When family physician Michael Munger, MD, steps into one of his exam rooms, he does not always know what to expect. He recently entered the exam room to find one of his patients, a young adolescent we will call Mitch, sulking in a chair next to his mother. He knows Mitch, because he’s cared for him since he was a happy-go-lucky toddler. Recently, something happened and Mitch’s mood changed. His grades began to falter, he made excuses to avoid school, and he was no longer interested in playing lacrosse. Mitch was already self-conscious about his size 14 shoes, and now he was being bullied about his acne. In fact, the bullying became so bad that he was afraid to report it for fear of retaliation by his peers (Gale students resource).
There are multiple forms of bullying, verbal bullying, physical bullying, social bullying, cyberbullying and traditional bullying. Traditional and cyberbullying are the two most common forms of bullying. The dictionary defines cyberbullying , ‘ cyberbullying is the use of electronic communication to bully a person, typically by sending messages of an intimidating or threatening nature.’ The dictionary also defines Traditional bullying, “Traditional bullying is the use superior strength or influence to intimidate (someone), typically to force him, or her to do what one wants.”
Some argue that traditional bullying causes more psychological harmful to victims than cyberbullying. Others believe that cyberbullying hurts emotionally more than traditional bullying, and it leads to many teens causing suicide. Cyberbullying is becoming more of a problem every day, cyberbullying is an impersonal way to target those who have low self esteem.
Bullies nowadays target teens through, Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram and multiple other social media sites. According to a 2017 survey by Ditch the Label an anti-bullying charity, “42 percent of young people claimed to have been bullied through Instagram, followed closely by Facebook (37 percent) and Snapchat (31 percent).” Those bullies that post hate filled words are faceless, they hide behind a screen. This makes it easier for bullies to make those nasty comments; the bully isn’t facing their problem and talking it out, they are hiding behind a screen where they are safe. As a victim they have to live with the comment that is being posted, whether it is true or not the rumor is out.
This leaves victims feeling like they have to face things on their own, they feel lonely and out of place. This leads to many of the victims having suicidal thoughts. Julia Brailovskaia, Tobias Teismann and Jurgen Margraf state, “Cyberbullying has regularly been shown to be associated with suicide ideation/behavior. The present study investigated whether positive mental health, i.e., high levels of emotional, cognitive and psychological well-being, buffers the association between cyberbullying and suicide ideation/behavior.” This explains that cyberbullying and suicidal behaviors intermix and feed off of each other, without bullying suicidal thoughts would decrease.
There are many that argue that cyberbullying is not the most harmful type of bullying. They believe that traditional bullying does in fact cause more harm but they are wrong. Bullies come in all shapes and sizes, the harmful physical bullies do not make the same damage as cyberbullies do. Physical bullies can beat you down physically, but it is easier to stand up to a human and shut down what they are saying easier than standing up for yourself through a screen. Also, the emotional and mental abuse that cyberbullies target is a lot harder to stand up to, they are a faceless computer screen that are too cowardly to face you.
Cyberbullying and traditional bullying are in many ways the same. They both rely on acts of aggression to cause harm whether physical or psychologically to their victims. Their intent is to bring pain to their victim, which means that the effects of the bullying are the same no matter if it is from behind a screen or directly to the victims face. Relationships are a key factor in both cyberbullying and traditional bullying. In almost all cases the power resides with the bully which makes them in control of the situation. This is why most bullies will be aggressive in nature and will pick on more passive victims who are unlikely to retaliate or tell someone. This empowers the bully to harass their victims even more because they are not scared of getting in trouble. The bullying will also occur repeatedly. They will continue to attack their victims again and again until they get bored, until someone stops them or in worst cases suicide or self harm occurs.
Although traditional bullying and cyberbullying are similar, there are many things that are different between them. One of the main reasons that cyberbullying and traditional bullying differ from each other, you cant alway identify your aggressor with cyberbullying. This is due to electronic use, many bullies can hide behind a screen and are anonymous, this means hiding their identities. Being anonymous helps the bully, it makes it where they cant get in trouble and it helps them to not have face-to-face encounters. Traditional bullying is different you can identify your aggressor because it is a direct harassment.
Another way in which cyber bullying differs from traditional bullying is in the uniqueness of cyberbullying. While traditional bullying is usually isolated to the schoolyard, cyberbullying can occur anywhere and at any time. This makes it difficult, if not impossible, for victims to avoid attackers. Cyberbullies can create posts online tearing down their victims whenever they choose. With no means of escape, the victims of cyberbullying are often exposed to harassment on a constant basis.
According to the Cyberbullying Research Center, “over 33 percent of students between 12 and 17 were victims of cyberbullying during their lifetime. Females were more likely to be victims of electronic bullying than males, with 40.6 percent of females reporting victimization compared to 28.8 percent of males. This kind of activity peaks in late middle school and early high school.” Those victims who experienced cyberbullying also report being traditionally bullied. Many cyber bullied victims that are singled out as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. In the end, those who are targeted in traditional bullying and cyberbullying are similarly affected. Those who are targeted often suffer from depression, perform poorly in school and become violent. Those victims also have low self-esteem, fear social situations and feel scared to learn.
In addition to enduring these hostile situation, cyberbullying reaches out to more than just a couple peers. Cyberbullying reaches out to thousand if not millions, victims are getting shot down from all sorts of people around the world even though those seeing the post have not met the victim. Traditional bullying is different, those bullies try to keep their abuse very private and they don’t want many of their peers to find out. This keeps the embarrassment of the victim to a minimum and does not beat them down as much as cyberbullying does.
Due to the evidence that has been provided, Education and communication are the keys to stopping cyberbullying. Those who see bullying or the victims being bullied should be encouraged to report any kind of bullying. Many young adults should be made aware of the consequence that will be put in place for the hurtful words and post that bullies share. Some teens do not realize how serious cyberbullying is until it is to late. Many times bullying will get out of hand and depending on the severity of the attacks, the outcome will differ from the victims receiving depression and in worse cases suicide. Victims need to know that people are willing to support them and they have their peers in their corner. Many victims have their parents, site administrators, law enforcement offices, teachers and other students who are going through the same traumatic experience.
Although many believe that schools should provide the means for preventing bullying. Parents have to help, set rules and restrict their children from the internet and guard them from bullies on the internet. “One study found that 37 percent of students reported their parents had given them no rules on Internet use.This same study found that 26 percent of students believed their parents would be concerned about what they did online.” Parents play a big role for teens to understand the importance of online safety. Those surveyed stated that their parents were a huge influence of understanding the acceptable and unacceptable online behavior.
With the evidence that was presented, it makes it obvious that cyberbullying is a big problem that can cause depression or in worse cases suicide. The best way to help those victims and prevent these worse cases is through parental supervision. Another weapon is to have empathy for those who are struggling. Please help put an end to bullying.
