I count myself as one of the very few blessed souls that was neither too smart nor too dumb; too fat nor too thin; nor out of the ordinary in any way, to ever become the target of a bully. I will however ashamedly state that I have at two points in my life teased my fellow students. I say teased because they were one off incidents and I by no means see myself as a bully. The other party may have a differing view. Personal experience aside, two things have led me to write this piece, one was this youtube video and the 11th episode of Big Bang Theory season 5 (The Speckerman Recurrence).
Bullying is a part of life, whether the bully is your sibling, the lasting bitter taste of a fellow school mate or a good friend who thinks he is being helpful. Most of us are told to ‘man up’, ‘grow a pair’, ‘stop being a sissy’ and ‘stand up for yourself’. But when does bullying become too hard to handle? Bullying has always been a concern amongst adolescents. With the developments made in technology, this form of aggression has progressively transferred to an online medium. In a study conducted in 2007, an astonishing 32 percent of adolescents in Canada have experienced at least one account of online aggression (Media Awareness Network, 2010). When almost one-third of a western country’s adolescent population experience something, it becomes imperative to find out just what it is and why it’s happening.
Bullying, refers to repeated acts of causing intentional harm to a victim as a result of a power imbalance. It occurs within a familial or social context when one sibling or classmate has the intellectual or physical upper hand over the other. This upper hand is then expressed through intimidating or humiliating behaviour at home, at school and various other places where others are present to witness the victim’s degradation and further add to the impact on the victim. Jonah and Leonard both show signs of depression and timid behaviour as a result of face to face bullying. If they are eventually vocal about it, it’s either out of helplessness or due to distance and maturity. But there are many victims of bullying out there who suffer in silence – especially now that bullying has gone online.
Cyber bullying is a form of aggression which entails the intention to harm someone who cannot defend themselves through an electronic medium. Cyber bullying can be exhibited through various means; it can include threatening someone through instant messaging or chat rooms, or embarrassing them through social media including Facebook and MySpace. In contrast, a traditional sense of bullying refers to intentionally and repeatedly harming someone in a face-to-face interaction, that generally takes place in or near schools. Cyber bulling is distinguishable from the traditional sense because it takes place in an online environment. Bullies express themselves in a way they would normally refrain from doing so, as they are able to use a medium that allows them to act aggressively without immediate repercussions.
Studies have shown that technology provides bullies the potential to be more viral than traditional bullying, since threatening or embarrassing messages can be exposed to a large audience virtually instantaneously, through means such as mass emails and posts. Cyber bully victims were almost twice as prevalent to attempt suicide as those not bullied at all; victims of traditional bullying, on the other hand, were 1.7 times more likely. Although not significantly greater than the traditional form, these rates demonstrate the impact that cyber bullying can have on an adolescent. When victims are harassed by bullies, they experience feelings of decreased self-worth, depression, loneliness, and hopelessness, all of which contribute to greater risk of suicidal thoughts and attempted.
With communication becoming vastly technologically advanced, most online communications allow for the use of a pseudonym, enabling a sense of anonymity amongst users. The use of pseudonyms provides people with the opportunity to separate their real-life identity and their “online” identity (Mason, 2008). Accordingly, some individuals feel a sense of liberation and behave in a way that would otherwise be considered socially inappropriate. They are more likely to act aggressively by being more spiteful, vicious, and threatening. These actions can be contributed to what is known as disinhibition effect, which suggests that as a result of anonymity deriving from computer-related modes of communication, people are less likely to be concerned about the society’s reactions. They ultimately feel empowered to express themselves openly without worrying about consequences.
The effects of disinhibition are said to be caused by deindividuation, which occurs when one’s accountability cues have been diminished. Anonymity reduces one’s self-awareness and makes them more likely to act based on situational cues. Research shows that uninhibited communication such as use of profanity and insults were significantly more prevalent in computer-mediated communication than in personal interactions involving face-to-face interactions. As a result of the reduced influence of social norms, antinormative and deregulated behaviour such as aggression are more common. Accordingly, the importance of anonymity as well as the deindividuation effect significantly contributes towards occurrences of cyber bullying.
Cyber bullying is often more dangerous than traditional bullying as it can be perpetrated by strangers. The online medium provides an anonymity which empowers bullies into targeting innocent victims. This is especially the case when people go online looking for love. Increasingly someone knows someone who met their perfect match online and more and more vulnerable lonely hearts are exposed online. These lonely people are emotionally vulnerable and a prime target for scams. There have been many stories like this one of women who have been cheated out of their finances by men who flirted their way into their lives and then pleaded for financial assistance. Women who lose everything but are too humiliated to tell anyone. Contrary to common perceptions it is not only children and teenagers that are the target of cyber bullying. While kids may tease other kids online and teenagers may write unsavoury comments which ‘ruins social lives’, many adults are at risk of being hurt as well. More than 1600 Australians reported losing $17 million in the online search for romance this year, up from $15 million last year (full article on SMH).
The influence of anonymity and deindivdiuation in online settings significantly encourages adults and adolescents alike to participate in inappropriate social behavior such as bullying, flirting and fraud. These can be reduced, if not prevented by developing trusting face to face relationships between adolescents and adults including teachers and parents. Bullies (adults or kids) indulge in bullying to increase one’s self-worth while simultaneously decreasing that of others’. Provision of extracurricular activities which promote self-development and esteem can contribute towards decreasing occurrences of cyber bullying in all age groups.
Cyber bullying is a sad reality of an increasingly connected society and a greater awareness by parents, teachers and social workers is imperative to introducing measures to prevent bullying related depression, suicide and other misfortunes. Fostering relationships between adults and children means children are less likely to lose their sense of identity in online settings. Providing activities for students to participate in allows better management of stress and prevents students from lashing out at each other. Someone you know may be a victim of bullying or cyber bullying. Be aware of what it is and equip yourself and those you love with the required skills and information to protect yourself.
Special thanks to Afnan for letting me use her research!
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