The popularity of the Internet is usually thought of us as a good thing, but there is one downside: It’s given playground bullies another way to target their victims, even from afar.
It’s terrible to go to deal with poor treatment at school, but it’s even worse when you can’t escape meanness in the safety of your own home. And today’s young people aren’t just using the Internet for homework — their social lives depend on it. That could explain why most teenagers ignore bullying and harassment after they take place. Only 1 in 10 teens tell their parents that they have been a cyberbullying victim.
Sadly, there are many ways to bully and harass a person online anonymously, which increases the chances that people will be unnecessarily nasty. Furthermore, it’s hard to really remove things on the Internet. Anything can be deleted, but screenshots live forever.
Although cyberbullying causes the same effects in children as regular, in-person bullying, the problem isn’t always taken seriously. Less than 1 in 5 cyberbullying incidents are reported to law enforcement, and not everyone has the ability to pursue a civil lawsuit. It’s never too late to learn about cyberbullying and how to help prevent it. Find out more about what our kids are facing on the Internet here.
