50 or 60 years ago, bad behaviour stayed in the playground or in the confines of the school property. The time where the victim feared to attend the gruelling 7 hour of school sessions, but sighed with relief when they returned to the safety. However, the technology enables bullies the ability to harass the victim 24/7, right at their fingertips. The victim is being bombarded with texts, post on face book, tweets. Words full of hatred once expected between the time of 7-3p.m now stab without warning at any hour. Teenagers or even kids don’t even feel safe in their own beds; not knowing when the silent text will strike. Their are now being constantly tormented with stomach-churning words and obscene images because the access of 24hour unlimited communication; no doubts has its advantages , we can be in contact with people at any time of the day but certain people are taking advantage, leading to dangerous and violent crime that is abusing the beauty of the technology.
As black letters of hatred and abuse fill my screen, launching an attack of rumours and insult; as I read the words filled with venom; from the colour of skin to the way my body is, those words hurt; made me wake at night screaming. The words that clearly stated why I don’t belong in this world made me look at my reflection: what if they were telling the truth? Am I really a loser? Worthless? Nothing?
I knew I wasn’t going to shed a tear: those skinny jean clad monsters knew that they used would make me frightened, intimidated and distressed. Those hyenas did not deserve my tears.
Bullies are cruel: super humans from a distant galaxy sent here to destroy us all. Like vampires, they feed of the blood of the weak. They are pubescent monsters. Their methods are psychotic. They’re relentless.
According to a study, thousands of children, mostly being teenagers are too frightened to go to school or suffer depression and even attempt suicide after being targeted by ‘cyber bullies’. It found that 28 per cent of children aged 11 to 16 had experienced bullying on the internet or via a mobile phone. Face book or fists, bullying is bullying. Though it may seem less real when it's hidden behind a screen, the results are as solid as a slap in the face.
Despite our campaign, bullying itself won’t become extinct, but the safety through the internet can be felt by the victims can be increased. Parents can limit the use of technological features such as texting and social media while encouraging and modelling healthy habits. One way to protect yourself is to keep all personal information private and only add people you know personally to your blog or page. However, once it starts it can be hard to stop but what you can do is to never respond to harassing or rude comments, save or print the evidence or Report the problem to your school or local law enforcement if you feel threatened. But most importantly share your problem with your parent/guardian or the school after all a problem shared is a problem halved.
Bullying: it’s dangerous. It needs to stop. Before it’s too late.
Cyber bullying can take place anytime, anywhere and with anyone. They are misusing the power of technology to make spiteful pages on face book or send them hateful email about the appearance of a person, their colour of their skin, the shape of their body or even portraying the factors that makes them different to the society to the rest of the world, this has lead to many suicides across the world for the past 10 to 20 years; where technology has been its strongest.
