Don’t Be A Bystander: Fight Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying is everyone’s business and the best response is a pro-active or preventative one. Cyberbullying can take many different forms and involves harassment, intimidation, and taunting of some kind via electronic communication such as email or websites. The most popular mediums for cyberbullying are social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.

 Never in the history of humanity has bullying been so inventive and thus destructive. Cyberbullies exploit this digital age to spread hate.

According to reach, Cyberbullying victims are twice more likely to attempt suicide, especially when passive bystanders witness their suffering and do nothing. Some have even gone to the extent of live streaming their own suicide in a desperate attempt to get attention.

While being cyberbullied can be a painful, alienating experience that has even driven some to suicide, the good news is that victims have legal rights.

A cyberbully seeks power and control through threats. The best way to fight a cyberbully is to not give them the power – just ignore him.

 If you receive a hurtful message we recommend you to not only ignore the message (it’s important to stop the urge to respond) but also block the user from your computer, phone or another technological device. Too often emotions are at their peak when you reply to an offensive message and this mix of internet and emotions can be dangerous. Sometimes it takes a long time for Social media networks and mobile service providers to take action, but do not be discouraged, eventually, they can help stop the cyberbully from going further.

Save the evidence. To make sure that you have a record of what happened if somebody is mean to you online. If it’s something that was sent directly to you, make sure you save it. If it’s something that can be deleted (a tweet, a status update, etc.) you can use get a screenshot (http://www.take-a-screenshot.org/).

Another important way to fight cyberbullying is by taking a stance when you see others being hurt and harassed by someone whether it is online or offline. Do NOT stand silently watching. Tell someone about it. Or search for support groups within school where you can anonymously tip off the offender.