Cyber Bullying

Free Response

When I was trying to come up with my own topic this week, my mind started wandering to something very relevant to our world: bullying. Bullying has ALWAYS been a problem in society, whether it was happening on a playground or on an international level, bullying has always been around. A lot has been done about bullying, I even remember the numerous “treat others the way you want to be treated” discussions teachers had with us starting in Kindergarten.
The problem now is that bullying has found a new medium to thrive in: the internet. This is a new concept, but the severity of it is increasing on a daily basis, and therefore it demands our attention.
Online bullying can happen in a number of ways, and really it filters out into other forms of technology like texting, prank phone calls, etc. There are apps on the iPhone where you can call someone’s phone but have it show that it’s calling from someone else’s number! Do you know how much trouble that could cause? If not, then I have a story about that:
So, one day over summer I was woken up by a phone call from my boyfriend saying, “why did you write me that text message?” and, thinking he was referring to a loving one I had sent the night before, I replied “I always send texts like that”. He got angry, and hung up. I was very confused until he forwarded me the text that said, “I found someone that I think is hotter than your ugly ass”. I called him and told him repeatedly it wasn’t me, but he didn’t believe me. I called his friend because I had a feeling he was involved, and guess what??? His friend had found a site on the Internet where you can send text messages to anyone and have it look like someone else’s text as long as you know their phone number (he learned this from Jimmy Kimmel haha). This harmless prank actually got my boyfriend and I in an argument, and imagine what could have happened if we never found out? Imagine what could happen if someone wrote something even MORE hurtful?!
These types of technology can become really dangerous if it’s abused, just like most things the Internet offers. In high school, there were so many people that would get anonymous texts or Facebook messages that were really hurtful and cruel. These technologies are providing a mask for the bullies to hide behind, and even allowing people who would normally not be aggressive enough to bully in person, to express their feelings toward someone in a hurtful way. These mean messages were sometimes reported to faculty, but they really didn’t know how to approach it since technically it occurred outside of school and they don’t have the technology to necessarily track down a person’s phone number.
I think that schools and others must begin thinking about ways to prevent this kind of stuff, and to teach people to still respect one another, even when they think their identity is unknown. This type of bullying is much less monitored than the bullying that occurs face-to-face, yet it’s the most frequent form of emotional bullying that adolescents experience today; steps need to be taken in order to start intervening with this cyber bullying.

Week 8: Face-to-Face

Question 3:

I personally don’t think my every day face to face time has been altered by technology, but that’s perhaps because I have always really enjoyed having a balance of down time and time out with friends. Technology has probably only affected my face to face time in that I now rely on it to SET UP my face to face time; I usually plan everything through texts, something that’s definitely generational. But other than that, I don’t watch movies online, I still go to the movies; I am not satisfied with being cooped up at my computer all day, talking to a friend ONLY through typing. I think that on a more general level people are probably affected by technology. We can be instantly connected to someone with a click of a button; there’s no traffic, no gas money, no paying for over-priced movie tickets. All you need is the internet to see someone, talk to them, etc. However, I think there’s a lot of value in still maintaining face-to-face time.
I know a lot of people who have used online dating sites and have ended up having successful relationships. The funny thing is that this used to be a taboo or strange thing, but now it’s more commonly acknowledged as a normal romantic “how you met” story. I fear for people meeting through Myspace, Craigslist, etc. because I’ve had the idea planted in my head that there are very dangerous people out there who abuse the internet. I have heard so many stories about people meeting up with someone and then disappearing; I think a LOT of caution must be taken when engaging in these types of activities and interactions. I don’t think there’s necessarily anything harmful with conversing with someone online, but I think meeting someone in person is a whole different ballgame. I suppose the wisest advice if that IS something of interest to you, is that you meet in a public place….or at a police station haha.
I think that “virtual” relationships are very fulfilling for some people, and that’s just a matter of opinion/taste. Some people may feel more comfortable talking online to people; an introverted person is going to be much more capable of talking to someone if the pressure is off. However, I think a lot of value comes from talking to people on a face to face level, especially because most professions and daily activities require human interaction. I understand that knowing people who share a common interest with you is very appealing, and I think most people will attest to that. I DO think as a society we need to make sure that this is being done in an appropriate and successful way. The internet is becoming an increasingly prominent component of our society, and therefore steps need to be made to make sure it’s being used properly. People use the internet now to interact, it’s just the way it is, and sometimes it really is nice being able to talk to people who have the same interests as you or who are playing a game with you, etc. The next step is just to ensure that those who use the internet for this purpose are not being put in jeopardy if they pursue their online friendships in the real world.