Term paper on Cyber-Bullying

It is known that cyber-bullies use many different methods to attack their victims. As a rule, the use of any methods of cyber-bullying can cause serious psychological damage to students, including the feeling of angry, hurt, embarrassment or fear (Welker, 2010).  According to recent research, the major forms of cyber-bullying include not only arguments between two or more individuals, but also harassment, including different offensive messages that are usually sent repeatedly to one and the same individual; and cruel speech about some individual specially developed to break up friendships and completely ruin the victim’s reputation (Pilkey, 2011). In addition, cyber-bullies may pretend to be someone in order to post harmful messages to the victim, and they may be involved in cyber-stalking, or online stalking of a person. According to Jacqueline K. Pilkey (2011), regardless of the form of cyber-bullying it is very important to note that those people that have already been cyber-bullied are likely to become a cyber-bully in the nearest future.

As a rule, cyber-bulling has negative effects on the individuals. Although the effects of cyber-bullying are not widely discussed in literature, it is obvious that cyber-bullying has a negative effect on both victims and perpetrators. It has been found that there are many different effects of cyber-bullying on victims (Kowalski et al., 2012). There are many cases, when adolescents committed suicide after their experience of cyber-bullying, for example, the case of Ryan Patrick Halligan. More commonly, the victims of cyber-bullying suffer from depression, alienation and helplessness, have low self-esteem, constant anxiety and reduced concentration of attention, according to Kowalski et al. (2012). Kowalski et al. conducted a study to explore the effects of cyber-bullying on the young people. It has been reported that the nature of cyber-bullying increases the negative impact of violence. In addition, perpetrators who post hate messages and humiliate another individuals often place them at high risk of different forms of physical harm (Kowalski et al., 2012).

Recommendations

            Today it is easy to find a number of effective cyber-bullying prevention and intervention websites that have been specially developed to address this problem. According to Rebecca Ahlfors (2010), there are a number of specific cyber-bullying prevention programs, which include online programs. However, it has been found that the analysis of the general information and themes that can be found on online cyber-bullying prevention and intervention websites has not yet been conducted. In her study, she explores this issue and finds out that some important information is excluded. The researcher states that cyber-bullying prevention and intervention websites have been specially designed to address the problems of cyber-bullying (Ahlfors , 2010). The results of her study point to the fact that in most cases, the victims of cyber-bulling do not report the abuse to their parents or educators. It is necessary to encourage children and adolescents to access the cyber-bulling prevention resources available online. In addition, parents should pay more attention to their children and to their problems.

As the problem of cyber-bullying is discussed in our society, the government officials make attempts to solve this problem in their own way. There are a number of legal obligations that address the problem of cyber-bullying in today’s schools. For example, it is required for the school personnel to be familiar with the established state laws that address cyber-bullying. Practically each state has the laws addressing cyber-bullying. Almost all policies require state and local officials to develop and implement special policies against bullying in schools (Kowalski et al., 2012). However, there are still many cases of cyber-bullying.

Adrienne Katz discusses prevention of cyber-bullying practices and responses to them in the book Cyberbullying and E-Safety: What Educators and Other Professionals Need to Know. The author represents a five stage program to prevent cyber-bullying. These steps include the following actions: raise awareness and consult; plan policy and strategy; inform, train and implement; prevent, respond and monitor; evaluate and adjust. The major goal of this program ”“ is to create a healthy peaceful school environment (Katz, 2012). This program requires the appropriate staff training. It is recommended to develop and implement this strategy in all schools. Students, their parents, educators and the staff should be consulted about the negative effects of cyber-bulling. The issue about cyber-bulling should be included in the school’s vision. In addition, this policy should be effectively communicated across the school in the form of e-sessions for students, parents and the staff. Prevention of cyber-bullying should be represented in the form of specific activities, including workshops and assemblies, special poster campaigns and PSHE lessons, e-safety sessions and different assignments (Katz, 2012). Most severe forms of cyber-bullying are illegal. This fact means that educators should inform law enforcement if communication involves death threats, threats focused on racial and religious issues, intimidation.

Conclusion

            In conclusion, it is necessary to say that the advent of cyber technologies have led to such negative consequences as cyber-bullying. Cyber-bullying is really a serious problem because it can lead to depression, low self-esteem, and even to suicide of children and adolescents. It is very important to prevent cyber-bullying in our society. It is recommended to develop the appropriate strategies that will involve not only children and adolescents, but also their parents, educators and the school staff. Only joint actions can help to stop cyber-bullying.