Article:The rise of cyber-bullying
Reader Digest May page: 115-119
Written by: Phil Mckenna

Summary :

A 2007 study by the US-based Pew Unternet and American Life Project found that one-third of merican teen internet users have been targets of cyber bullies. And as online communications evolves from chatrooms and instant messaging to social networking, the venues where bullying occurs are becoming more central to young people's lives. Research into cyber-bullying is still in its infancy. But it is becoming more clear that aspects of online communication encourage prople to act aggressively, prompting them to do things they would'nt dare try in real life. The ability to reach more people, and the always-on culture of the internet, means cyber-bullying can have an even more detrimental effect on the victim than the conventianl variety. "It's schoolyard bullying taken to the next leve," says Justin Patchin, a criminologist at the University of Wisconsin. A 2006 study by the UK-based internet market research firm YouGov found out that for one in eight young peoplr, cyer bullying is even worse than physical bullying. One reason for this is the sheer number of people who can view anything posted online. "It would be bad enough to be cyber bullied by one kid when nobody elso knows about it, but a video seen by hundreds or thousands of your peers can be devastating," says Robin Kowalski, a psychologist at Clemson University in South Carolina and co-author of the book Cyber Bullying: Bullying in the Digital Age. Ghyslain Raza, aka " the Stars Wars Kid," learnt this the hard way. In the 2002, the overweight and awkward Canadian adoloscent made a video of himself playing with a pretend light sabre, and left it lying around at school. When his classmates found the video in 2003, they posted it online as a joke. Raza was so distressed, he finshed the school year froma psychiatric ward. Unfortuanately for him, it wasn't his friendswho found the footage so amusing. According to UK marketing film The Viral Factory, it became the most downloaded video of 2006.

Reflection:

I think that there are a few reasons for the case of rising of cyber bullies. First of all, there may be people who gets involved in cyber-bullying just to relieve stress. Living in this fast paced Singapore, most working adults have stress. Not only that, children and teenagers will also encounter stress with the many tests and examinations they have to face. And when they start on cyber-bullying, they find it interesting and hence, relieving their stress. Wen this happenes, they will have the tendency to go on. Another reason to it may be because of people who idles their time away. Since they have so much time to spare, it doesnt take them long to get hooked up in cyber-bullying. They will not just spend away their time, in fact, they enjoy doing it... Furthermore, one may start cyber-bullying because of the influence by their friends. When one is surrounded by friends who are into cyber-bullying, it is hard for them to stand firm and oppose what their friends are doing. It is especially so towards the teenagers, where they would be laughed at if they did not do what their friends are doing. The last reason i am going to state is that the punishment for cyber-bullying may not be harsh enough to get people's attention. They will therefore, not hesitate much when breaking this law.

I think that if the punishment become harsher, people will hesitate more about the consequences before going into cyber-bullying. The government should also try to educate the people about cyber-bullying and make known of the punishments to them, especially the younger generations. When the children are taught from young that cyber-bullying is not allowed, there will be lesser of such cases when they have grown up. Parents' teachings are also important to teach them from right to wrong from young. It is so to ensure that the upbringing of the child is good. Also, i think that the harshness of the punishment for cyber-bullying can be increased.

On the other hand, the government should also educate the people about how to react when they become a victim of a cyber-bully. It is so that they won't feel helpless and at lost at what to do when they are being bullied in the cyber world. Also, they should publicise about the helplines or any other form of help available. This way, it will be easier to nap the cyber-bully and also minimise the hurt inflicted on the victim.

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