Cyber Bullying Is the Fastest Growing Trend in Bullying

Cyber bullying is the fastest growing trend in bullying among teens and probably the most dangerous. It gives anonymity to those who don’t want people to actually see them bullying in school. Also, cyber bullying takes away the last sanctuary some of these kids have, their home. What an awful feeling that must be, to come home from a day of being picked on just to be picked on more via internet. Cyber bullying can come in many ways: text message, email, website, blogs, They can be pictures taken from a camera phone sent to many people to see.

Teens spend a lot of time on the internet using social websites like, Myspace and Facebook. These are places where a kid can kind of reinvent himself and exert a little creativity. A place to “get away” and when those things are taken away the results can be disastrous. This was a difficult paper for me to write. I tend to be an empathetic person and reading all of the horrible stories about children taking their own lives and suffering all that abuse really broke my heart. I, like most people, experienced bullying in middle school and it still bothers me today.

I wish there was a way to stop all bullying but over half of bullying incidents go unreported. It is terribly sad that millions of children suffer every day at the hands of bullies. These poor souls can go their entire lives living in fear and feeling completely weakened and insufficient. I know first hand the damage caused when a depressed person takes his own life. Learned Helplessness is a lie. There is always a way out, always steps that can be taken. Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. If only we could get these bullied kids to see that they aren’t alone and that they are capable, wonderful kids.

They need to understand that their identity is not defined by these heartless and cruel actions. We may not be able to stop the bullying but we can certainly diminish the lasting effects. I tutor a 5 year old that struggles with being picked up. They make fun of the way his head is shaped and it is horribly remarkable how fast he has become sensitive about the way he looks. Some days you can see the defeat in his eyes and in the way that he moves. It is heart breaking. I am going to close with a poem written by a 14 year old girl whose best friend committed suicide as a result of being bullied.