“Unless and until our society recognizes cyber bullying for what it is, the suffering of thousands of silent victims will continue.”

If you’re on this site, you are most likely accessing it from some electronic device. But that’s not surprising. A study done by Journalist Felix Richter states that Americans use on average 11+ hours of electronic media a day, whether it be through Iphones or Macbooks or television sets. Consuming so much time on electronic devices correlates with an increasing usage of social media outlets such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. These social media outlets are becoming especially popular among adolescents and no longer are the times where adolescents get bored and ask their parents to play catch in the street or look for creatures buried deep in the dirt.

Because of the time adolescents spend on their phones or computers, they are able to communicate with whomever they truly want. News spreads quick like fire on social media and although we could name a bunch of positive aspects of this technology-driven life, there is one underlying negative effect of adolescent’s continuing use of social media: an increasing amount of cyber bullying.

Educate yourself:

Cyber bullying is destructive behavior and has affected more adolescents than people are usually aware of and some of the statistics listed below bring to light how serious of an issue this is among the developing adolescents of our time:

- 52% of adolescents and teenagers report they have been cyber bullied

- 55% of teens who use social media have witnessed bullying on that specific site

- 95% of people who witness cyber bullying ignore the behavior.

- Facebook, Twitter, and Ask.fm are the most common sites where cyber bullying occurs.

- Only 1 out of 6 teen’s parents are even aware that their teen has been cyber bullied, roughly half of cyber bully victims do not confide their parents about the issue

- Aside from the gender difference, research has found no racial gap in cyber bullying; overall, all races are affected equally.

As a result, most all victims of cyber bullying experience low-self esteem, and has thoughts of suicide or attempt or commit suicide. Due to the low mental state adolescents are in, disorders regarding physical state (such as bulimia, anorexia, or poor health) arise.

Cyber Bullying is REAL :

This is a Cyber bullying interview with a young girl who chose to share her story about what she went through when she was being bullied online, which affected her greatly and caused her to fall into depression. The damage people did to her on the Internet caused the young girl to be very unhappy. She says, she became very aggressive and would attack people out of rage. Here is her story:

Cyber bullying can take shape in any form. It can target a selected group with offensive comments. Recently, in the Irvine community there was an incident where flyers were posted around an apartment complex asking “African Americans” specifically to “keep their voice down when they had conversations late at night.” From posts like the screenshots below, African American people felt offended by the comments people made in this community. ESPECIALLY since anyone on social media will be able to views these comments:

Often times adolescents are fearful to bring up their bullied lives due to the fact that bullies might continue to pester their lives even more so when adolescents try to seek for help. Some have brought the issue to light by telling their own stories for the world to hear:

These are my past stories of what I have endured and how I was involved with “bullying”. It is my way to reach out and speak up against this major issue! I have gone through many different strategies on how to stop this matter but none that have stuck and worked. This is a video that is all for AntiBulling, because millions of children, teens and young adults go day by day every year being picked on, laughed at, physically, mentally, verbally and spiritually abused. In all forms it is over all wrong! I hoped that if I contributed like all the other YouTube users with similar videos then it would make a small difference in someones day, that I would be able to have someone relate or understand that THEY ARE NOT ALONE! I wish that I meet my goal and change someones life, even if it’s not in a big way…as long as someone out there knows they’re not alone!!

The Numbers Affected by Bullying Multiply:

Those who are bullied are without a doubt affected by it. But what if bullying affects more people than we actually know? Below is an interview with a mother who speaks about her 12- year old daughter committing suicide after being cyber bullied over various social media websites. We can see that cyber bullying does not only affect the adolescents who are being targeted, but it also affects their family’s and loved ones because no one wants to see someone they love hurt.

Adolescents are Never Alone.

Because of how tragic cyber bullying is, it is often easy for people to sit back and remorse about those affected by the bullying. But as an educator, family member, friend, or acquaintance, you can be there for adolescents in ways that will let them know THEY ARE NOT ALONE. In 1999, a national nonprofit organization emerged. Love Our Children USA is a program designed to help fight violence against children. This program helps victim’s find a solution if they are being harassed. Love Our Children USA offers a variety of solutions to a problem such as how to notice the signs if you are being bullied. It offers ways on how to help loved ones, how to help friends, and how to help your school. Bullying is not just physical bullying: hitting, biting, or kicking you but there is also sexual bullying and verbal bullying which is usually what cyberbullying consists of. Refer to Love Our Children for more information to help and spread awareness.

“Don’t try to go it alone … TELL someone! Save your Life … Save your Classmates’ Lives … Telling Isn’t Tattling!”

Since bullying and cyber-bullying became a bigger issue over time, in 2005 STOMP Out Bullying was another movement created to raise awareness in hope to reduce bullying, cyber-bullying, sexting and other types of abuse on social media. In dealing with those issues, there is a chance to help reduce suicide, racism and hatred towards those who are different.

STOMP Out Bullying is a website created to raise awareness on bullying, but is also an outlet for people. This website allows people to put videos up of their own personal stories of how they were bullied and what they did to stop it. STOMP Out Bullying also provides ways for a person to talk out their feelings or emotions when they feel like they have no one to confide in.

If you are someone you know wants to speak to a Help Line to confide in about issues faced, The STOMP Out Bullying™ HelpChat Line is available on their website at the following times:

Sunday 8PM — 12AM EST

Monday 6:30PM — 10:30PM EST

Tuesday 3PM — 10PM EST

Wednesday 8PM — 12AM EST

Thursday 6PM — 3AM EST

Friday 5PM — 10PM EST

Saturday 8PM — 12AM EST

When the Help Chat Line is not available and you are in need of help, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1–800–273-TALK (8255)

DO NOT EVER BE AFRAID TO ASK FOR HELP!

Or even check out this short video below on tips and tricks to help rid cyber bullying!

Or if you are a parent check out this interview below! Expert, Dr. Russ Sabella, is reaching out to parents so they can help prevent cyber bullying in their household.

Cyber bullying will diminish once the issue is brought to the surface

The importance of spreading awareness is a self-given. You could never have witnessed someone being bullied but you can still help those affected by it by becoming knowledgeable of the situation and by spreading awareness.

Because of the fact that adolescents are in an rapid changing state of mind and because they are in the process of growing and developing more so than any other age group, they may not yet have the strength they need to ignore what is said to them, as adults may do. Be of help to them, even when they may not ask for it

The fight is NOT over.