What is Cyber Bullying?

What is Cyber Bullying?

Cyber bullying is bullying that is carried out mostly via the internet or mobile phone.

What is the difference between having fun and Cyber Bullying?

Via the internet or phone you can have fun sending messages, chatting and sharing images and videos. If the content of any of these things is degrading and/or disrespectful and continues to be sent/posted after requests to stop, then it becomes bullying.

What are typical things that a person would do to Cyber Bully someone?

• Sending or posting someone else’s personal information.
• Sending or posting disrespectful pictures or videos.
• Constantly sending or making posts of a disrespectful nature.
• Constant posting of things that are untrue about someone.
• Starting rumors.

What sort of person Cyber Bullies?

It’s not unusual for people that bully others to be very insecure themselves. They also may have been a victim of bullying and are repeating the same pattern in order to feel empowered instead of powerless. Although these ARE valid reasons, they ARE NOT an excuse for continual bad treatment of others.

What should you do if you are the victim of Cyber Bullying?

Tell someone you feel you can trust and ask for help.
Don’t reply to anything that is sent or posted as it will most likely encourage the bully to send and post even more. You can report what is happening to your Service Provider and also have them block messages or calls from certain senders.
Change your e-mail addresses, internet user-names and/or your phone number/s and only give them to carefully selected people.
Don’t let anyone know your passwords.
If messages are of a serious or threatening nature, call the Police, as threatening behavior is an offence.

How can Cyber Bullying affect you?

Cyber bullying can make you feel alone, isolated and scared, can cause you to want to withdraw from people and situations, affect your self-esteem, cause stress at work and in your personal life, make you not want to go to work, can make you sick, possibly cause or trigger depression. The worst affect bullying can have on someone is suicide.

How big of an issue is Cyber Bullying?

I think cyber bullying is a bigger issue than what the statistics show. I think there would be many more people out there being cyber bullied and they keep it to themselves.
With cyber bullying, someone can bully all they like without having to see the instant affect it has on the victim. I believe that this can have a ‘desensitising’ affect, where the person doing the bullying has a lack conscience about what their bullying actually does to people.

What are your rights?

It is the right of every person to carry out their everyday activities (including internet and telephone usage) without being bullied, hassled or harassed in any way. If you are being bullied, hassled or harassed, then it is your right to take action and work with employers / co-workers / friends / counselors to ensure it is stopped.

Any other information you think will be helpful…

If you let bullying continue for a long period of time it can have serious and possibly long term mental and physical affects.
Put a stop to it as soon as possible, no person deserves to be treated that way.