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September 21st, 2010
08:48 AM ET
Cyber bully victims 'isolated, dehumanized'
"Unlike traditional bullying which usually involves a face-to-face confrontation, cyber victims may not see or identify their harasser," according to the survey. "As such, cyber victims may be more likely to feel isolated, dehumanized or helpless at the time of the attack." With traditional bullying, both bully and victim report feeling depressed. But when it comes to cyber bullying, it is the victim who is more likely to report depression. The instigator tends to emerge unscathed. It would seem like any insult (virtual or face-to-face) would sting, but the viral nature of the internet may be what makes cyber bullying feel worse for victims. "The fact that the audience can be quite broad is a concern," said Ronald Iannotti, the principal investigator of the survey and a staff scientist at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Health. "With Facebook, YouTube and everything else, the victim may not even be sure who else has seen or heard the bullying, and because it is not face-to-face, [he or she] can't retaliate as easily." "Being bullied over the internet is worse," said one 14-year-old from New Jersey who posted on a website for the Cyberbullying Research Center, a non-profit organization dedicated to researching the effects of cyber bullying. "It's torment and hurts. They say 'sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.' That quote is a lie and I don't believe in it." Another cyber bullying victim, a 14-year-old from New York, said "It makes me feel bad and rather depressed. Like I don't want to be a part of this world any more." "Behind a keyboard or the textpad of their phone, and physically distant from the victim, emboldens [cyber bullies] and frees them from normal constraints on their behavior such as their conscience, morals, social norms, and the law," said Sameer Hinduja, co-director of the Cyberbullying Research Center. "Plus, there are no authorities monitoring these communications in cyberspace." Previous studies find that having supportive parents is associated with lower levels of bullying and victimization, Iannotti added. So the key to alleviating depression for all forms of bullying - cyber and otherwise - may reside in the home. soundoff (1,847 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 Next »Leave a Reply to FgnhZisse
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There is no question that venomous, nasty insults hurled across the cafeteria or in school hallways hurt. A new 
When I was a kid, my parents encouraged my sister and brothers to fight. Verbal and physical altercations were common place. I always hated it and as we grew up things got even worse..as they grew into middle age, there still doing it to people including thier own children. I've see my own sister hit her own son in the face and put him down in front of his own girlfreind (who is now his wife). Thier continual bullying, became a way of 'controlling others' to make others feel scared which they think makes them look strong and powerful. Now we have the enternet (email and Facebook etc) and they continue thier bullying thru this venue. I personally have told my employers who they are, and what they do, so that it is not a suprise if they gain access to my email etc.. People, just do not allow any bully into your life even if you have to ignore thier own children. These buyllies are dangerous and ticking time bombs! Trust me. My sister got arrested for hitting a woman that ignored my crazy sisters bully tactics! She only had to pay afine and she is the biggest and oldest (56) bully in Arizona.
Seems to me the problem lies with the kid that "feels" bullied. I do not understand why kids these days "expect" the world to accept them as they are. They need to be taught that what the world thinks is not important. They need to be taught to accept themselves for who they are, and once they have gained that self respect they will find self confidence. Given this, the world is theirs, and no one can take away their dignity.
I have raised my kids the same as what you stated. My daughter likes to wear black all the time and some black eye shadow. She was a junior in high school last year. Someone came across a facebook page made by a bully with 104 members on it. I was heartbroken for my daughter and livid with these punks. I phoned the police they had the page removed pronto. The school confronted all 100 students. The damage was already done and I had to pull her out of school. My daughter was tutored for three weeks and they expected her to return to the same atmosphere I just pulled her out of. Now my talented daughter has been reduced to going for a GED instead of being able to enjoy her senior year and graduate with her friends. The thing that really upset me is my daughter has never been a part of a social network. What was done to her was pure hate in my eyes and why, because she was not the status quo, she was her and is her own person with her own style.
Not all that long ago I read a face book posting of one of my son’s friend with a heavy heart. This “friend” was spreading rumors and offering to torture another boy-obvious cyber bulling. I am not a parent who sits back and does nothing. I printed the posting and took it to the police. All I hear when kids committee suicide from being bullied is people knew and did nothing about it. So I did something and you know what the police said “no crime has been committed”. They couldn’t help me. Maybe I should talk to our local school. I was dumbfounded…. I couldn’t believe it! What has our world come too? Well the police officered listened to my concerns and out of the kindness of this police officers heart he DID take action and contacted this little boy and his family (with the stern warning to me that this was NOT a crime) Maybe he put a little fear in that child? I like to believe so. The cop thinks he didn’t and the child will continue on the bulling… How many children do we loose before the law changes and really starts protecting our children???
When kids commit suicide it's something they do to themselves of their own free will. Nobody can make you kill yourself. If you want to protect kids raise them properly. Raising them to be spineless cry babies does them no good. The real world is harsh. I always hated the BS I was fed in childhood. Not everyone gets to be an astronaut when they grow up. People need to accept reality for what it is instead of pretending that the world revolves around them. When bullying is done on the internet block them. If it's done in real life ignore them. If they throw the first punch give them a beat down.
We came to this country on a long sea voyage during which MANY people died, slaughtered the Natives (not saying this was a good thing), conquered the wilderness, won our independence, and built one hell of a nation. And now we have people crying because someone called them a bad name? Seriously? What happened to your balls America...
to there will be cake: You are an idiot who has not one once of compassion. You are the kind of person who actually is responsible for kids who take their own lives. Someday karma will get you and you should know you brought it on yourself.
No crime has been committed but that is why we have criminal and civil actions. File a civil complaint for intentional infliction of emotional distress. Go see a lawyer first, obviously, so he can tell you how to construct your case so you meet all of the elements. Chances are the mere threat of a lawsuit will scare the kids parents enough to slap the snot out of their little brat.
Ah, the pussification of American children continues.
You are a misogynistic (if you even know what that word means), uncaring and hateful p*ick.
Misogynistic? Give me a break.
If someone tries to E-bully me I lift some e-weights, drink some e-milk and e-kick their a55.
Great response!! LOL
To RV1982 above:
Bullying goes way beyond the words they use....they eventually (most do) cause physical harm to others and most importantly as mentioned in my original blog, bully thier own children, who then in turn, bully thier children and it becomes a cycle of developing psychopathic behaviors..
Who ever hides thier identity when commenting here , is most likely posting a stupid comment...or a bully in my opinion.
Identify your self if you want to be take seriously.
First, I draw the line at ANY physical abuse. My point is that words can only hurt if YOU allow it to "hurt,” and can only manipulate you if YOU allow it to manipulate you. We raised 4 children, so I think I do have some basis for my opinion. From what I recall as a child, I remember being rejected from a social context, but if anything I now view this as a positive experience because it helped me to gain self confidence. There were also a couple of cases of bulling after moving into a new neighborhood, but I did not let it intimidate me. I personally have never felt the need to intimidate or threaten.
It is not rational to try to shield our children from those that would challenge their dignity...if anything, I believe that in itself is immoral. Unfortunately, it is a part of growing up in the world. Children need to understand that "bullies" exist in all forms (and always will), and need to understand that the best way to "confront" such behavior is to ignore the words and go about their business...otherwise they are rewarding the bullies intimidation tactics. Of course threat to body or actual physical confrontation should be dealt with by the appropriate authority. No doubt, bullying behavior is a physiological disorder that needs to be dealt with.
You are a disgusting troll who posts to upset people and enjoys it. Unfortunately people like you are often also criminal psychopaths who enjoy torturing people. Get a life. Learn to emphathize before its too late.
And we wonder why some kids go off the rail and take a gun to school and start shooting. It in do way justifies their actions, but bullies are the cause.
If parents would take control of the situation things like this wont happen as often. First of all, don't give your kids cell phones. I didn't have them in the 90s when I was in school and we did just fine. Second don't let you kids social network. You can't watch your kinds 24/7 so prevent stuff before it happens. Social networking cites open children and teenagers lives to the public and that can lead to some really bad stuff. I know that bullying can cause some serious emotional scars so the parents need to prevent this as much as they can, this means monitoring and limiting your child's electronic activity. Police need to get involved in this too. I'm not talking about name calling, I still believe that's protected by what's left of our free speech laws, i mean if a bully beats up the child then the police should respond.
give me a break....
being a teenager, i know that everyone has been bullied in some way or another, and everyone has been a bully as well. this is just stupid over reacting parents who freak out over the littlest things.
these kids committing suicide or whatever are not doing it because they are being "cyber bullied"
its because they have other mental issues and the bullying just throws it over the edge. im sick of hearing about this. everyone needs to suck it up and fight back or just ignore. it really isnt hard.
and plus, if your kid is being relentlessly bullied, it isnt for no reason.
kids dont just bully someone for no reason. nor do they make fun of someone for a disability. no one does that.
if your child is being bullied, its most likely because they are doing something that bothers other people. get over it. tell your kid to hit back. dont roll over and die.
I sort of agree. Not with everything, but if a child is being bullied it is some times there fault. Some kids are social awkward and get bullied because they are smarter than the rest of the kids. Some get bullied because they are jerks. I was the later.
You are sick and the sickness is due to a lack of compassion. Hopefullly before your life is over you will find yourself on the other side of this issue and will see the error of your ways.
symboybot,
if saying what everybody else thinks makes me "sick"
then i can deal with that.
you obviously don't know what you are talking about.
solution:
tell your kid "man up, pussy"
Are you kidding? Kids don't make fun of someone because of a disability? On what planet? Kids with cerebral palsy are made fun of all the time as are kids on the autism spectrum. I was perceived to be blind all throughout elementary school through high school and even in college because my glasses were "thick" and on the rare days I did wear them (one reason I avoided wearing them was to avoid the torture/harassment/teasing) instead of contacts, you better believe I was bullied. Name calling, spit in my hair, snatching my glasses, sticks thrown at me, and worse, treating me as if I was invisible was TORTURE. There were days I was tempted not to come to school. Why bother when the teasing would start on the bus, continue throughout the day and I really couldn't see what was written on chalkboards? Well, I NEVER skipped school on those days. I endured the pain including conversations ending upon my entrance in a hallway (gee, could it be more obvious that you were talking about me?). I went to class, did my work and got good grades. Oddly enough, many of the kids who were mean to me when I wore glasses were nice to me when I wore contacts. Looking back, most of them probably were "bystanders" who didn't really want to be mean to me but were afraid of being teased if they didn't go along with it. Only a few people were brave enough to NEVER hurt me and actually helped me instead.
It is amazing how many persons (and I use that term loosely) in this chat, show a total lack of compassion and actually are bragging about their insensitivity. No doubt you are all bullies yourselves, and proud of it. You do not deserve to be considered human beings. I am fully aware that many of you are also trolls who get their sick kicks out of your outragous behaviour and its impact on actual human beings. Karma will get you, thankfully.
Look, I'm sorry that being gay was less tolerated when you grew up and you were bullied because of your sexuality, but that doesn't change the fact that worries about cyber bullying have gone WAY too far.
hahaha, touchy
ok, I am out of here... regarding the above blog, from blogger known as 'symboybot' who is competely retarded for what he wrote above.
Would someone take away his mouse and computer plz! I just decided maybe we do need bullys to keep this symboybot in line.
Good God!
i think this is the main reason that privacy law will be such an important field in the coming years.
Has anyone ever been cyber-bullied by a 50 something sister who lives 1500 miles away
and has made up horrible lies about you behind your back to other people as well as through e-mails?
My father was bedridden for 4 years with lung cancer and other health issues. Personal caregivers would take care of him during the day. Then, I would help take care of him after work and sometimes into 4 a.m. in the morning. Six months before
my father passed, my husband was diagnosed with cancer. This b–ch came in only once during the entire 4 years
with her family for about 1 hour when my father had to be hospitalized for an infection. It was click click – the camera was going off the entire time – taking pictures of her family with my father. She said she was in a rush to go home to get
the kids back to school. I later found out that was a lie because they were visiting an aunt about 35 miles away
from my parents home the next day. They finally left and went home and only to leave again on an expensive sightseeing trip to New York. Earlier, I made the mistake of sharing some information with her about a problem with one of the daytime caregivers. Later, she tried to blackmail me with it knowing that this person had a very questionable background
and a family with extensive criminal histories. She wanted me to report this person to various agencies because
she wanted to see my head blown off. She made up horrific lies about my husband, an immigrant, who happens
to belong to various cultural groups on line. She tried to put a new spin on it and accused my husband of
seeing other women, which simply was not true. She really knows nothing about husband because she
has never spent any time with him since we have been married. She has tried everything in the book in an
attempt to break us up including telling my mother lies about him in order to get her to turn against him.
My husband was the only male family member that ever tried to help my father before he became ill himself.
Then, my sister started sending me e-mails accusing my mother and I of setting house fires of some people
that were members of my father's former religion. One of the fires was accidental because the lady's
daughter lit a candle in her bathroom and forgot about it, and then left the house. The house did not burn down,
but it did get smoked up inside. My sister is a very sick nutcase. However, she knows how to get out
there on the internet and make trouble for me and other people. She has our relatives out on the West Coast
believing that we are a bunch of criminals, and they will hardly speak to us anymore. We have only tried to
do good for our family and other people. We are good Christian people and take our faith seriously.
Yes, cyber bullying can be extremely hurtful, but it can also have long-lasting effects.
These cyber bullies need to get out there and do some volunteer work for either the hospitals or their community.
Or, they should get a full-time job. They would soon forget about their depression and the need to hurt other people.
I hope no one ever has to go through what I have had to endure. I don't know what I ever did to deserve such treatment.
If you can't trust your own sister, who the hell can you trust??
To add insult to injury, she never showed up at her own father's funeral. I suppose she couldn't face me after
the nasty things that she did to me and my mother. There was absolutely no excuse for it.
However, she didn't waste any time in trying to find out what was in her father's Will.
AMEN
tl;dr
you mad?
Hey kids, gold star if you spot all the trolls in this thread! Also, while cyberbullies can do some SERIOUS sh*t, you can't go kill yourself just because some /b/tard said you're a waste of air. They FEED on other people's misery, kind of like vampires, except not nearly as cool. Besides, if you do go tell someone about it AND they take action against the bully, all that bully's bully freinds might start off on a whole new rant about you being a pansy (see other posts on this thread.) REMEMBER KIDS: DON'T FEED THE TROLL.
I found growing up that if you either ignore the person, or better yet look at them and laugh and say "good one, I liked that" and pretend it didn't bother you then typically the bully leaves you alone. People only continue to pick on others who react in the way they want them to. If they learn you are not bothered by their comments they stop because they aren't getting the reaction they wanted and you aren't worth their time.
Parents:::
If your kid is being bullied, there is a reason. they obviously do something that bothers someone else or they are just not nice so people return that behavior to them. No one just goes after someone and bullies them for no reason. it doesn't work that way. if a kid is being bullied, it is at least partially his or her own fault.
And to those who say bullies do it because it makes them feel better--
That is complete and total BS. kids bully other kids to assert power/social status or simply because they find it extremely hilarious when they get a reaction out of some wimpy little kid that doesn't know his place
What do you say about the post of 'cdubs1169'. I don't think it fits your generalization.
In my own brother's case I never saw he bothered anyone. Kids were bullying him just because they were jealous. He was a class topper, got best student award, class lead.
There will be countless examples like these 2. Point is, let us face it, all cases don't fit your generalization.
So does this study take into account that the kids who spend more time on the internet may be doing so because their face-to-face relationships are nonexistent? It wouldn't be that cyber bullying is worse, it's that it would be the kid's last refuge.
so, i guess people who talk trash to other people online can be very depressing for some people. cool story CNN. ill try to talk more trash online next time so i can make more people depressed, though i really don't know why they would get depressed from the words that come from some complete stranger.
I don't understand how text and internet bullying is worst than real-life bullying. If someone is instant messaging you or texting you, you can just ignore it whereas you can't do that in real life. I guess I can't really understand since I'm 28 years old and not 12.
Bullies pick on others because they can. Bullies do not stop until they are forced to stop. Bullies are not just kids on the bus, online or on the playground. A bully can be your boss, or even a relative.
SSB - Stop pointing the finger of blame at others and instead, point that finger at yourself.
Bullies have been around since the beginning of time. If these folks can't deal with "bullies" online, ...I can only imagine their reaction to a real life bully! Kind of sad, ...pretty weak. Maybe they should turn off the computer & cel., ...oh my bad, ...can't do that! How pathetic. Read a book or something! No, ...send me your lunch money, ...NOW, ...or else! See, ...you've just been bullied!...
Exactly. You have to find a coping mechanism to deal with hurtful people...there are plenty of adults who are hurtful and if you get all upset about it you will have a terrible adult life. People need to learn how to deal with these issues and not become emotional cripples. No one, I repeat, NO ONE is responsible for how you react and your emotional well being. If you learn to shrug off these verbal insults, knowing you shouldn't care what some idiot says, and are confident in yourself you should have no "depression" to worry about.
Do people calling other people names have enough power to force people into feeling bad about themselves? Or is it society putting pressure on people to be more social and accepted by their peers. If people don't care about what their peers do, then acts of bullying do nothing. If it is more than name calling and results in physical acts of violence, then it is an assault and is not bullying.
So in summary, try not to care about what other people's views are and you'll be fine.
My children don't use facebook, Myspace, and have a cell phone that doesn't accept text messages or photos. No "cyber bullying". You can't keep children from being cruel, all children are cruel or say mean things....its part of being immature and being a child....but you can remove the vehicle by which your children might be teased. Also, you have to have a thick skin in this world. If you shield your child from ALL unpleasantness and conflict, they will never learn to deal with it and have a very rough time as adults.
Best post of the thread. Don't swim in the pool if you don't want to get wet. Americans are becoming fat, lazy, self-righteous, self-centered tools who scream abuse when anyone "mistreats" them. Better get used to it guys, we as a society care less and less about our neighbors. It's gonna get much worse so you better prepare the kids for the world we are going to leave them.
I got to see a pretty good selection of euro countries while in the Army. I can tell you from first-hand observation that this next wave of "nancy-boy" Americans are about to get their ass handed to them by the healthier, smarter, and more world-savvy counterpart in Europe. Don't believe me? Go online to a random international voice chat server. See all the European kids talking English? See all the American kids NOT talking back in any other languages? Now ask them to name the capital of Belgium. No American kids will know, and likely YOU don't know either. See? America is slowly dying from it's unfettered successes.
You sound like you're a great mother. I hope you're children grow to hate you, scumbag
I second to 'gopo's comment. Best thread for prevention.
I still don't see any need for Kids to use social networking from grade 5-6 onwards. Why can't they meet face to face and play and fight and just be kids like it was till 2000. Everything moved and life was still on then. Why so fuss abt texting and social networking from now on. All these social networking timepass can be done after 25. When most of us stop to go to play and start going to gyms.
The basic principles of bullying have not changed at all. People have been bullying people for a very long time and the damaging effects of bullying have already been well documented. There really is nothing new under the sun. I do find this article interesting but I want to share that this type of behavior of insults being spread around the town has gone on forever. The Internet has really just created a global community. But that has changed anything at our core because we have always lived in communties where rumors are spread that damage as person's spirit
cyberbullying is a threat to modern society and should be stopped by whatever means necessary
Drama queen much there "Diablo"?
What exactly are you all complaining about? What are you trying to accomplish? Do you want to pass some law making it illegal to say anything bad about anyone anywhere at anytime? So somebody posted something about you on the internet that wasn't true, so what. I think everyone who has visited this page has had somebody in real life do the same thing anyway. Adults do this kind of crap all the time, is it any wonder kids do too? For those of you who think some fake statement made by some random teenage kid is going to destroy another kids life because it's on the internet are insane. The internet is filled to the brim with anonymous bs, get used to it. I get it, no one likes their kid to be bullied but it happens. You want government and institutions to step in over your right to be a parent? YOU should be taking care of this however you have to, please don't let the government crap on our rights any more than it does already. You know, plain and simple, throughout life your going to have to deal with a lot of people's bs. GET USED TO IT. I bet every single one of you have a person you hate at work, i bet a lot of the same stuff happens with them as well. FFS Be strong, don't let a liar get you down, and don't let them think for one second your afraid of them. That's how you deal with bullies. I guarantee some of you are mothers with children who are bullied or were, and getting between a mother and her child is a bad idea, but we as people absolutely need this social interaction, you have to deal with people like this. It prepares you for being an adult. If you let yourself be bullied you will be. Get real
Please search for cases of Ryan Halligan, Megan Meier and Lori Drew.
Bullied ones does not necessary grow up to be strong adults. The ones who are self confident grow up to be.
I have a grand daughter that is being bullyed online. That's ok because I dare them to come on with their threats. I am not letting this distroy a young lady who is so full of life. We as adults need to take a stand against them also.
Well-behaved parents = well-behaved kids. A lot of kids are bullies because their parents are the number one bullies themselves and / or encourage their own kids to be one. 😉 I hear that a lot from the parents at the playground a couple times. Teaching their own kids to do something that's mean to others. Four parents even bullied one of the parent at the bus stop. How sad is that? A very bad example to their own kids isn't it? Scared some of the families in there too. Reported it to school but nothing happened just yet.
Hat’s ok for the reason that I challenge them to approach on with their intimidation. I am not leasing this distroy a juvenile lady who is so occupied of life. We as adults necessitate to obtain a stand alongside them also.
These posts–and the fact that CNN has enabled us to make them–underlines the irony of the story. We can post venom at will, against anyone we want, anonymous and without fear of consequence, and sleep through the night without concern for our actions, the impact they may have on someone else, or the half-baked unreason that dominates our need-it-now lazy instinct to say whatever we want when we want. I'm fed up with the shallowness of it all, because it does nothing to improve our country, state, city, family. I stopped reading CNN's "soundoff" about three weeks ago, yet the topic of this story intrigued me. Alas, we continue to be a self-licking ice cream cone.
Implying these 15 year old camwh0res are human?
Implying that these people don't know what they are doing, and troll sites to get bullied so they can get on GMA?
I think we need to remember that we are talking about children.. In comment #124, nancy, as an adult, is having a hard time dealing with cyber bullying. Whether or not, a child is responsible for being bullied, we as parents should be there to help and protect our children. If you see your child running out into the middle of a busy street, you are going to stop and protect your child, right? In todays society, the "norm" is being online. So, to try to take that away is not plausible. However, depending on the age of your child should determine o what extent they are socializing online. It doesn't matter what your age is, bullying happens. Those of you who say our kids need to toughen up, maybe you should step back and contemplate how the world looks through their eyes... Its scary. Then to add all the modern technology that we did not have growing up, they have many more pressures growing up than we did. And I think you should cut them some slack. We as parents do have the power to make sure our kids grow up safe and sound. Whether our kids are being bullied or are bullying, help them out. Its our job.
Are you posting this from jail after hurting somebody or something? .You creepy troll.
Heres a novel idea; don't like being bullied? then stay off the net! What a bunch of crybabies... boo hooo some one hurt my feelings...
I don't understand how cyber bullying is worse than face to face bullying when all you have to do is close your account and open a new one or change numbers. I grew up a very closeted and terrified homosexual going to school with VERY redneck kids, who I don't doubt would have literally killed me if they knew I was gay. I know times has changed, but I just don't get it. Tough it up!
Wow! Im surprise how many ppl make a comment to this article. I do believe bullying is a bad thing. I believe ppl who feel like nothing always try to make others feel like nothing; nobody satisfied with their life waste time going after nobody else to "help him/her to grow some skin". The bully never is against the one who can do something about it (or so they thought), and yes, this behaviors can escalade to more serious crime, like murder. But, hey! Thats exactly what our politics do! Thats what our role models do! There r TV series inspired in the "glamorous life" of bulliers (normally beautiful teens, or quarter back look a like guys!). This is the breakfats, lunch and dinner of this nation. Even we do this against other nations, though! So... Yes, is repulsive and nasty, but yet another American symbolism of POWER AND PRIDE.
Follow Dalai Lama's advice: Let the storm rage, but your soul should remain as calm as the bottom of an ocean. If necessary, take measures, but without feeling hatred or anger, because negative feelings are bad for your health.
Kids need to be taught to stand up for themselves, have more self-confidence and be less sensitive to the insults of others. Bullies are so effective because bullying works. Obviously its perfectly fine to go after the bulliers especially in extreme cases but we also need to focus on making sure the victims aren't so easily victimized.
I felt bad for that very pretty girl that got 'bullied' to death. Obviously people should have stepped in. But if she had learned coping skills and realized that those women were going after her because they were jealous of her looks she probably wouldn't have killed herself.
Yea, try to tell that to a 13, 14 or 15 year old kid. Tell that to someone who endures that kind of harrassment day in and day out.
I will tell a 14-15-16 year old kid to either buck up or prepare to suck at life. At 14, I was working on a farm, and by 16, I had lied about my age and was in WWII. You pathetic emo kiddies wanna cry over the internet? Meet a real man and he'll give you something to cry about!
You must be one of them.
Read V. Frazier's book Wavering if you want to see the ultimate darkside behind cyberbullying...fiction motivated by reality....all too frequently cyberbullies progress from cyberbullying to much more severe crimes.
It's hard but you have to grow a thick skin and realize some people thrive on being jerks. Use it as an opportunity to sharpen your skills in debate and learn to turn the table on the mental midget bullies. At least that's what I do, when I find a bully online picking on someone, I pick them them out and relentlessly give them what they dish. Most of the time they divert their attention to me where I then drill them into the ground, ultimately they leave.
Bullies have been around long before any of us were born and they'll be around long after we are all gone. As technology evolves (I won't use the term "improves."), we're going to see new avenues by which those predisposed to this type of behavior are able to cause harm to others.
Unfortunately, laws are ineffective when it comes to changing attitudes unless equipped with a huge penalty. Our first amendment makes harsh penalties difficult for bullying. About the only way to deal with a bully is the way it's been done in the past - fight back or try to ignore him/her. It's not necessarily fair, but sometimes life isn't fair.
LoL @ cyber-bullies!
Oh, please. If your child is so weak willed that they become emotionally distraught over a few emails and facebook messages it is you who failed them as a parent for not teaching them how to use the tech better and for raising them to not even be strong enough to deal with other teens and tweens. Parents like that disgust me for propagating their weakness to the next generation. If they can't handle someone talking smack on a phone or computer what will they do when they get pushed around in real life? Pacifism doesn't work on kids. It never has and never will.
We've turned into a nation of crybabies. Cowboy up, sissies!
People such as yourself are the problem. I certainly hope something like this doesn't happen to you, cowboy.
I can't be bullied because I am awesome. I'm like a jet-fighter made out of biceps. All the ladies want a piece of this, and most of them have had it. Thankfully, none of these wussies will ever get laid, so we can count them out of the gene pool. Hooray for evolution!!!
Kids shouldnt have cell phones unless they get a job and pay for it. That would reduce "cyber bullying". Silly
Now Crowdaddyo, we can't be making children work, it might damage their fragile little egos. Besides, according to the government, a cell phone is a RIGHT, and we don't make adults work for it- why should the kiddies have to work for it? Let's train them to be crybabies, so they are willing to suck on the teat of Mother Government!
My name is Barak Obama. I am sick of Fox News cyberbullying me. It makes me feel sad, isolated and dehumanized. Plus it makes my vagina hurt. So stop it! I need a hug!
Perfect example of this is the site forum-spring
Kids have got to learn that life is tough and there is a very long line of people that will do anything and everything that they can to make them feel bad, and more importantly to get one small millimeter higher position then them in the overall scheme of things. Life is tough, and if you are telling your kids that life isn't alway tough, then you're lying to them. And look around you, you'r child's world is filled with people whose primary goal is to bully them as much as they possibly can. Teachers, coaches, religious leaders, siblings, anyone older then them, anyone of a higher social class then them...
The list is infinite and endless.
I knew a child that liked to draw pictures in class when they had some free time. And one day the teacher in her class stepped on a piece of paper, picked it up and looked at it. And then she turned to the entire class and announced to them that it was obviously that particular girl because only she could draw such a horrible ugly and nasty picture.
And this type of attitude is not the cruel exception to the world your children are living it, it is the most basic rule.
Go ahead and coddle your kids, and see how far that gets you...
yep you are absolutely right.. People baby their kids instead of teaching them to grow a pair..thats whats wrong with world..its not all puppy dogs and kittens, its headless puppy dogs and kittens.
people need to grow a pair..and realize its just INTERNET its not real...people can be anyone they want and say anything they want.
Think so? Try saying that to Rosemary Port. You remember, the chick that got outed for the "Skanks in NYC" defamatory blog?
Yeah, she didn't get to "be whoever she wanted and say whatever she liked". Probably because in America, doing so isn't legal. There's laws against criminal impersonation and defamation, y'know.
But hey, you seem to know SO MUCH BETTER than everyone. Go ahead. Impersonate someone and start spouting off about something illegal. You'll be fine. Promise. 🙂
Really? Sounding like an idiot online is now called "cyber bullying", and I'm supposed to coddle my kids as a result.
F*&^ that. I'll just keep teaching 'em to laugh at it and hand it right the hell back. That's what you do, by the way – laugh at the syntax errors and then show 'em how to REALLY "cyberbully".
Cyber-bullying. Pft. More like "too many social rejects on the internet". Can't handle a little harassment? Read a damn book.
wasnt talking about impersonating anyone was talking about being a fictional person with a fictional life..like a lot do on chat and messageboards.
@Joe – Sounds kinda childish, but whatever floats your boat. Just remember the law.