Cyber-Bullying in Adolescence Essay

Bullying has, unfortunately, been a part of adolescent life for decades. Some may call it a rite of passage, but the reality is that it is an often ugly part of school and community life that can lead to lasting emotional and physical trauma. In extreme cases, it also results in suicide, particularly among vulnerable adolescents, so the seriousness of the problem is clear. In the modern era, as shocking as it is to many people to believe, bullying has come to the digital age and is resulting in kids and teenagers being taunted in almost every imaginable manner. Today’s adolescent is likely to either be a victim or cyber bully before finishing high school, being such a bully themselves, or surprisingly enough, ending up on both ends of the spectrum. Studies have largely been conducted specifically about cyber bullying for the past eight years and, on average, upwards of 27 of respondents are victims of some level of extreme cyber bullying, while other studies point that this percentage is much higher and increasing at staggering rates (Wang & Ianotti, 2012). This number is simply unacceptable and local school systems throughout the world, particularly in North America, need to do a better job of assisting teachers in providing resources to their students aimed at eliminating the threat of cyber bullying. In addition, resources should be provided to assist victims of cyber bullying by giving them support to ease any psychological or physical trauma that they might have experienced. Touching on these areas is the aim of this brief study.

To begin to understand how to work within the local Ontario school system to combat this problem, teachers and other stakeholders in childhood education must first understand the unique components of cyber bullying. While such an action can be perpetrated against any age group, it is typically children and teenagers who find themselves becoming a victim. The action occurs when an individual is harassed, humiliated, threatened, or targeted in some manner primarily through digital communication. This can take place via either the Internet, other digital devices, and the increasingly feature rich mobile or smart phone. An important distinction for the purposes of this paper is that cyber bullying occurs when both the victim and the instigator are both minors. If an adult is involved, it becomes a form of harassment that carries different distinctions (Fauman, 2008). Teachers need to be on the lookout for students in their class that are either victimized by such behavior, or those that are instigating it. Cyber bullying is unique because of the speed by which embarrassing or threatening comments made about a student can circulate throughout the school environment, and even an entire district, before adults discover it. This illustrates the seriousness of the problem and why it must be dealt with from the very outset, lest even more lasting damage be done.

The activity of cyber bullying is usually ongoing. It does not stop at a simple rude instant message, but often evolves into hurtful and lewd language, rumors being spread throughout the Internet about the victim, and can evolve into threats or other embarrassments that can torment a young person. Schools are tying to get involved, but their tactics have largely failed. Because much of cyber bullying takes place off campus, whereas more traditional types of bullying occur on campus, educational institutions are hard pressed to tackle the issue on their own. The schools that have disciplined students for cyber bullying activity taking place off campus have often found themselves embroiled in legal battles that they lose more than win (Jose, Kljakovic, Scheib, & Notter, 2012). A new approach is needed. Perhaps there are educational programs that can be implemented into the school curriculum that convince student’s that cyber bullying is wrong, or that encourage victims with resources that they can safely utilized if they find themselves being bullied in this manner. In addition, school’s need to work more closely with law enforcement officials. Rather than taking matters into their own hands, thus often fighting a losing battle, they could forge cooperative efforts with the police force to make cyber bullying a crime that is dealt with swiftly and effectively.