Minchul Kim

Mr.Padgett
ENGL1102
April 9th 2014
Cyber Bullying, is it Really That Serious?
Bullying is not just limited to what we usually think of bullying which is the common
scenario of a big bad bully in middle school who like to picks on little kids and steal lunch
money. Bullying can go so much more than that and now its even done electronically which
takes this into a whole new level. This form of bullying is known as Cyber bullying and is
argued that cyber bullying can do more harm than traditional bullying. The reason being that
cyber bullying can occur at any time. The bullies use online resources like social media website,
text messages, and chatting websites to bully their targets. Cyber bullying is a major problem
that is growing rapidly due to the ongoing growth of technology and social media and people
who should be aware of seriousness of the problem because it is leading to depression and even
suicides.
Bullying physically in person deals with physical altercations and verbal abuses but cyber
bullying goes beyond that. The continuous harassment, threats, and the ability to bully any time
they want can cause more harm than one would think. Today, almost everyone have access to
some kind of online network such as cellular networks and the internet and that means almost
everyone is not only bound to be cyber bullied but can actually become a cyber-bully. The other
reason why cyber bullying is happening so much is how easy it is to bullying someone
anonymously. It is very simple and easy to hide your identity when using social media sites and
this attracts potential bullies. So basically, cyber bullies can bully anyone they want, at any time
without even revealing themselves. To me, this seems like the best way to bully someone and is
the reason why so many have been bullied by these cyber bullies.
How does social media relate to cyber bullying? Social media websites like Facebook
and Twitter is used by hundreds of millions of people which are the perfect way for bullies to
attack their target. Not only they are able to communicate through the website, they are also able
to acquire information about the victim. As mentioned before, hiding your identity in these social
media sites is very easy and this allows for the bully to attack the victim in ways they would
have not done if it was in person. To bully someone online, all you have to do is click and type a
few things and that is why cyber bullying occurs so often.
The research done by Francine Dehue, and Catherine Bolman is quite interesting. They
selected 34 primary schools and seven secondary to survey the students there about cyber
bullying. Many questions were asked such as Have you bullied someone via the internet this
semester? and How have you been bullied on the internet this semester? The majority of the
results were being cyber bullied using MSN (Which is a social media chatting site). Then there
were the questions of What do you usually do when you are bullied on the internet or via text
messages? and there is variety of answers and those include, pretending to ignore it, talking
with others about the bullying, ignore it, delete the messages, and surprising the answer I bully
the bullier. The last answer raises some concern. The cyber bullies turn their victims into bullies
themselves? This may relate to the answer the students gave to their next question How do you
feel when you are bullied on the internet or via text messages? Most of the students replied that
they feel anger and right under that, they feel sad after getting cyber bullied. The other answers
that were given are I dont trust other girls and boys anymore and I dont like to go to
school. All of these answers are problems of cyber bullying.
So, so what exactly can happen because of this new form of bullying? We can take this
scenario as an example. Say there is this boy who seems to be a normal high school student who
is doing pretty well in school. Then, some event occurred and he did something that is quite
embarrassing or is not normally accepted by the students. The news gets out and these days if
something interesting happens, it gets instantly spread out into social media informing almost
everyone in the school. But it doesnt stop there. Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter
has the power to spread it all over the world. Then, there will be those people who post negative
and hurtful comments about that person but this wont be just a few comments, there will be
hundreds of comments made by people that know the boy and also by people who does not even
know the high school boy. As the saying goes Words hurt more than actions, these comments
really hurt emotionally.
Now let us get into why there were so many people who posted these negative and hurtful
comments about this boy. As mentioned before, the reason cyber bullying happens so often is
because you have a greater opportunity to bully someone.. It is so easy sometimes people do not
even realize that posting these hurtful comments is considered cyber bullying. Be it that the
bullies are intentional or not the outcome is still the same, the victim takes it all and can lead to
depression and that can unfortunately lead to suicides.
Suicide is serious and is nothing to joke about but many reported that after being cyber
bullied, they had serious thoughts about suicide. There are also cases where people commit
suicide due to cyber bullying. Whats even more shocking is what the researchers David D.
Luxton found about suicide and social media. The researchers searched up suicide online and
the some of the results are surprising. The first few is about factual information about suicide,
some were help sites for those who are having suicidal thoughts but then there were sites labeled
as pro-suicide (meaning sites that encouraged suicide). This was quite shocking for me, although
this could have been expected seeing how there are all types of web sites but it was still very
surprising. These pro-suicide websites are social websites where people can post their story and
suicidal thoughts and then other users can posts to encourage those people with suicidal thoughts.
I can imagine those who were cyber bullied can end up visiting these kinds of sites. Cyber
bullying is affecting many people and the outcomes can be bad as suicide. Just as suicide is
nothing to joke about, cyber bullying is nothing to joke about. People have to be aware of what
cyber bullying is and how serious its consequences can be. There are many ways to get help
about being cyber bullied. There are even hot line phones for cyber bullied victims and many
ways you can deal with cyber bullies such as trying to prevent communication with the cyber
bully and discussing with friends and family members.
Cyber bullying is any type of bullying done online which means its not limited to just
websites like Facebook but can be anywhere from online forums and online gaming. I have
experienced cyber bullying from these online sources and it is definitely a problem. When I was
younger, I was interested in editing photos and posted my pictures on online forums. There were
negative and hurtful comments about my work and really put me down. After that, every time I
would post anything else, people will always leave hurtful comments. Although I wanted to keep
on getting better the other users to that site kept on giving negative comments I started to lose
confidence in myself in doing this was depressed. I didnt know back then how people hard and
hurtful people can be especially online. I always wonder if I never let those cyber bullies get to
my feelings, I would still be trying to work with photo editing. There was another significant
incident with having this online gaming group that I was leading. I was the leader of the group
where I plan what we were going to do such as playing a certain game together, or working on a
project dealing coding. Although it seemed like it going great, later some people did not agree
with me and decided to take control over the group. Not getting into too many details, the group
disbanded and they formed another group without me. But that was not it. After we split up,
there was constant harassment from the other group to me saying hurtful comments and insults.
It may be hard for other people to understand, but I personally felt a great amount of sadness for
all of this. It felt I was hated and unwanted and this led me to being sad and depressed. Although
this was years ago and now I am perfectly fine and accept everything that happened, but back
then when the group decided to go against me, the constant cyber bullying and harassment was
really strong, and its not just something you can ignore or deal with easily.
Cyber bullying is real problem that is growing with how the world is growing with
technology. We already know cyber bullying is causing many problems such as people being
harassed, causing depression, and even leading to suicide. Everyone needs to be aware that
anyone could be cyber bullied and if its serious, it can lead to devastating consequences. Lot of
times, people get cyber bullied but does not know how to deal with it and allows the cyber bully
to continue bullying you. We should always be aware if your friends could be cyber bullied and
let them know you are here for them.




Works Cited
"Dealing with Cyberbullying." Dealing with cyberbullying: Tips for kids and parents to prevent
and stop cyberbullying. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Apr. 2014.
<http://www.helpguide.org/mental/cyber-bullying.htm>.
"What is Cyberbullying." Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Mar. 2014.
<http://www.stopbullying.gov/cyberbullying/what-is-it/>.

David D. Luxton, Jennifer D. June, and Jonathan M. Fairall. Social Media and Suicide: A Public
Health Perspective. American Journal of Public Health: May 2012, Vol. 102, No. S2, pp. S195-
S200.
Gwenn Schurgin OKeeffee, Kathleen Clarke-Pearson, The Impact of Social Media on Children,
Adolescents, and Families, March 28, 2011, Pediatrics Vol 127 No 4 pp800-804

Francine Dehue, Catherine Bolman, and Trijntje Vllink. CyberPsychology & Behavior. April
2008, 11(2): 217-223.

Patricia W . Agaston, Robin Kowalski, Susan Limber, The Journal of adolescent health :
Students Perspectives on Cyber Bullying, Society for Adolescent Medicine 1, December 2007