What is cyberbullying?
Kids call it hating, drama, gossip or trolling. Whatever name it goes by, cyberbullying is serious. It can be emotionally damaging and even lead to tragic consequences. It's happening enough that, as a country, we need to do more about it.
Simply put, cyberbullying is when a child or teen becomes a target of actions by others – using computers, cellphones or other devices – that are intended to embarrass, humiliate, torment, threaten or harass. It can start as early as age eight or nine, but the majority of cyberbullying takes place in the teenage years, up to age 17.
Most often, it's sustained and repeated over a period of time. But whether it's sharing one humiliating photo or 1,000 harmful text messages, it can damage a young person's feelings, self-esteem, reputation and mental health.
Unlike face-to-face bullying, cyberbullying can be relentless. It can reach a victim anywhere at anytime: alone in their bedroom, walking home from school, or even on a family vacation.
Because it can spread quickly, to a wide audience, you might be surprised to learn that most teens today have been involved in some way or other, either as a target, as a bully, as a silent observer, or as someone who participates on the sidelines and becomes part of the problem without realizing what they're doing.
The range of cyberbullying tactics is wide, and is continually changing as new technology emerges and different social networking sites pop up.
Here are some of the common ways that cyberbullying is taking place among young people across Canada:
- Sending mean or threatening messages by email, text or through comments on a social networking page.
- Spreading embarrassing rumours, secrets or gossip about another person through social networking sites, email, or texts.
- Taking an embarrassing picture or video of someone with a digital camera and sending it to others or posting it online without their knowledge or permission.
- Posting online stories, pictures, jokes, or cartoons that are intended to embarrass or humiliate.
- Hacking someone's email account and sending hurtful content to others while pretending to be them.
- Using someone else's password to get into their social networking account and post material as them that would be embarrassing or offensive.
- Tricking someone to open up and share personal information and then sharing that information widely with others.
- Creating online polls and rating people in negative, mean ways.
- In online gaming, repeatedly harming a player's character, ganging up on a player, or using personal information to make direct threats.
Cyberbullying facts and other essentials
Almost 1 in 10 Canadian online teens – 8 per cent – say they have been victims of online bullying on social networking sites. Footnote 1
More than one-third (35 per cent) of Canadian teens with a profile on a social networking site have seen mean or inappropriate comments about someone they know.Footnote 1
14 per cent say they have seen mean or inappropriate comments about themselves on social networks.Footnote 1
90 per cent of Canadians would support a law that would make it illegal to use any electronic means to coerce, intimidate, harass or cause other substantial emotional distress.Footnote 3
Essential things to know about cyberbullying
- Harassing messages, posts and photos can be distributed quickly to a very wide audience, including strangers, and can be extremely difficult to delete once they've been sent or posted.
- Because cyberbullying happens online, bullies may not witness first-hand the pain they're causing, making it easier for them to continue and even increase the intensity of their attacks.
- Many teens and children have no idea that by sharing messages they've received, 'liking' a post or passing it on they become part of the problem. This behaviour instantly spreads the humiliation and harm far and wide.
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