Cyber Bullying Among Youngsters

Information and communication technologies such as the internet and mobile phones are very important to youngsters now. In our generation, youngsters are required to use the internet and their mobile phones very frequently because they need it for their school work, researching and communicating with their friends or school teachers.

Victims Of Cyber Bullying
However, using the internet and communication technologies has a negative aspect to it. Youngsters face cyber bullying if they are not really liked by their classmates.
The few groups that always face cyber bullying problems are:

• youngsters that are better in studies
• youngsters that are very quiet and they dont really communicate well with other people

However, youngsters are not only victims, but also perpetrators.


There are reports saying that youngsters actually send threatening emails or text messages to their classmates, or even creating websites with denigrating pictures of these victims. A research has been done by the national crime prevention council and they have found out that 46% of the youngsters now have already directly or indirectly experienced cyber bullying.

Effects Of Cyber Bullying On Victims

• The victims of cyber bullying will feel intimidated and it might cause them to be introvert, and not dare to talk to others
• Some victims might even commit suicide if they cannot handle the stress of cyber bullying
•  Victims may face depression after being cyber bullied for a long time

So far 3 people committed suicide in USA after being cyber bullied. Researches say that most of the victims of cyber bullying are also being bullied in school and when they try to communicate to others by using other forms of communication devices such as the computer or using their handphones, the bullies continue to bully them using those devices. This is the main reason why victims have depression problems because they think nobody likes them and they somehow keep all these to themselves.

My Own Feelings

I think parents should help their children who are actually facing problems with cyber bullying. They can actually talk to their children, try to calm them down and consult their child's teacher about the bullying problem and seek help from the teachers.

They can also place their child's computer in the living room and not their own room so that the parents can see and know what their child is doing.


Referrences
http://innovationassignment.wikispaces.com/file/view/Handout+-+Cyber+bullying+among+youngsters.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyber-bullying#Intimidation.2C_emotional_damage.2C_suicide
http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/09/27/victims-of-cyber-bullying-face-depression/18791.html
http://www.ncpc.gov.sg/