by Jennifer Foster

Created on: January 29, 2011   Last Updated: October 31, 2011

A huge challenge for both parents and educators is learning to deal with problems that did not exist when we were growing up.  Adults of today constantly look at the children and young adults in their lives and compare their struggles to those of decades past.  In today’s society, however, our kids are faced with new battles in the areas of sexuality, technology, and aggression that we never had to.  Cyberbullying is one of those battles.

But what is a cyberbully?  Simply put, it is a person who uses an electronic means to harass, humiliate, or even threaten another individual.  Many of us may have experienced the humiliation that came from a rumor or note being passed around class about something we did or something someone said about us.  This, however, was limited to set location.  Maybe it was the 30 people in class who saw it.  If you were extremely unlucky, you may have even become the talk of the entire school which consisted of a few hundred peers.  Today’s rumor mill is just as harsh and much more widespread.  If you are being cyberbullied on Facebook, for example, it is possible for thousands of people to see what is said and participate. 

But the use of Facebook is only one example.  Text messages, instant messages, and emails are also popular tools of a cyberbully.  Hateful and threatening language through these channels is often harder for adults to monitor because they cannot be overheard by teachers or parents.  Two classmates sitting a table apart at lunch can literally be at war in the digital arena and no one is the wiser unless one or both come forward with a complaint.  How many times, as a parent, has your child sat across the room sending and receiving text messages that you were not apart of.  Their content could cause emotional stress to your child if they are being sent by a cyberbully.

Cyberbullying can also become a precursor to what has been called “bullicide”.  This term is used for people who commit or attempt to commit suicide because of bullies.  More than a few teens have been pushed so far by cyberbullies that they feel there is no way out.  As adults, cyberbullying is one area that we must research and acutely fight in order to protect and preserve the children and young adults in our lives.  We must face the fact that technology can be a wonderful tool, but when used incorrectly by a cyberbully, it can be devastating.

Learn more about this author, Jennifer Foster.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.