Courtney McGrailCourtney McGrail explains the phenomenon of internet bullying and how victims can take control
Everyone has been in a situation where, for example, you’re waiting for the bus or on the bus and there are two or more people whispering and giggling. You know you’re probably not the focus of interest, but for some reason you can’t help but think they’re talking about you.
You glance over and they’re looking at you. Questions and emotions flood your mind: ‘Could they really be talking about me?’, ‘They’re probably not talking about me… but what if they are?’, ‘Is there something on me?’
Everyone has been there, regardless of whether or not you cared at all what they really thought of you. Everyone has been in that situation.
Now, think about it: the internet is everywhere. Mobile phones, laptops, tablets, iPads and other gadgets all provide access to the internet 24/7, anywhere, anytime. If you’re at the bus stop or on the bus and you think someone’s having a snigger at your expense, what does that really matter? You’re going to get on or off the bus and never see them again.
However, the cyberbullying victim does not have this luxury. For the victim here, the internet provides a worldwide platform that people all over the world can snigger at them, not only people in the vicinity.
Survey
According to nobullying.com, 52% of young people have reported being cyberbullied while a survey by Amárach Research found that one in 10 students say that they have cyberbullied another student. Could you have unknowingly been a cyberbully?
I remember a woman I used to work with saying, “Oh I can trash talk – I’m all mouth – but if someone started on me to fight me, that’d be me done.” This is like cyberbullying. Cyberbullies have the privilege of hiding in cyberspace and can operate from their One Direction-postered bedrooms. By operating in this proxy environment they put a distance between themselves and the victim and therefore remove a human element: empathy. In this environment, events escalate quickly and spiral out of control.
Anyone can become a bully. The ‘world-wide web’ is so called for a reason.
Cyberbullies target their victims via social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc. It can be done via instant messaging, text messaging, email, chat rooms, forums, blogs or online games.
In today’s tech-fuelled environment there is nowhere the victim can hide. Cyberbullies have ways of taking their victim’s personal information – photos or private messages – and flaunting them publicly for their own entertainment- mocking, taunting and belittling.
But victims should not be embarrassed, bullies should.
Stay calm
The main thing for cyberbulling victims is to stay calm. Talk to someone you trust – parents or a teacher. perhaps – and let them know what has happened. Then, to ensure bullies cannot access your accounts change all your passwords, a different one for each account, and check the privacy settings on your accounts are set to ‘friends only’.
If there are any nasty messages etc, save them for evidence; the Non-Fatal Offences against the Person Act will let the law handle the bullies if need be. Keep all details private and don’t post anything on sites that you wouldn’t want entering the public domain.
Cyberbullies have caused the deaths of many vulnerable teenagers, such as 15-year-old Ciara Pugsley from Leitrim. In 2012 after being harassed and bullied on ask.fm, she took her own life.
Cyberbullies take pleasure from their victims’ pain but there are websites and helplines available through organisations like Barndardos for cyberbullying victims to seek advice. With good advice, victims can take control.