Cyberbullying

What is cyberbullying?

The definition of cyberbullying according to the Oxford Dictionary is the use of electronic communication to bully a person, typically by sending messages of an intimidating or of a threatening nature. This can be done by a child or teenager however when it comes to an adult this is classed as stalking and other extreme measures. Using digital devices to bully someone it said to be an easier form of bullying which is said by 81% of teenagers, this is because usually the person that is bullying someone is timid or found out before it is late. 

Facts of cyberbullying

It is believed that 43% of children have ONCE been bullied online in their lives with this high percentage only 10% of these children will confide in their parents/carers about the ordeal that they have been through. The case of cyberbullying has increased as the years have gone on, in this modern society it is easy to find people that you are looking for through websites such as FaceBook, Twitter and Skype. FaceBook allows individuals to communicate by posting on others walls, sending others messages and through FaceBook chat which allows individuals to communicate without being requested as friends. Twitter allows individuals to communicating by 'tweeting' others which publicly allows those that are your 'followers' to view what you're saying to others and also messages can be sent by direct messages for any private conversations. By bullying someone this can affect their emotional and mental state as this affects their welfare as it occurs on a daily basis. 

Negative effects of cyberbullying

As said in the definition of what cyberbullying is, it is also when a child or teen is tormented, threatened, harassed, humiliated, embarrassed or otherwise targeted by another child or teen using the internet, digital technologies or mobile phones. A negative effect of cyberbullying is suicide. Suicide is the THIRD leading death among young people, it is estimated that 4,400 deaths per year are from suicide and it is due to the effects of cyberbullying. Children between the ages of 10-14 years old are said to be at a high risk of committing suicide as the consequence of a negative effects of cyberbullying. 

Laws

At the moment, there are NO laws against cyberbullying however, it can be categorised under these laws- Protection from Harassment Act 1997 and The Malicious Communications Act 1988. This type of bullying can never be deemed as correct however in some cases there is a condition called Xenophobia which means that someone has an unreasonable distrust or hatred of strangers, foreigners or anything that is perceived to be foreign or different. Personally, I think that this 'condition' gives others the advantage to abuse this and torment others. This being said I have never met someone that has this condition so I cannot take full judgement on what I have read until I have seen a person that has this condition and how they behave around others. 

Overall, in this modern age the amount of victim towards cyberbullying is vastly increasing and it seems like the government are not doing anything to help this. I think that a law should come out to stop this behaviour carrying on because it not only affects one person, it infests in their mind. They are constantly paranoid thinking that each person that they pass on the street could be the person that is bullying them or that one of their loved ones could be doing it. As this paranoia grows it begins to feed off the person almost like it possess them because it is ALL they think about, the just want a simple way out and for the person this may well be by ending their life which for them seems like it is over but in fact it is letting the bully win. The best way to deal with it is to TALK to someone. It doesn't have to be a professional but someone you trust, I'd like to believe that no matter how hard life gets you'll always have someone there for you. 

For more information about cyberbullying visit- http://www.stopcyberbullying.org/

Celebrity Endorsement

Since, I haven't posted something in a while I thought that I should post about something that was on my mind. Speaking from a teenagers point of view, here is my intake on what media and celebrities make others feel.

Back in the day, the pressure from celebrities wasn't as beneficial as it is now. Those times, being young I suppose I wasn't aware of what things meant, for example, listening to certain songs now and understanding what the lyrics are actually saying has made me think twice about singing songs out loud at home. The media has portrayed having role models as something that is essential especially for young girls, now girls are suppose to have that one celebrity that they look up to and someone who they 'follow' to become like them. Well, I say that the only role model I have is my mum. My mother has been through so much to bring up my siblings and to make that is a true role model and I just hope that when I have children that I can give my children the love and kindness that I received from my mum.

In this modern society, there are celebrities like Rihanna and Kanye West that children are supposed to admire and aim to be like. Now, I'm not slating these celebrities as thats not the aim of this piece. The image that Rihanna portrays herself to be isn't the type of image that young children shouldn't be looking up to. Children need stability and the liberal endorsement of sex is creating a world full of teenage mothers and increasingly welfare dependent parents. The lyrics that Rihanna sings tends to encourage this world of sex and not taking responsibility of their actions. In all due respect I think that this type of music should only be shared after 9 o'clock as this will be after the watershed.  This could impact society today.

Furthermore, I think that boys don't have enough role models that are respected in society today. Most boys want to be professional footballers because it is seen as being easier but when you truly think about it, what role models are there out there for young boys? The only role model that comes to mind is Lord Sugar. He sets the image of someone that has worked hard to get where he is today and has never taken no for an answer. He has shown initiative and has always strived to be the best which is something that boys should look up to and try and better themselves for.