boards. Many teens use “peer support” online forums to deal with their problems. Predators, however, often go to these online areas to look for vulnerable victims.
Online predators try to gradually seduce their targets through attention, affection, kindness, and even gifts, and often devote considerable time, money and energy to this effort. They are aware of the latest music and hobbies likely to interest teenagers. They listen to and sympathize with teenagers’ problems. They also try to ease young people’s inhibitions by gradually introducing sexual content into their conversations or by showing them sexually explicit material.
Some predators work faster than others, engaging in sexually explicit conversations immediately. This more direct approach may include harassment or stalking. Predators may also evaluate the teenagers they meet online for future face-to-face contact.
ARE YOU AT RISK?
Young adolescents are the most vulnerable age group and are at high risk of being approached by online predators. They are exploring their sexuality, moving away from parental control and looking for new relationships outside the family. Under the guise of anonymity, they are more likely to take risks online without fully understanding the possible implications.
Young people who are most vulnerable to online predators tend to be:
· new to online activity and unfamiliar with “Netiquette”
· actively seeking attention or affection
· rebellious
· isolated or lonely
· curious
· confused regarding sexual identity
· easily tricked by adults
· attracted by subcultures apart from their parents’ world
Teenagers feel they are aware of the dangers of predators, but in reality they are quite naive about online relationships. In focus groups surveys, girls aged 14 to 17 initially said they disguised their identities in chat rooms. They admitted, however, that it was impossible to maintain a false identity for long and eventually revealed personal information when they felt they could “trust a person.”
Building this “trust” took from 15 minutes to several weeks – not a long time for a skillful predator to wait.
Privacy Invasions
The ability to interact and communicate with others is one of the biggest attractions of the Internet for teenagers. Talking with people in chat rooms and instant messaging, playing games, entering contests and filling out surveys are all popular online activities. Unfortunately, most of us don’t really understand ‘interactivity’ and how such activities can put our privacy at risk or even threaten our safety.
Privacy is the right to be free from outside intrusions and to have control over your own personal information. However, in today’s electronic age, personal data is a valuable commodity. Protecting information about yourself, therefore, has become a skill that young people need to learn.
Teenagers’ privacy can be compromised in certain online activities. For example, their privacy can be at risk, when they:
- fill out forms and surveys and enter contests on commercial Web sites
- provide information when registering for Internet services or software (i.e. file-sharing, instant messaging, e-mail)
- complete a personal profile for an e-mail or instant messaging account
- create a profile on a social networking sites such as MySpace, Twitter or Facebook
- give personal information to strangers in chat rooms or through instant messaging
Safety concerns
Even reputable teenagers’ sites gather information about their visitors. Problems can occur when teenagers become accustomed to submitting information as a regular part of online play and don’t stop to think about sharing personal information in what could be more risky online environments.
Teenagers who use chat rooms are also at high risk of revealing personal information. The first question that is usually asked of someone entering a chat room is A/S/L? – meaning age, sex and location. If teenagers reveal personal information to strangers they meet in chat rooms, this can lead to ‘cyberstalking,’ having pornography sent to them, or even being pressured to arrange a personal face-to-face meeting.
ARE YOU AT RISK?
Internet Addiction
Young people, or teenagers can easily become ‘hooked’ on online activities such as multi-user games, instant messaging, pornography and chat rooms. The most vulnerable are usually those who are lonely and bored or from families where nobody is at home to relate to after school.
Teenagers who are unpopular or shy with peers are often attracted to the opportunities for creating new identities in online communities. Boys, in particular, are frequent users of online role-playing games, where they assume new identities and interact with other players. Although playing these games with thousands of other users may appear to be a social activity, for the introverted teen, excessive playing can further isolate them from friends and peers.
The following identifies the symptoms of computer addiction.
Psychological symptoms
- Having a sense of well-being only while at the computer
- Inability to stop the activity
- Craving more and more time at the computer
- Neglecting family and friends
- Feeling empty, depressed and irritable when not at the computer
- Lying to family and friends about activities
- Problems with school or work
Physical symptoms
- Dry eyes
- Migraine headaches
- Backaches
- Eating irregularities, such as skipping meals
- Neglecting personal hygiene
- Sleep disturbances and changes in sleep patterns
