CYBERBULLYING

 WHAT IS CYBERBULLYING ?

When we are talking about how today's world is full of technology, and then we forgot sometimes that technology can be used negatively to harm others. So its negative can be called Cyberbullying. So cyberbullying is done to harm others' self-esteem and make him/her mentally depressed but generally, girls are the most vulnerable victims of cyberbullying.

Cyberbullying is a cybercrime in which the bullying takes place digitally on online platforms like social media, gaming communities, etc. where users can view, and share content or messages. On these online platforms, some people(attacker) shares a negative post, harmful, false content, personal information, etc. about someone(victim) to humiliate, threatens, degrades, or embarrass that person online.

WHAT ARE THE CAUSES OF CYBERBULLYING?

Cyberbullying is an act of using social media technology to bully others and in main cases, it is used anonymously. By using cell phones or any other devices, such as computers and tablets to connect to the internet, a large number of individuals have been spending their time bullying other people. Cyberbullying may not harm somebody physically; instead, it may harm them mentally.

CASE STUDY 

1) THE STORY OF AMANDA TODD

Amanda Todd was a 15-year-old high-school student from British Columbia. In October 2012, Amanda left behind a YouTube video in which she told her entire story with the help of flashcards. According to her, she started chatting with a man whom she met online. He continuously flattered her and she flashed him when he requested her to do so. The man took pictures of her breasts and started blackmailing her. He followed Amanda on the Internet continuously and asked her to do the same thing again. When she refused, he shared the photo with her classmates on Facebook. To deal with the tension and anxiety, Amanda resorted to drugs and alcohol along with multiple sexual encounters. Slowly, her classmates started ignoring her and finally ostracized her.

With no social encounters and severe depression, she finally committed suicide in the second week of October 2012. It is also believed that she attempted suicide multiple times before finally succeeding.

2) The Story of Tyler Clementi

Tyler was an 18-year-old student studying at Rutgers University in New Jersey. He shared his room with Dharun Ravi. Ravi used his computer’s webcam and his hallmate Molly’s computer to watch Tyler kissing another man without his knowledge of Tyler on September 19, 2010. On the very same day, Ravi posted about the webcam incident on his Twitter account and Tyler eventually found out about the tweets made by Ravi. Earlier, Ravi also tweeted that he found out that his roommate is gay.

On September 19, Tyler asked Ravi to use their room for the evening. After the incident on September 19, Tyler again asked for Ravi to use their room for the evening on September 21. This time, Ravi invited all his friends on Twitter to watch the entire incident. He set up his webcam in such a way that it was pointed towards Tyler’s bed. When Tyler came back to the room, he noticed the webcam and unplugged the cable. Later on, Ravi claimed that he set up his webcam on September 19 as he was worried about the theft, and on September 21, he put his computer in Sleep Mode. Even though Tyler reported the incident and his violation of privacy to the resident assistant, he left his room on September 22 and bought some food in the evening. At around 9 PM, he posted on his Facebook account that he is jumping off the George Washington Bridge. Seven days later, his body was found in the Hudson River. He left a suicide note, along with other documents on his computer which were never released in the public domain.

 Platforms where cyberbullying takes place

1. FACEBOOK     

2. INSTAGRAM

3. TWITTER

4. WHATSAPP

5. SNAPCHAT

MANY MORE

STATUS OF CYBERBULLYING IN INDIA

In India cyberbullying status is not very good. Mostly 75 % of the cases were reported in the last two years against cyberbullying. Some of the cases are unsolved and most cases were not reported           

     

In the Indian aspect cyberbullying is the biggest issue because here people take revenge using online platforms a lot. In Indian society laws were treated as a game, the rich people or powerful people break them very easily. Only in rural areas do people suffer a lot. But middle-class people undergoing cyberbullying never raise a voice because of financial or status strata. Most families also teach a girl to be silent if something bad happens to her that’s why in India the cases in comparison to other countries are more as in other countries they do not have an orthodox mindset

Symptoms Of Cyberbullying

1. Anxiety

2. Depression

3. Loss of appetite

4. Frustration

5. Try to do suicidal attempts

6. Communication pause

How To Stop Cyberbullying 

1. Proper guidance:- If a person undergoing cyberbullying is properly guided he can overcome or fight the situation boldly.

2. Take the help of an adult:- If you feel that you are bullied take support from others

3. Counselling: Take proper counseling from psychologists if you have symptoms related to mental illness.

4. Report The Issue:- Report the issue instead of sitting quietly

5. Take proper time:- Take proper time to trust someone whom you met online and think twice before sharing any personal details with anyone

CONCLUSION

Cyberbullying is the biggest issue so the concerned authorities should take proper action to control it. In a school, we should have a proper counseling room to provide comfort to the students. At the work level, we can try to be conserving ourselves to share our personal details. It is easy to say that we can block the fake persons but this is the only key step to tackling cyberbullying fully.