A Review of Cyber Bullying

The reading "A Review of Cyber bullying" by V. Skye Wingate was an extremely interesting thing for me to read because I felt like it really opened my eyes to just how terrible cyber bullying is. Normally, a child would be bullied at school, but could seek refuge from it in online chat rooms where they meet friends like them, and can divulge their problems to strangers who are going through the same thing. However, if they are also being bullied on the Internet, it seems that even home is no longer a safe space for them to be, and trying to find solace in online chat rooms seems virtually impossible.

The thing that I find so sad about this article is that it discusses Jamey, a 14-year-old boy who had his whole life ahead of him, but could not escape the bullies, as they invaded his home and his personal space through the use of social media. Unfortunately, this caused Jamey to take his own life. At just 14 years old, the last thing a child should be thinking about is suicide as a way to escape his pain and suffering, and I find it absolutely ridiculous to think that people are so hateful that they are more incidents of this kind happening each and every day.

I thought it was interesting that the article talked about power struggles, and how now there does not need to be a difference in power for the bully to have the upper hand. It differs so much from face to face bullying, and the article even states how the lack of nonverbal cues seems to exaggerate the bullying itself. The idea that the bully cannot see you and your reactions means that the words must be much harsher to ensure a negative reaction, which elevates the degree of bullying.

Overall, I think it is a very serious problem that cyber bullying even exists. To invade someone's life through the use of a computer or media device is truly evil and hateful, and I think that social media is giving people a false sense of power and authority, which they use to take down other people. I think that laws need to be stricter when dealing with cyber bullying and that people need to be informed of ways to deal with this and put this to an end.