Cyber bullying is more dangerous than many believe

Humans as a race bully each other. Many believe it is in our genes to struggle against each other and to establish dominance, but with the advance of technology, humans now have a greater chance to bully other people they would never come in contact with in the real world.

Cyber bullying occurs in different ways. Sometimes it is personal, and the recipient is bombarded with hate texts from someone they know. Other times, it’s someone the victim meets in a chat room who doesn’t like what they’re saying, so that person starts insulting the victim.

Cyber bullying is something teenagers come into contact with far more often than adults realize. Going onto the web for recreational purposes at all increases the chance of cyber bullying exponentially. Teenagers who have Twitter and chat room accounts encounter much more cyber bullying than teenagers who have just an email address.

People who bully online often do so because they feel “keyboard safety” where they can bully people without the other person knowing who they are. Sometimes the victim trades places with the bully and sends hate messages back at them, creating a back-and-forth victim/bully relationship that often prolongs the bullying.

Surveys for 2014 on Ditch the Label’s website show some distressing news relating to the scope of cyber bullying and how people deal with it. Twenty-five percent of teenagers reported being bullied through their cell phones or Internet accounts. An appalling 95 percent of teenagers have reported that when they witnessed bullying on social media, they did nothing to help the victim.

From the parents’ responses, only one out of every six parents know about the scope and intensity of cyber bullying; however, over 50 percent of young people admit that they never confide in their parents when they experience cyber bullying.

According to the No Bullying website, cyber bullying can have serious effects on the victims. Joshua Unsworth, a teenager from Ireland, hanged himself after being constantly bullied on a social networking site. A 15-year-old named Amanda Cummings from Staten Island, New York, jumped in front of a bus and survived. She carried a note that said classmates always bullied her and stole her possessions. While she was recovering in the hospital, classmates posted cruel comments about her on her Facebook page.

Another girl, Cynthie Sanchez, killed herself after several years of cyber bullying and peer bullying. Sometimes they just called her names, but when she was online, people would tell her to kill herself and how to do it. She was only 14 years old.

Statistics on the No Bullying website reveal that suicides committed by 15-24 year olds are the third leading cause for death for youth. One out of every 65,000 children ages 10 to 14 commit suicide every year. Over 16% seriously consider suicide, 13% prepare a plan, and 8% make a serious attempt. An analysis published by JAMA Pediatrics, with 284,375 participants, showed that cyber bullying causes more thoughts of suicide than traditional bullying.

There are ways people can stop cyber bullying. Instead of ignoring possible bullying on social media sites, give the victim a supportive message and report the person who’s bullying to the police and the ISP (Internet Service Provider) or cell phone provider. Don’t erase or delete the bully’s messages because the police may use them as evidence to catch the bully. If the victim is more technically inclined, they can attempt to track down the cyber bully themselves to provide the police with more information.

There are also programs people can purchase to track emails, and the victim can also use the address included in the text message or email to attempt to locate its origins. If the messages continue, though, the victim may need to cancel their email and/or cell phone accounts and set up new ones.

Never keep it to yourself if you are being bullied. No teen deserves this. Tell an adult you trust, and they will help with the situation.

Rhiannon Matthews is a senior at Mat-Su Central School.