Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying Younger generations cannot remember a time before technology. Technology is an every day necessity for both teens and adults that allow us to communicate with new and old friends. We can do this through social networking sites, sending quick texts saying we are “on the way”, an email, and much more. Technology has given us the opportunity to connect with people all over the world. Although technology can be seen as a beautiful thing that is beneficial to our generation, it also has a dark-side, cyberbullying. Belsey (2004) stated that “cyberbullying involves the use of information and communication technologies such as e-mail, cell phone and pager text messages, instant messaging, defamatory personal Web sites, and defamatory online personal polling Web sites, to support deliberate, repeated, and hostile behavior by an individual or group that is intended to harm others.” Cyberbullying can also be described as “fighting words without the fists.” As technology has evolved, bullying has increased into something much larger. The Pew Internet and American Life Project on cyberbullying conducted a survey in 2006, which concluded that one out of three teens have experienced online harassment (Lenhart, 2007). Cyberbullying in its various forms has become an increasingly important problem across our country, and is affecting our society physically and emotionally. Cyberbullying is the newest form of bullying, emerging as children become more adept at using computers and cell phones for communication and socialization, but the topics of abuse are the same (Anderson & Sturm, 2007). There are a few main differences between cyberbullying and bullying, one being anonymity. Technology allows social networking posts, emails, videos and photographs to be distributed instantly to a worldwide audience with the bully remaining anonymous. Anonymity of the bully causes the victims to have a much higher level of absence from their school or workplace because