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Cyberbullying Gains Momentum in US
interglossa writes "Findings from the Pew Internet Project are being reported on the BBC news web site, indicating a rising incidence of cyberbullying among teenagers in the United States. The study showed a slightly higher incidence among those visiting social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace. Tactics cited include being 'the victim of an aggressive email, IM or text message' and 'having a rumor spread about them online'. While the concept of cyberbully has been around in the US for a while, most coverage of the issue has focused on more extreme examples abroad. It would seem young people in the US are fully adapting to the anonymity of online interactions."
Violence begets violence.
By the same token, bullying begets bullying.
Surely, if you want to make men of boys, there must be better ways than bullying, which mostly teaches the lesson that you don't need to think for yourself if you join a pack of dumbfucks.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Eventually, nobody will believe anything about anybody on the interwebtubetruck
Then it will hole no emotional effect on the people of that generation.
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It's already starting unfortunately. There has to be a healthy way for kids to grow up and have a thicker skin. There's a big difference between someone physically beating you down and "But mom some kid in my class posted on MySpace that I'm a moron, sue him mommy so I can get a PS3 else I'm going to scream my head off for hours.".
I learned how to ignore bullies back in high school. But that's in meatspace, where everything is ephemeral. In online forums, comments and rumors about me are all but permanent, and available for any potential employer (or private investigator) to see.
I wonder if/when libel laws will be applied to moronic posts made to Myspace, Facebook and the plethora of phpBB boards out there.
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The only real difference I can see between "cyberbullying" and traditional childish behavior is that now we can have a persistent record of how much of a jerk your precious little child can be when you aren't looking.
Voluntary exposure of intimate details is not very smart if you are worried about certain pictures/facts leaking. Rumors are just that and if they affect you in any way, you can always sue. The legal system kicks in when it gets serious, but before that, it is just a friendly reminder of the ways of the internet. What would you rather have? Some kid getting 'aggressive emails' or regulation of expression on the internet?
If it is serious, go to the authorities. If it is not, don't whine.
Cheers!
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My own personal experience with being bullied in school made me bitter and hateful, with a tendency to lash out both physically and emotionally.
During this time period I did basically two things which gained the respect of my peers - for a moment, anyway. The first time was the first time I got into a real fight with someone determined to beat me up. He was another unpopular kid. He ended up with two black eyes and a bloody dot on his forehead. I ended up with an expulsion.
The second time, a bunch of people had been fucking with me on the city bus, going to school. One kid added one last straw, and I got up and popped him one upside the head. (Then the bus driver hit the brakes and I bounced off a pole, but wasn't damaged - just dazed. But that made two of us.)
Sure, I'm only one individual. But what I'm trying to say is that being bullied might have given me some perspective on some things, but it also made me unpredictable and dangerous. It did not make me a "real man" - I was still a pussy until I was maybe 23, 24. It wasn't until just the last few years that I grew sufficient cojones to stand up for myself in a work situation, and stopped being taken advantage of there.
Bullying is not a good thing. And the failure of most people (including yourself) to imagine that there might be a superior alternative is frankly pathetic. You are helping to maintain the culture of violence, and that is simply a bad thing.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Spreading rumors with freely available picture editing software is especially pernicious. On top of that, there's the automation - making the spreading of the material so much more effective. Instead of just a handful of people personally contacted, an audience of hundreds on up end up seeing it. That also heavily increases the emotional impact.
Consider a similar scenario -collateral damage due to spamming. Some of you have seen your outgoing emails banned because of spammers falsely using your address or even simply using the same ISP. The same sort of knee-jerk reactions happen as a result of cyber-bullying.
Finally, there are a lot of ADULT idiots out there that act based solely on unconfirmed information. Lynchings in the US still happen - just more often in court and in job losses. The impact can be in the form of real losses, not just emotional hurt. Now imagine how kids can respond.
While bullying and insulting frequently go to far, that is the way many children learn the social norm. And before everyone get all righteous about not needing to conform, let me just say bullshit. You have to understand the social norm before you walk you own path and not create unintended repercussions (ie only child syndrome). Parents allowing their kids to do things and act in ways that they would never accept outside of the parent/child relationship are just asking for that kid to be ostrisized when they get out into the world.
We are all just people.
Maybe that explains this curious wording:
I've seen people complain in an online forum that someone's objections to an ideology constituted a personal attack against its adherents, then turn around and declare "open season" on those who espouse the alleged bully's competing ideology.Then they pat each other on the back for being so much more civil than the 'troll' they've just dispatched.
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My school bully is also in jail for at least one violent crime. "Malicious Wounding" I believe. In regard to the GGGP I think that you would find that out of the school bully demographic you get the most politicians, slimeball high power execs, and violent criminals. In short all people who are willing to abuse other people to achieve their ends. They just utililize different forms of power over others.
We are all just people.