Over the past few weeks there seems to be a lot of hype in the media about "cyberbullying". A lot of this outcry seems to suggest internet reform or changes in law to help protect the youth from such things. I'd like my opinion to be heard before idiots go ahead and jump on the bandwagon of another stupid legislation of sorts. If the media bandwagon is already on board I'm sure there is one on the way.
First, lets make sure we're on the same page... everyone in some form or other has been subject to bullying. Whether it's at home, in the school environment, work, church or governmental. If you don't think you have been, it's probably because you were too young to remember or extremely lucky. It is indeed a big problem, there is no denying this. I'm not going to try explain how or why anyone does it, it's just part of life. Sometimes, it can be quite extensive and nasty, physical, other times thankfully it's only verbal. There is of course a massive need to stand up and prevent bullying.
Whatever happened to Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me? The great thing about cyber bullying is, it is easily avoidable. Are you ready for this great advice? Take your children off the internet/social networks. I know it sounds extremely difficult and oh so terrible in modern times, but there is no denying how effective this simple idea is. You might not think so but it's possible to communicate online, only with the people you want, people have been doing it for years. There are hundreds if not thousands of methods of doing so. Why would any decent parent let there 10-15 year old unsupervised on the internet. The internet is the technology equivalent to the big bad world. Allowing them to post pictures of themselves online etc. Would you let them wander the city streets? That is the only thing the internet is comparable to.
The next issue that is repetitively pushed, "The problem is anonymous communication". Well I for one completely disagree. My first argument against this is . This is massively large community of mainly anonymous people (look at all the funny usernames <3). It is also one of the warmest, funniest and interesting forums on the planet. Everywhere on the internet has a dark side, mainly because people do. What do you think children are going to search for? My second argument, Imagine a young socially anxious teen who doesn't communicate well in person and is generally withdrawn or deemed too shy for normal social interactions. Where does he/she go when they aren't allowed to communicate in the only form they are comfortable with; Anonymously or under a pseudonym. Without this outlet, we are putting negative pressure on them.
There have been numerous tragic cases recently, that may have sparked this upsurge in the media. I do agree that awareness can help. All parents need to do is monitor their children, not in an invasive way but enough to have a jist of what they are up to. Not only the parents of the victims, the parents of the bullies and all children online. Blocking websites and denying anonymous communication is not a solution at all. It seems a stupid frenzied solution to solving the real problem that is bullying at an interpersonal level.
Make sure you are friendly enough with your son/daughter to ask them about anything that may be troubling them, what kind of stuff they do online, who they are talking to. You'd do the exact same if they were out hanging around on the streets. Another benefit to online bullying is that it's possible to take screenshots or store hard evidence of a bullying case. That way there are no questions as to what was going on. Teach your kids to record evidence of the bullying. That way it is unquestionable when the bully is faced. Adding "Cyber" in front of a problem doesn't make it a different one. Don't be stupid and look out for your kids.
On a final note, if you are a kid and being cyber bullied, take an offensive. Take pictures of the abuse and post it or email it to the bullies parents, let them see what a shitty son/daughter they are contributing to society.