Very controversial topic in the past few years. What do you think? Is it a problem or not?
My outlook:
NO. Only if you make it a problem. Some parents do not teach their children how to filter good criticism from hate. Not everyone will like everyone and people can't avoid that. The only way this "problem" can be averted is by starting with a child's upbringing. This generation is being taught that they don't have to personally deal with issues because someone on a white horse will ride in a promptly shut the other kid up. If a person is spreading lies on the internet, then there are legal reasons to get involved. That is a separate issue from bullying because it is direct defamation of a person's character. But, just because some adolescents want to be mean and say "kill urself nerd. get cancer you degen fuck" on the internet doesn't mean the internet has a "cyber-bullying" problem. If the hate is by anonymous people on a certain website, the parents should take charge and not let their child go on that website and explain clearly, "They don't know you. You don't know them. Stop worrying." If the online bullying is being done by supposed "friends" offline, then the child needs to be taught how to get better friends. If it's the community that's damaging to the child's mental health, then the family probably should do what they can do move into a more kind living environment. The media has taken the pseudo-problem of cyber-bullying and exploded it, just like they do on every issue that grabs peoples' attentions. ABC went far enough to sponsor a movie called "Cyberbully," which effectively criticized the internet for not monitoring every single post ever created on it. Yes, there have been instances where a child has attempted/committed suicide because of online hate. But, remember each of these children were insecure and, in most cases, the predominant amount of bullying happened outside the internet. If a child isn't going to be taught how to handle hate through a computer screen, how are they supposed to handle it in real life, at school, at work, or in public? There is no "cyber-bullying" issue, there is just an issue of children expelling their own anger, social inadequacies, mental instabilities, etc. onto other children through a new medium. This doesn't mean I support bullying, but there should be a burden on parents to actually teach their kids how to ignore hate, live their own lives, and not be oversensitive. By trying to eliminate every medium for bullying only gives the bullies leeway by shifting the issue from the bully to the availability to bullying. If there's a problem, the child should know all they have to do is not acknowledge the bully (on the internet it's called the "block" or "report" button). There is no physical abuse on the internet, therefore ignoring the issue is the best solution there is. Don't give bullies recognition because then they know it's working. (p.s: Anybody who claims this is a pro-bullying response obviously didn't read this comment correctly)
My outlook:
NO. Only if you make it a problem. Some parents do not teach their children how to filter good criticism from hate. Not everyone will like everyone and people can't avoid that. The only way this "problem" can be averted is by starting with a child's upbringing. This generation is being taught that they don't have to personally deal with issues because someone on a white horse will ride in a promptly shut the other kid up. If a person is spreading lies on the internet, then there are legal reasons to get involved. That is a separate issue from bullying because it is direct defamation of a person's character. But, just because some adolescents want to be mean and say "kill urself nerd. get cancer you degen fuck" on the internet doesn't mean the internet has a "cyber-bullying" problem. If the hate is by anonymous people on a certain website, the parents should take charge and not let their child go on that website and explain clearly, "They don't know you. You don't know them. Stop worrying." If the online bullying is being done by supposed "friends" offline, then the child needs to be taught how to get better friends. If it's the community that's damaging to the child's mental health, then the family probably should do what they can do move into a more kind living environment. The media has taken the pseudo-problem of cyber-bullying and exploded it, just like they do on every issue that grabs peoples' attentions. ABC went far enough to sponsor a movie called "Cyberbully," which effectively criticized the internet for not monitoring every single post ever created on it. Yes, there have been instances where a child has attempted/committed suicide because of online hate. But, remember each of these children were insecure and, in most cases, the predominant amount of bullying happened outside the internet. If a child isn't going to be taught how to handle hate through a computer screen, how are they supposed to handle it in real life, at school, at work, or in public? There is no "cyber-bullying" issue, there is just an issue of children expelling their own anger, social inadequacies, mental instabilities, etc. onto other children through a new medium. This doesn't mean I support bullying, but there should be a burden on parents to actually teach their kids how to ignore hate, live their own lives, and not be oversensitive. By trying to eliminate every medium for bullying only gives the bullies leeway by shifting the issue from the bully to the availability to bullying. If there's a problem, the child should know all they have to do is not acknowledge the bully (on the internet it's called the "block" or "report" button). There is no physical abuse on the internet, therefore ignoring the issue is the best solution there is. Don't give bullies recognition because then they know it's working. (p.s: Anybody who claims this is a pro-bullying response obviously didn't read this comment correctly)
