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AdamReed
Mrs.Pagani
ERWCPeriod3
17February2016
ADetrimentalThreatToUpcomingGenerations
Bullyingisahugeproblemthatisfoundinallplacesofsociety,rangingfromallage
groupsandgenders.Beingbulliedissomethingnobeingshouldeverexperience.Somepeople
maythinkofitasasimplejoketoanother,butitisnotfunnywhenitisatsomeoneelse's
expense.Puttingsomeonedowntomakeyoufeelbetteraboutyourselfisapoorwaytofind
happinessanditwillnotbetoleratedintodayssociety.Cyberbullyingisanewformofbullying
usedbykidsviasocialmediatodoharmagainstthemwithwords.Cyberbullyingisleadinginto
abigproblemandisinsomecasesthecauseofsuicideorsuicideattempts.Technologyhaslead
toanewformofbullyingthatdoesemotionalandphysicalharmtochildren.
Manykidsstrugglewithbeingvictimsofcyberbullying.Bullyingbehavioristypically
definedaspersistentpatternofharassmentandintimidationthatsdirectedatanindividualand
canbephysicalorverbal,whichinmostcasesareallthroughcyberbullying(Christensen5).
Oneofthemanydrawbacksofincreasingtechnologyisthatithasgivenrisetoanewformof
bullyingthathurtsourchildren.Advanceintechnologyallowsforeasytargetingforcyber
bullyingandisnowaglobalproblemwithmanyincidentsreportedintheUnitedStates,
Canada,Japan,ScandinaviaandtheUnitedKingdom,aswellasinAustraliaandNewZealand
(Campbell1).Studieshaveshownthatcyberbullyingaffectsmanychildrenonagloballevel.
Withinthepastyear,accordingtocentersfordiseasecontrolandprevention,schoolshave

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shown20%ofchildrendealwithbullyingand15%ofhighschoolstudentssaidtheywere
bulliedonline(Christensen1).Childrenareforcedtocopewithbeingvictimizedalongwithall
elsetheyarefacedwithduringtheirlife.Istechnologyprovinglessresourceful?
Cyberbullyingisanewformofbullyingthatexistsinoursocietytodayduetoan
advanceintechnology,andaffectschildrenmentally.CyberBullyingistypicallytheculprit
whenboystendtohurtpeerswithemotionalwarfare(Klein2).Onlinecyberbullyingisaform
ofbullyingwheremanykidsareavictimofnamecallingandmanyothernegatives.Casesshow
thatboysweremorelikelytocommitactsofrelationalaggressionafterbeingbulliedonline
(Klein3).CyberBullyingleadstomoreradicalformsofbullyingandphysicalharm.Thestudy
showedthatoverallratesofbothperpetrationandvictimizationwerehighwhichleadsto
emotionalharmthatleaveskidsmentallyunstable(Klein9).Kidsoftenoverthinkthingsand
cyberbullyingcangetintotheheadofmanyvictimsandgivethememotionaltroubles.
Althoughtechnologyprovidesnumerousbenefitstoyoungpeople,italsohasadarksidethat
canleadtoincapacitatedlearninglevels(Campbell1).Themanydarksidesoftechnologyleave
peoplewearyofitspresenceinsociety.Increasingtechnologyhasleadtoanewformof
bullyingwhichiscausingkidsemotionalharmalongwithotherhardships.
Therearewaysinwhichwecanstopbullyingfromtakingplace.Studieshaveshownthat
suicidalthoughtsandattemptedsuicidesaresignificantlyrelatedtobullying(Seaman3).
Thesearestatisticsthatneedtobeassessedtoguidefuturegenerationsintherightdirection.
Thereareanincreasingnumberofschoolbasedprogramsaimedatpreventingbullyingwhich
isagreatstarttopreventbullyingfromtakingplace(Seaman19).Manyschoolshavedecidedto
takeactionagainstthisthreat.Schoolshavereportedindirectformsofbullyingsuchas

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nonverbaltypesarethemosthurtfulandstressfultokids(Sanders&Phye39).Indirectforms
ofbullying,suchascyberbullying,canbeminimizedbytakingaction.Somepeoplehavethe
assumptionthatbullyingispartofgrowingup,thatbullyingisharmless,oreventhatitmay
buildcharacter,butthatisnotthecasebullyinghasnegativeeffectsonchildren(Seaman22).
Cyberbullyingneedstoendandschoolsneedtotakeactiontostopfuturecases.Victimsof
bullyingneedtotakeactionforthemselvesandteachersarebehindthemandarealwaysready
tohelpthem(Sanders&Phye30).Bullyingcanbehelpedbutvictimsneedtobevocalandget
helpfromtheirteachersorparentsiftheyareexperiencingbeingavictimofbullying.Schools
needtokeeptakingaffirmativeactionagainstbullyingandkeepstrivingtowardsfindingnew
waystoendbullying.
Allinall,cyberbullyingisanevilformofbullyingandcanbestopped.Kidsneedtobe
tolerantandhelpeachotherwithoutputtingoneanotherdown.Increasingtechnologyhasleadto
cyberbullyingwhichisthemostthreateningtoyoungadults.Schoolsaretakingactionagainst
bullyingandhasprovensuccessfulandneedstobecarriedon.Alwaystreatothersthewayyou
wouldliketobetreated.

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WorksCited
Klein,Rebecca.MeanBoys,Notgirls,Maybethebiggerproblematschools.
HuffPostEducation.
HuffingtonPost:Web.December4,2014.
Christensen,Jen.AntiBullyingLawsAppeartobeWorking.
CNN,2015.
Web.
October8,2015.
Seaman,M.Andrew.Bullyingamongkidstiedtosuicidalthoughts,suicideattempts.
Reuters,2014.
Web.Reuters,March10,2014.
Campbell,MarilynA.(2005).CyberBullying:AnOldProbleminaNewGuise?..
AustralianJournalofGuidanceandCounselling,15,pp6876.doi:10.1375/ajgc.15.1.68.
Sanders,CherylE.&Phye,GaryD.Bullying:ImplicationsforTheClassroom
AVolumeintheEducationalPsychologySeries.
ElsevierAcademicPress,
Copyright2004.