Cyber Bullying

When people think of bullying, often times physical bullying is assumed. Physical fights, yelling, screaming and aggressiveness towards someone is thought of when discussing bullying, but what is not assumed is cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is bullying that occurs over technology, this can be through  messages, social media, gaming and more. This type of bullying includes sending, posting, or sharing negative, harmful, false, or mean content about someone else. Though cyberbullying doesn't sound physically harmful or confrontational, this type of bullying is often the most detrimental to one's mental health. It is important to address this subject as society only continues to grow its online presence. With incoming new generations, their lives are shown through images, videos, and posts. Spreading awareness of this serious issue, how to cope and avoid these situations online can potentially help save someone's life. Cyberbullying should not be taken lightly as it can damage people's personal life, work life, mental health and one's quality of life. Especially when individuals spend half their days using technology, it's hard to escape. 

Personally, I have not engaged in or experience cyberbullying and I am thankful to not have had said experience. I think a huge factor in that is due to the fact that I grew up along with social media. Meaning, during my childhood, there was still little technology regarding iPhones and social media, but as I grew up, Apple products began to create new and advanced technology within each year. During middle school, I only had a limited amount of social media access as apps like Instagram and Twitter were still gaining popularity. Comparing to social media now, I believe kids should take a much more cautious approach to technology and social media platforms as it is much different that the past. Access to different information can be obtained much easier as well as exposure of explicit content. Cyberbullying is common mostly because people are desensitized about what they see or say online, they are more willing to engage in cyberbullying. People are quick to say harmful things over a screen rather than to someone's face and is much more frequent than confrontational bullying. Children growing up in this day in age need to be aware what the internet is capable of and what precautions to take to avoid or not engage in any cyberbullying for the sake of their mental health.