Topic: Society thoughts on cyberbullying, what do you think? (Read 3329 times)

I fully agree with being smart about what is shared online.  Unfortunately social media is rather new and some people are unaware of the damage that can be caused.  Proper education needs to happen and I think it is really lacking. I think it's something they should start teaching in Schools.

Be smart with your information online is your responsibility. It does not excuse physical assaults by individuals, but it is incumbent on everyone to use some common sense in their online activities.

Physical bullying is assault and all ready covered by existing law.

Well said.

I don't really understand cyber bullying because the option is there to block the culprits and have no contact with them every again. I am not sure why someone would allow themselves to be affected by someone who is so pathetic they have to launch attacks through a monitor as mentioned. Like any bully they are weak only praying on those weaker than them.

It's a sad fact that there are real world consequences of cyberbullying. It's very unfortunate that kids go through it. However, to an extent, many kids set themselves up for it. Kids today are willing to put their entire lives online for people to look at. If we can somehow teach kids to separate their online lives and their Internet persona, and then take additional steps to protect their online identity, we'd see a lot less of this. That's not going to fix anything in real life, but it'd make the Internet a lot more safe.

Cyber bullying needs to be controlled because victims are people who take everything seriously and are personally wounded by it.
I think we need more education about cyber bullying, in schools, colleges and for parents of children of that age. Parents are often unaware that it's happening and need to know the signs to look for. Children and teens need to be taught how to deal with it, by reporting it immediately and stop using the site or the forum where it is happening.

It's not just children who get bullied, everyone can be the target of bullying. People have been driven into suicide from the psycho terror they experienced online. It's not just a simple case of turning your computer off and saying it's all gone now. I think it goes far beyond just being "mean". The internet is an enormously powerful tool and should never be underestimated. I think all criminal acts on the internet should be followed up and investigated. There should also be a decent support structure for the victims.

Well, the point is that probably no one with anything to lose would be so unconcerned or tough or macho if / when trolls moved beyond just repeatedly trolling them 20 hours a day on one website, and went on to following them to other sites (happened to myself and others), and even screwing with them, their friends, family, clients / business, etc (happened to others I know of) in real life.
As one guy on another site put it "Let's see how tough you are when they (a former nuthouse patient) find your 12 year old daughter's facebook page".

I've never had repeated attacks towards myself, I'm maybe not too interesting as nobody's following me around the web, nobody on the web knows my family or friends.....did I answer them all?

I believe cyberbullying is a real thing and that it exists but it really shouldn't. I believe the people that let it affect them aren't really smart or intelligent. I mean how hard is it to just close a page, or just ignore words on a screen. All this happens online and not in reality. In reality it's hard to ignore because it's real people saying real words aloud in front of other people, but when you're online, you're really just alone in your room by yourself with no one actually there.

You missed the point and didn't answer all of my questions.

    I have no Facebook page, nor any other social media page. My life is not that empty, lonely and sad that I feel the need to tell everyone every time I take a shit or make a meal.

C'mon, you've never gotten the least bit offended by repeated personal attacks from trolls yourself, or even just general trolling at other boards? What if they followed you around to other websites after you left one, trolled your facebook and business webpages, harassed your friends / family / clients, etc?

Yeah, that one wasn't bullying, that was physical assault they used the fact she was on the internet to locate her and track her down, like I said, people are sugar coating it and trying to make it seem less serious than it actually is, if somebody called me a name over the internet that isn't anything, but if they started deliberately stalking me and trying to track me down RL that's when I'd take action but this is why I believe anonymity software and block/ignore functions should be defended and promoted at all costs.

Think about it, what if things got even more serious than that and if somebody who had fled to another country from somewhere like Russia was speaking out against them? They'd track them down and assassinate them if they had a look at the details of their credit/debit cards etc.

I think if I get quite a lot of money I'm going to be donating a substantial amount to various organisations like Defense Distributed for sure.

Too much pussification on this earth. You can't run around complaining of how your government runs your life for you when you get all teary eyed over someone tapping away on their keyboard. Grow up and deal with life.

There is no such thing as "freedom from"; this implies you have no control over yourself and must control the actions of others, which is the precise opposite of freedom.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpCUKIzDYpQ

You don't have a right to not be prosecuted.  You have a right to not subject yourself to prosecution.

For some there is no escape.  Once the damage online is done, for some, there is no turning back.  They have allowed too much of their lives to be known and it's hard for them to get away from it, even by unplugging themselves.  In the Amanda Todd case, a man was arrested for cyber bullying in the Netherlands, The bullying happened in BC Canada. Pack mentality took over and her classmates turned cyber bullying into physical bullying.

I was bullied in-person all throughout school--real bullying, as in actual physical pain--and yet someone who literally subjects themselves to being bullied online is what we're worried about now.  Those people who committed suicide over cyber-bullying, I guarantee this, had years upon years of child abuse saved up from neglectful parents and those fucked up government schools to the point where cyber-bullying was merely a straw on the camel's back.  I didn't begin to contemplate suicide, I fought back, made stronger friends, protected myself: said no and meant it.  I didn't have a choice; the obvious option was to simply remove myself from the school, but since I was forced to go there and the bullies were forced to go there, my options were limited.  These are the conditions of real bullying.

When you get cyber-bullied, here's the steps you take to stop the abuse:

1. Stop subjecting yourself to the abuse
2. There is no step two, that's it

You can ignore the person on Facebook, you can block them from contacting you on IMs and emails, you can blacklist the bully from contacting you, you can choose not to engage with people who engage with the bully etc. etc. etc.: your presence on the Internet is under your full control.  Even this website lets you ignore people; it's to the point where if you get cyber-bullied, you literally have to be asking for the abuse, which isn't too uncommon for someone who is very much used to being abused elsewhere.

Calling someone a victim of cyber-bullying is another way of saying, "Parents can't be blamed; put the blame on something or someone else."  I am tired of people pushing victim complexes onto others to defend themselves; just admit it, people who commit suicide from cyber-bullying indicate a long series of failures on the parent's part.  There is nothing to change about cyber-bullying; it's going to happen so long as the Internet allows two individuals to communicate with each other.  You cannot force people not to interact with each other if they choose to.  We should ask why people convince themselves that they must subject themselves to the bully; what bully could the individual had to be subject to growing up?  What could have caused the individual to have such little sense of self-worth that suicide seems like the only good option?  These are the questions you don't hear when it comes to these individual activist movements because it has been precluded that the problem could never be the parents, it has to be (flavor of the week) that's driving kids to depression and suicide!  Nevermind the fact that a psychologically healthy individual would have no problem dealing with a bully, let alone one online.

How exactly is there no escape? You can use ignore features, close your browser, delete social media accounts and if all else fails hold down your power button for 10 seconds. Unlike school yard bullying "cyber bullying" requires active participation of a willing victim.

Suicide is always a tragic event no matter what is going on, but in all cases of suicide there are other things going on with the individual including depression and other mental problems.

Not sure if anyone here knows much about the Amanda Todd bullying case.  It has made cyber bullying front and center where I live.  While I do agree that people can just unplug and walk away, it still needs to be dealt with.  Bullying in general is a cowards act and a cry for help. Unfortunately the internet allows people to hide behind a computer and spew their filth.

Back in the day, bullying was done in the school yard and eventually they would bully up the wrong tree and have their ass kicked.