Cyberbullying. It makes sense. Bullies are just insecure individuals who prey on others. So what better way to harass someone while not having to look him or her in the face, than over the Internet?
It makes me sad to think about all the 10, 12, 15 year olds out there bullying and harassing other young people to the point of self-inflicted violence or mental anguish. (This is not to say that cyberbullying is an issue that only affects teens, but it is this groups inability to appropriately deal with the situation, which is what makes it so unfortunate).
I think, as with any issue that affects so many people in such a traumatic manner, it is not just one person or one entity’s responsibility to stop it. In contrary to Marshall McLuhan’s “the medium is the message”, I don’t think we can blame social media sites for this issue and expect that it be them alone who fix it.
It needs to be dealt with on many levels from many different angles. Parents must play a role, as must teachers and other social leaders, government and social media companies – all must be held accountable.
Some have already started to pitch in.
Many states (only two have not) have written and placed into affect their own cyberbullying laws.
Facebook is doing it's part to help resolve the issue by implementing new systems.
Even television is playing it's part. The ABC Family has launched [Delete] Digital Drama in partnership with Seventeen magazine.
Bullying is certainly not a new issue; it’s the ways in which new technology is being used to continue this age-old behavior. I believe that the only way it will be resolved is from a multi-faceted approach.
No comments:
Post a Comment