How To Reduce Cyber Bullying: Research And Describe This Phenomenon

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How to Reduce Cyber Bullying
Cyber bullying is understood as any bullying that occurs over digital devices such as tablets, computers and mobile phones. It could take place via apps, text, short message service (SMS), or online in social media and forums. This type of bullying consists of sharing, posting or sending mean, false, harmful or negative content regarding another person. It could include sharing someone’s private or personal information leading to humiliation and/or embarrassment (Washington 22). The most common places in which this sort of bullying takes place are email; instant message through social media messaging features, apps, email provider services and devices; SMS or text messages sent via devices; and social media, for instance Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook (Chisholm 79). Cyber bullying takes place amongst children and young people, mainly teenagers. Frequent, long-term or severe cyber bullying could leave both the bully and the victim at a higher risk for developing stress-related disorders such as depression and anxiety. In some cases, victims have even considered committing suicide (Washington 23). This paper looks into ways of reducing cyber bullying. It examines three particular ways that can be used as the solution to this problem: blocking the cyber bully and not responding to him/her, reporting the problem to the school authorities, and saving the evidence.
One method that can be used to reduce cyber bullying is to block the bully and not responding to him/her. Blocking the individual who is doing the bullying is certainly the most effectual way of reducing the bullying and stopping the bullying before it escalates. It is of note that if the cyber bully’s messages cannot get to the child being targeted for the bullying, the bully would soon realize that his or her cyber bullying efforts are futile. This would make him/her stop (Scales 19). Most devices these days have settings which allow the owner to be able to electronically block text, instant messages, and emails from certain individuals. If the harassment is coming in the form of profile comments, texts, or instant messages, the person being bullied can easily utilize privacy or preferences tools in blocking the bully. If the cyber bullying is taking place in chat, the individual should get out of the chat room (Applegate 52).
Also, the youngster should be encouraged not to respond to the cyber bullying. This is important considering that responding only serves to fuel the fire, worsening the situation. The child should be informed that cyber bullies usually crave attention and replying to them, in fact, serves to give them more power. Chisholm (78) noted that if the youngster gets a cyber bullying message, they should be taught not to engage. They should also be taught not to openly show their emotions with the bully in person if the bully is a person that the child sees in real life.
Applegate (54) stated that if a person is cyber bullied, the victim’s reactions are often precisely what the cyber bully wants. The victim’s reactions serve to give the bully power over the victim; the bully is empowered. As such, not responding to ...