I just read a very interesting U.S. News article about cyberbullying among school-aged kids. Cyberbullying refers to the use of internet or other technology to repeatedly hurt or embarrass someone.
According to one study in the article, 43% of students in middle school and high school have experienced cyberbullying.
Cyberbullying has many harmful effects in addition to the instant emotional harm it does to the victim. It can lead to in-person violence. It can cause depression, and in extreme circumstances can contribute to teen suicide.
However, I worry that we may overreact to what seems like cyberbullying. Children and teens will always insult each other and all that. By doing that, they learn to stand up for themselves and deal with social situations. Additionally, teens can have extreme potty mouths and twisted senses of humor. For example, what two good teen friends call each other in harmless jest may shock and disgust adults who read the transcripts. Oversensitivity can easily cause us to mistake distasteful humor for bullying. Nonetheless, true bullying does exist at alarming rates, and we need to counter it.
Bullying has been around for a while. Like so much else in our lives, it has moved onto the internet. Luckily technology can help us put a stop to this bullying. Online bullying offers us the benefit of usually having recorded transcripts of chats and online conversations. It can help us spot problems, help us investigate them, and help us track down offenders.
Parents can best protect their children by communicating with them and staying involved in the children’s lives. Also, keeping computers in a common room rather than the child’s private room will reduce the risk of problems developing without the parent’s knowledge.
What do you think?
