Cyberbullying: What Is It?

A student engages in cyberbullying when they use technology to harass, intimidate, humiliate, or threaten another student. These behaviors frequently involve pretending to be someone else online, disseminating untruths or rumors about another student, publishing private images or information without the victim's permission, duping other students into disclosing personal information, and sending hurtful comments to other individuals.

Cyberbullying may occur via text messages, emails, online message boards, and chat rooms despite typically occurring on social networking sites like Facebook. As a result, no matter how far apart the victim and the bully are from one another, technology like smartphones and tablet computers have made it easy for bullies to abuse their victims online whenever they want.

Cyberbullying after effects

Because it may find victims in their homes, where they typically feel the safest, cyberbullying can be particularly devastating for the victims. Victims of cyberbullying frequently believe there is no way out due to constant access to social media and the Internet.

Victims of cyberbullying usually experience despair and low self-esteem as a result of the widespread and ongoing nature of the abuse, which frequently causes a decline in academic performance. Children may also become targets of cyberbullying if they abruptly lose interest in past hobbies or stop hanging out with their closest pals. Extreme instances of persistent cyberbullying have even led some victims to take their own lives.

Where Does Online Bullying Happen?

Almost all social media platforms experience cyberbullying. Bullies have most frequently utilized the social media platform Facebook, which has 2.8 billion active members (though many teens are gravitating toward other platforms, such as Instagram and Snapchat, these days). Although the minimum age to access Facebook is 13, there were more than 7.5 million members under that age in 2011. The increase in that number over the previous ten years is difficult to fathom.

Where Does Online Bullying Happen?

Every social media network has some kind of cyberbullying. Bullies have most frequently utilized the social media platform Facebook, which has 2.8 billion active members (though many teens are gravitating toward other platforms, such as Instagram and Snapchat, these days). Facebook's minimum user age is 13, however in 2011, there were more than 7.5 million members who were under that age. One can only speculate as to how much that number has increased over the past ten years.

How is cyberbullying prevented or reduced?

The only method to entirely stop cyberbullying is to not have any online presence, which is difficult to do in today's world. To lessen your chance of getting cyberbullied, there are a few things you may change about your settings and online activity.

• Maintain private settings for your profiles.
• Regularly check and modify privacy settings.
• Never follow or 'friend' someone you don't consider a friend.
• Requests or communications from users you don't know shouldn't be accepted.
• Keep your passwords to yourself.
• Stop others from accessing your private images and profiles.
• Inform yourself and others about the harms caused by cyberbullying.
• Report it if you see it.