In relation to the last cultural event that I went to about encouraging people to stand up for themselves and other and not be a bystander, I think that cyber bullying and harassment are equally as important. Before the presentation that was given in class on Thursday, I was thinking about blogging about this topic. It has been all over the media for years. It is commonly associated with younger children who do not understand the severity of the things they say and post on the Internet. However, many of the stories that I have heard involve older people like those in high school and college. At this age I think that people really understand relationships but also we have formed relationships with people and so we are aware of things that may tick them off, or really bother them. The saying “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks” relates to this age group because we start becoming more rigid in our way of thinking. Students are aware of whether they are abstract or critical thinkers and so we begin to feel more uncomfortable thinking in ways that seem unconventional to what we are used to. This is when cyber bullying and harassment come in. The incident that comes to mind the fastest is that of the Rutgers University student who committed suicide after his roommate posted a video online of him have sex with another man. Many people think that by the time you are in college you are mature enough and aware that this is not acceptable because it invades personal privacy. Society would think that college students are old enough to control their impulsivity better to not post such a video. The difference between elementary school cyber bullying and adult cyber bullying can often be life or death. I am not saying that elementary school bullying is not important or emotionally destructive behavior, but I think that many cases involving younger children can be more controlled by the influence of adults. On the other hand, college students who cyber harass are more aware and knowledgeable of the consequences and thus should know not to do it.
Texts like the one from the image above are just as harmful as posting videos like the one of Tyler Clementi. Texting has contributed a large amount to cyber bullying and harassment. It is hard to understand the tones of many messages sent through texting. Sarcasm and joking statements are hard to tell through texting because it is up to the person receiving the text to interpret it. So people must be very careful when texting, even their best friends who they think wont take it personally. Many people hide the fact that they were personally effected by a text or comment in fear of being made fun of even more (so they put on a front or a cover that it is ok to make bullying jokes).
Visit this website to learn more about the impact of bullying and harassment:
http://stopcyberbullying.org/
Spreading awareness of this type of harassment is important because it is very emotionally draining for many people and can lead to severe psychological problems like depression, anxiety and relationship issues.
This is an issue about the Rutgers University student, Tyler Clementi, who committed suicide because of cyber harassment
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/09/hold_new_rutgers_post.html
