A TEEN’S VIEW ON CYBERBULLYING

The world evolves and upgrades itself in every way possible. For example technology, everything in our lives revolves around technology. It could be a search engine, a media player, games, entertainment, resources etc.

Technology is great, it brings people together but the way it can drag you down is beyond belief, it’s like a one plus one offer. Cyber bullying is a crime committed on the internet. It comes in various forms; it could be a comment under your social media post or you could be a victim of a locker room chat.

It can be extreme or medium but an insult is an insult. But it gets worse; unfortunately it doesn’t stop at insults. It involves posting, sending, sharing your personal information without consent. The objective is to humiliate you by invading your privacy. The post about you could be true or false, but it can genuinely harm your reputation

Most kids think that cyber bullying is worse than face-to-face bullying. Cyber bullying isn’t something that happens at school or at playgrounds, it’s something that can happen at any time during the day and can kill your reputation in a single milli second. It’s a disgusting way to harass a person.

The idea of anonymity may be the reason why most introverted people have more connections online than in real life. They feel less awkward and more comfortable because they are in their own environment. It’s sad to say that most people who are trolls on the internet hide behind this anonymity and are able to be abusive online. Some applications don’t authorize anonymity but does this come in the ways of the perpetrator? The answer is no. The perpetrator can create a fake account, it’s not that difficult. This is just how far they go to humiliate their victims.

I’ve been a victim of cyber bullying myself. I’ve received unwanted messages for no apparent reason and that too on “Instagram”. But I just blocked their account and moved on but it really scared me when the same person made a different account to message the same thing to me again. I was 15 back then, I emailed on their support id and deleted my account.

Just because I didn’t care about it as much, doesn’t mean other people are same. Many people suffer from horrific things such as depression, anxiety etc. because of this.

There are ways, in which you can protect yourself,

  1. Be through with privacy setting of your social media accounts.
  2. Think before posting. Many people think that social media is their space to be free and post whatever they want, don’t ever forget that social media is always public.
  3. Don’t reveal crucial information about you, some things are meant to be personal.
  4. Screenshot all evidence. If someone is pushing their boundaries then collect evidence to support yourself.
  5. Block and report. There are such features on social media platforms where you can block a person so it will be difficult for them to contact you.
  6. Talk to someone. It’s always better to take advice from someone you fully trust.

MOST IMPORTANTLY, Believe in yourself. Don’t ever fall for their tricks. They bully because of their inferiority complex and if someone bullies you they simply don’t have anything better to do in their lives, imagine how pathetic someone can be to put others down.

7. Educate yourself. Know how cyber bullying works and how to prevent it.

8. Educate others. Does your education institute have a policy against cyber bullying? Try speaking to the officials, if not.
9. Speak out. If your friends are being bullied, help them. If your friends are the bullies, stop them and tell them how dangerous their actions are.

If you’re dealing with bullying in any form, contact local authorities and seek help.

YOU ARE NOT ALONE

 

Piyaasha Sharma

Ist Year BCA

School of Engineering and Technology

Sushant University