Faceless Bullies

Cyberbulling.  I bet that many people have never even heard of the word or know what it means.  I never paid much attention to it myself until it was recently being discussed in my electronic communications class.  I am almost 20 years-old, so I guess I figured that cyberbulling will most likely never affect me.  I have privacy settings on all of my online networks, I don't IM or chat with people I don't know and I'm cautious about who I give my online information out to.  I restrict my online information and am mature enough not to respond to bullying on the internet.  I never thought that cyberbulling would affect me until I read this article.

Ryan Patrick Halligan was a 13 year-old boy, an average 13 year-old boy who was affected by online bullying.  I think it is pretty impossible to read this mother's story without being touched.  She loved her son and knew he was bullied, but had no idea as to the extent of the online torture he endured.  In the end, this cruelty coupled with his depression led him to end his life.  

We watched a video or two in class about cyberbullying, but the victims who told their stories or talked about the effects of the bullying, in my opinion, did not seem overly traumatized by what had happened.  The shock of Ryan's story, along with other similar stories, is what really opened my eyes to the horror of this kind of bullying.

I have a younger sister, she's in high school and one of the most sincere people I know.  If anyone asked I would definitely say that we are close, but I'm not naive enough to think that she tells me everything.  What I do know is that she gets picked on at school sometimes.  People make fun of her for being a bookworm and an athlete, or mistake her shyness for being stuck-up.  I also know that she has AIM, she has a MySpace, that she spends a decent amount of time on the computer, and that she is a vulnerable adolescent.  After reading Ryan's story and his mother's lack of knowledge about cyberbullies previous to his death, it made me realize cyberbulling could still play a prevalent role in my life.  According to the video we watched in my class a large percent of kids say that they have been bullied online.  It is a strong possibility that my sister could be one of those victims, and if she is, who is to say that something similar couldn't happen to her like it did to Ryan.

I'm not saying, in any way shape or form, that I think my younger sister is about to end her life, but I am saying that I don't know that she isn't bullied online.  I'm saying that those cheesy safety rules you hear about when it comes to being safe online, really aren't so cheesy when you realize that they're smart to follow.  I'm saying that you don't know how someone will react if they are harassed online.  What I am saying is, that cyberbulling affects everyone, whether they know it or not, and it has to stop.  Gone are the days where kids are beat up for their lunch money.  Let's not waste our time saying hello to the faceless cyberbullies making kids fear the technology our society is infatuated with.  Let us, instead focus our efforts on saying goodbye to this new and maybe most harmful form of bullying.