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“Don’t Be Mean Behind the Scenes.”

Cyber-bullying in itself doesn’t seem like anything major at all, but the effect it has on

young people is a big deal. Real people with real emotions are on the other side of those

monitors. Some are depressed, going through physical bullying, and for so many it leads to

suicide. This doesn’t have to be the answer: parents, teachers, and school counselors can

make a change. In this modern world, cyberbullying has become the new form of bullying.

Unlike the more traditional form, a person that has chosen to be a cyberbully is able to remain

anonymous and potentially go viral.

There are many different effects of cyberbullying, but mostly psychological. The victims

that are cyberbullied have a hard time dealing with the bully because the bully is always there: if

the Internet is available, so is the bully. Being able to bully the victim behind the screen is so

much easier because there is no face to face contact, and the bully’s identity is unknown.

Because cyberbullying is done anonymously, different measures must be taken to control it than

would be used with regular bullying. Many people avoid getting involved in controlling

cyberbullying, and people who are concerned need to persuade the adults most involved with

the young people to be willing to take the risk to fight Cyberbullying.

The best place to start with any problem is at the source, and the source of cyberbullying

is the young people involved. According to the research by Hawkins, Pepler, and Craig, when

intervention is taken the bullying incident can be stopped within ten seconds 57% of the time.

The other 43% of the time the bystander is not willing to take a stand to stop the bullying for fear

of retaliation, and instead might even encourage the cyberbullying. The use of intervention as a

first response means that everyone aware of what is going on has a responsibility to stop

cyberbullying. If only one had the courage to take a stand and say No, or even show
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disapproval, or in any way just say this is wrong it could make a difference in some other young

person’s life, maybe even a life or death situation. Everyone can be part of the problem,

everyone can be a part of the solution.

The people closest to the students are the parents, often they know very little about what

is going on. Schools can carry out programs to help convince parents of how to get involved.

According to the article “The not so brave world of cyberbullying,” the kids must be told that

cyberbullying might not be as anonymous as they think. By becoming computer friendly parents

can learn how to protect their children. They can teach the children that even when threats,

pictures or victimizing words are deleted, they are still on the hard drive and can still be

discovered somehow. Once discovered, these cyberbullying activities could make it harder for

them to get into college or get a job.

The school is another place where young people spend most of their time. They need to

know that there is someone to turn to help with issues towards cyberbullying. Since teachers

and principals are always busy school counsellors are important because they can be available

at any time in the day. The schools should be encouraged to have the counselors take the first

step by speaking in classrooms or assemblies, and encouraging students to come to them with

any kind of problem, including cyberbullying. Then the student will know someone is there they

can talk to in a private room behind a closed door, and they never need to feel alone in their fear

or anger.

According to “Psychological Impact of Cyberbullying Implications of School Counsellors,”

there are six indicators of an effective school community, for instance the students, the staff,

and finally the family engaged in learning about bullying. All of these suggestions require a joint

effort of all the people involved in the problem of cyberbullying. The people who know about the

problem of cyberbullying, and want to help protect young people from its damaging, or even

tragic effects should write letters, make phone calls, circulate petitions or any other means they
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can find to persuade legislators, and school administrators to be sure there preventative

measures are put in place in all schools everywhere.

Furthermore the school counsellors need to become more aware, and concerned about

the young people’s well-being. The school counsellors must do everything possible to help each

young person involved in cyberbullying, they need to have up- to-date knowledge of the many

forms of cyberbullying and how they affect the victims. They also need to understand that the

bullies causing the problem have psychological and real-life problems that need attention and

help working through to prevent more serious problems in the future, such as getting into a life

of crime. For this reason, school boards need to be persuaded to offer continuing education to

the counselors they keep on staff, to make them as effective as possible in helping the young

people.

In conclusion, the problem of cyberbullying comes in many forms and needs everyone

involved to be active in preventing or helping resolve the harmful effects of this growing threat.

The school counselor is in a unique position to bring all the other members of the team together,

starting with the young people. From the young people that are immediately involved with the

cyberbully to those who try to help the victims, by educating parents in ways they can intervene

in their child’s life by setting limits on their child’s computer activity, teaching the children to use

passwords, to not share anything online that they do not want everyone to see, and to come to

them if any problems begin. As the article points out, dealing with cyberbullying needs a “multi-

disciplinary approach” in which all members must work together for the best possible outcome.
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