Annabella Biancheri

  Social media websites are becoming more and more popular, and easier for people to access. As great as these sites are for sharing pictures or comments with friends and family, people can also use these platforms as an easy way to express their negative opinions without others tracking it back to them. People can easily alter and change their usernames or profiles to conceal their identity.  For example,  it is just as easy for kids to create fake accounts so that others won’t know it’s them bullying one another.

On a popular social media app, called snapchat, the message will be deleted in one to ten seconds. On other sites the posts you make are more permanent but you can always delete them later on (although you never know if some has taken a screenshot before you remove it).  Studies show about one in four teens have been cyberbullied, and one in six admitted that they have cyberbullied someone else (KidsHealth.org).

Cyberbullying can often be hard to detect and most kids and teens don’t want to talk about it. “The National Crime Prevention Council cautions parents against threatening to ban children from computer / cell phone use when they find out they are being cyberbullied. Fear of losing these privileges is one of the primary reasons that kids don’t speak to their parents about cyberbullying,” says Delete Cyberbullying.  Cyberbullying can happen 24/7 as opposed to regular bullying, which can only happen when you’re in direct contact with the person. Possible signs that someone is being cyberbullied include:   being nervous or upset when getting a notification on  his/her phone or being more upset after using his/her computer or phone. But one of the biggest red flags is if an adolescent suddenly stops using his/her computer or cell phone.

People who are cyberbullied may also experience in-person bullying and want to skip school.  In 2013, Time published the following information.  “Research published this week shows that the effects of bullying are long-lasting and can even lead to psychiatric problems in adulthood. Individuals who reported being involved in bullying experienced anxiety, depression, and drug and alcohol abuse or addiction into adulthood.” People who are cyberbullied are more likely to use alcohol and drugs, receive poor grades, have low self esteem, and more mental health disorders. Frequent or long term cyberbullying can lead both the victims, and the bullies to a higher risk of anxiety, depression, and other stress related disorders.

It is important that we use social media responsibly because we never know who we could be hurting. Social media should be used to connect with friends not tear them down. If you see cyberbullying report it.  If you are being cyberbullied block the user and tell a trusted adult. It is very important that we are kind to one another whether we are in person or over social media accounts.

Sources used:

http://www.deletecyberbullying.org/advice-for-parents/

https://www.stopbullying.gov/cyberbullying/what-is-it/

http://healthland.time.com/2013/02/22/sticks-and-stones-does-facebook-and-twitter-give-bullying-more-power/

http://kidshealth.org/en/parents/cyberbullying.html