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Myrlene Reid Adam Padgett ENGL 1102 April 7, 2014 Cyberbullying versus Traditional Bullying In this technological age we have encountered several new obstacles that were never seen or even heard of before. The differences between children growing up in the 20th century versus the 21st century are virtually incomparable now. The advancement of humans as a society has developed so quickly with a lot of things in life being altered. The amount of physical activity children receive, the way technology is integrated into their daily lives, and simple things such as how children interact with one another, has changed irreversibly. Bullying is a good example of how our society has changed over the years. Before the use of social networks and the internet in general, those who experienced bullying usually only had to deal with it at school and/or in public places. With the help of the internet bullies have been able to reach their victims and have access to them almost 24/7, if need be. Through email, social networks, phones, and in school, there really is no escape from bullying for those who are victims. In this research paper I wanted to discover how the advancement of technology has changed the tactics of bullying and the effect it has on its victims. Cyberbullying is defined as willful and repeated harm inflicted through the use of computers, cell phones and other electronic devices (Bullying, cyberbullying, and suicide, 206). The 21st century has brought on this phenomenon that had not been seen before, children going

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online to say things about their peers and attack them in an even more public setting. Anonymous accounts, comments, and texts can be sent to a person which can render the bully virtually undetectable. The more advanced our world becomes the younger the people are who become exposed to it. Children as young as 3 or 4 years old know how to work computers and Iphones and how to do things adults still have to be taught. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts are being granted to children who hardly understand the dangers of the Internet. Lots of parents arent monitoring their children as tightly as they should and some children know how to create accounts without the permission of their parents. The common scenario with bullying before was that children could come home to find a place of peace. Within the safety of their own homes they were able to leave the bullying at school and have a break from it. This may not be the case if the child opens up an online account and the bully decides to attack through the Internet. Now instead of being able to face your attacker and having it be from only one person, other people can join in on the attack thus, exposing them to much more brutality and aggression from multiple people at once. Cyberbullying can lead to several outcomes that can tear a person down enough to make a drastic decision that cannot be altered. Cyberbullying has become almost a norm for people of all ages. It has become so easy to type a few negative things about a person and have it create a tumble effect on that persons life. Cyberbullying has been deemed a much more brutal form of bullying than that of the traditional sort. A bully at a school can only do so much damage in the presence of adults and a structured place with rules. Now this isnt to say that victims of traditional bullying arent affected as much as those who are bullied online, it is just a different type of environment. Those bullied in schools know who their attacker is, are more readily able to tell an adult, and are usually able to escape the physical presence of their bully when they leave school. When you

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bring the element of the internet to the bullying experience, it opens up a lot of doors for the bully. They no longer have to have a looming fear of being caught all of the time. It is extremely simple to create an anonymous account to tweet, facebook, or email their victim. This also gives the opportunity for other peers who may not like the person to join in and add to the abuse. In the article written by Sticca and Perren they discuss the differences between cyberbullying and traditional bullying and if one has a worse effect on an individual than the other. They conducted a study to discuss what children who had gone through both traditional and cyber bullying thought was more severe and aggressive. Their findings showed that each student had a different experience which made it kind of difficult to find one concrete answer (Is Cyberbullying Worse than Traditional Bullying, 729). There is no way to sit and decide how millions of people interpreted their bullying experience and how they felt theirs was worse or easier than someone elses. But I do think there is something to be said about cyberbullying not having an escape. There being nowhere to run and hide when things get a little too serious and hard to handle. It would be extremely easy to just delete the accounts where one is being attacked, but the pain the bully has instilled on them would still be there. When asked why victims of cyberbullying wouldnt delete their accounts, many said they thought that not having a social media account would open more doors for teasing and bullying than having one would. One of the main problems with cyberbullying is how hard it can be to find the attacker. There is a slimmer chance of the bully being found because of the safety that has been created for them in the vast internet. A result of cyberbullying that has been observed throughout its victims, is the change in the persons personality because the experience of being victimized decreases ones self-esteem or that those who have low self-esteems are more likely to be targeted as victims (Cyberbullying and Self-Esteem, 614). Every person is going to have a different experience with bullying

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because we are all very different people, every form of bullying is awful to endear for every victim even though the results may not be constant throughout. The threats, social exclusion tactics, the rumors spread, and the circulating defamatory images of the victim are what really makes cyberbullying such a psychologically damaging experience (Cyberbullying: Experiences, Impacts and Coping Strategies as Described by Australian Young People, 52). Along with traditional bullying, cyberbullying has an effect on a persons self-esteem, their outlook on life, and how they communicate with others. Suicide in young children has swept the world. So many people are deciding to end their lives because of bullying they have received either online or in person. Children have a tough time coming clean about the abuse they have received from a bully. They think it is something to be ashamed of and decide to take care of it on their own instead. They hide it from adults to the point where they can no longer handle it and think that harming themselves or suicide is their only way out. In research stemming from the Netherlands, surveys from 4,721 primary school boys and girls revealed that approximately 13% of boys directly bullied and 18% of boys indirectly bullied suffered from suicidal ideation (Bullying, cyberbullying, and suicide, 206). People who have experienced bullying believe that there isnt a way to stop it, that they deserve the abuse because they are different from their peers. They start to believe what everyone is telling them about themselves and in result begin to hate who they are, especially when the attack is on the internet and from an anonymous user. It is said that When someone reads Anonymous hate, what really hurts the most is when they read it they dont hear the attackers voice, they hear their own. Even though every persons experience with bullying is extremely varied and personal there are some aspects of it that are constant. The feeling of depression, worthlessness, and the loss of interest has been seen as symptoms of all forms of bullying. In order to prevent children from

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resulting to suicide and self-harm to fix their problems, there needs to be a sense of open communication. Schools have tried to implement seminars and workshops on cyberbullying and suicide. Some argue that discussing suicide with children in an effort to prevent it, actually can plant the seed into the childs mind that can cause them to think of it as a viable option. There really is no way to communicate with children that suicide is a negative thing than to flat out say it is. Exposing the truth behind bullying and the effects it can bring has been proven to save peoples lives. Bullying, no matter the form, has taken over the nation and become such a common thing in a persons life. We have come to accept that it is almost a rite of passage and something that everyone goes through. I personally dont want to live in a world where someone being attacked is just a run of the mill experience. Having all of these new ways to go about bullying has made it harder to control, but as a nation we are making strides to contain cyberbullying. The consequences for attacking someone on line are comparable to attacking someone in person. A bully can receive community service, mandatory counseling, and/or jail time. Although technology has brought about many beautiful things to the world, like connecting family members and friends, allowing people to have an education, and opening up many doors for success. There is also a dark side to it that needs to be forcibly brought to the light. No child should have to worry about being attacked on any social media website thats main purpose should be to have fun. As a society we can bring cyberbullying and bullying to an end and save millions of people while doing it.

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Works Cited Hinduja, S., & Patchin, J. W. (July 01, 2010). Bullying, cyberbullying, and suicide. Archives of Suicide Research, 14, 3, 206-221. Patchin, J. W., & Hinduja, S. (December 01, 2010). Cyberbullying and Self-Esteem. The Journal of School Health, 80, 12, 614-621. Price, M., & Dalgleish, J. (June 01, 2010). Cyberbullying: Experiences, Impacts and Coping Strategies as Described by Australian Young People. Youth Studies Australia, 29,2, 5159. Sabella, R. A., Patchin, J. W., & Hinduja, S. (November 01, 2013). Cyberbullying myths and realities. Computers in Human Behavior, 29, 6, 2703-2711. Sticca, F., & Perren, S. (May 01, 2013). Is Cyberbullying Worse than Traditional Bullying? Examining the Differential Roles of Medium, Publicity, and Anonymity for the Perceived Severity of Bullying. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 42, 5, 739-750.