High-Tech Bullying

Landau, E. (2013, March 3). When bullying goes high-tech. Retrieved from CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/27/health/cyberbullying-online-bully-victims

            Elizabeth Landau starts with a story about a boy who was victimized by fellow students he did not know, who threatened him on MySpace.  The bullies actually threatened to beat him up at school.  She calls cyberbullying a “pervasive problem” and presents that most bullying over the Internet because most bullies believe that their actions are anonymous.

            Laudau suggests that there is more bullying going on in schools and that cyberbullying is an extension of the bullying, a social media downfall.  The purpose of the writer is to show percentage of cyberbullying, the consequences, and the actions that can be taken to cope.  

            Laudau wrote that cyberbullies can attack 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and the effects are far more concerning.  Bullying, in general, have severe impact on victim’s mental and physical health.  She also cites a study by Thomas J. Holt, in which his researchers found that 27% of students have been bullied online and 28% of those consider suicide Holt also stated, according to Laudau, that both victims and bullies were more likely to have long-lasting psychological effects—victims have less trust and are more likely to suffer from agoraphobia; bullies showed high risks of antisocial personality disorder.  Laudau also discusses ways to report cyberbullying.  She noted that the “digital imprint” is almost impossible to find but Dr. Justin W. Patchin, the Co-Director of the Cyberbullying Research Center (http://www.cyberbullying.us/aboutus.php), suggests the best way to report cyberbullying is to keep the evidence and show it to an adult.

            Laudau closes the article with an interview of the boy, Brandon Turley, who she spoke about in the beginning of the article.  He spoke about how the bullying made him feel and the actions that were taken after.  Laudau also discusses parental control.  One woman had to get the police involved to bring her daughters Facebook page.  She concludes the article by discussing the many things that can be done to solve cyberbullying:  Apps that control how much time the child  can spend online; groups to help victims with coping; programs that will detect offensive language used by cyberbullies--“offensive statements”; a “bully button”, which reports bullying directly to the social media groups in a timely manner.