^ Sorry, I don't feel bad about those kids. (None of which were cyber bullied) For one thing, the first kid failed to realize that the bullies were doing nothing to her, other than pushing her, calling her names and hitting her with water bottles. Justin Bieber's gone through that, I don't see him committing suicide. The second kid was obviously being flamboyant and making himself an easy target. He put himself in that situation and took the wrong way out. The third kid took her friend's death like an idiot. The fourth kid had the problem fixed, but still decided to commit suicide. Not only that, but suicide may not have been the intention of taking those pills. The Facebook kids just fall behind the idea that they can get by hearing only what they want, and suicide is where they go if they hear anything other than that.
You know what I find quite funny? People on the internet often make up for a lack of intelligence and general lack of 'growing a pair' by acting all tough and badass on the internet, where people really don't care if you have six inch abs or a private gun collection. What matters is how nice you are in RL.
As far as I'm concerned, cyber-bullying is as bad as / worse than the real thing. It's one thing to tell people to "man up" but that's not always possible. Words hurt, and if you're the kind of person who dwells on the nasty things people say to you, then that mounts up. And also as far as I'm concerned, try pulling any of that crap on here, and I'll see to it you're removed from the site. Trolling is not welcome here.
But doesn't that point to a failing as a culture to give people the emotional tools to "not care" (the only way I can think to put it) about what other people say about them? Take legitimate criticism but ignore the idiots and trolls that only serve to cause them grief in life?
If it's online it's not bullying. Most people that talk about cyber bullying hardly even use a computer. If you don't know the person, it's probably just a troll, so get over it. And if it's someone from your school or something, then settle the issue offline instead of bottling it in and making it worse. And I agree, words do hurt. But if it's online their not saying it or meaning it completely, their just typing it. So type something back and grow some balls.
Bullying is a sure sign of immaturity and imperfect genes. There's a simple but effective treatment - multiple puncture wounds to the abdomen and face. I used a pen when they tried it on me, but any long, sharp object should do. The only thing that annoys me as much as bullies is people who let them win - both victims and witnesses. I remember being followed around high school, on my crutch, by a pair of twats with a padlock on a chain they wanted to hit me with. The solution was to show them that basic stationary can and will be used to inflict painful injuries to their kneecaps. Also attack everyone else in the room, it'll get you in trouble but you'll feel better about yourself when the sedatives they gave me wore off. Wow my high school years were fucked up. And if it's just some twat you don't know on the internet, It's my understanding that you most messaging, forums and email clients offer to block annoying pricks for no extra cost. Use it and send them an insulting messege once every so often. To beat the bully, you have to become the bully. Bully the bully, so to speak. Most bullies have underlying mental health issues, so they'll hopefully top themselves once they realise the tables have turned, and the gene pool can breathe a sigh of relief.
*High fives Sol* Well said. I agree. I've been cyberbullied, not by anyone I know, but I didn't get bent out of shape over it. What did I do? Player Options > Block > Are you sure you want to block this person? > Yes. > Report Player > Reason > Harrassment. Usually when crap like this happens I find it more annoying-as-all-hell than insulting. If it happens once then I just ignore it, because I'll probably never see that person online again anyway, but occasionally I'll get one asshole or two who has no life who just likes to keep messaging me 24/7, and create new accounts after I blocked the ones they used before. Honestly, who feels like going through all that just to annoy one person? I feel bad for these kids who have taken their own lives from bullying, both in reality and online. Some people can handle bullying better than others. Those that can't they can't do anything about it. It's genetic. They're more sensitive and emotional. Maybe it's because they never fully experienced something like it when they were younger and had a chance to adapt to it.
look out fellas this dude is HARDCORE oh man please share more of your cutting edge social commentary
Because I've just been droning on about how I'm loads greater than those dead kids. Everyone faces bullying. The ones that can't deal with it and give up are considered saints. I have a problem with that. How does that make for me trying to call myself "HARDCORE"?
Don't think cyberbullies can only affect kids. True, or not. I've read articles about businesses who are hiring "supposedly" check online profiles. Face, Space, and Tweets. So if someone "cyberbullies" you or make a fake profile of you. That can ruin your life or potential. People who cyberbully should be sent to North Korea, they need someone who has a lot of time to waste instead of do something productive.
They would probably make you look like you can't write well, with a lot of grammatical errors you wouldn't make yourself.
One of the things lacking is a clear definition of cyber-bullying. I've been in MMO guilds where there were members that cried "cyber-bully!" just cause they got snaked on XP by another member on a quest/kill. I was another site back the first of the year, where someone tried to get a mod fired for "cyber-bullying" cause he asked the member why they were coming to a site for a show they don't watch. Some people see it as a catch all term for any bull$h!t they have to deal with online that isn't someone kissing their butts.
1: What do you consider cyber bullying? ... anything with 'cyber' in front of it is evil. Cyber-crime, Cyber-terrorism, Cyborg. See how it works? Cyber. Evil. Sinister technology cannot be reasoned with. 2: What emotional damage can cyber bullying cause that isn't caused by "real life" bullying? Either form can cause emotional damage. The main difference is the ease with which people can join in in the abuse. The extent of it may vary, but the emotional damage is essentially the same. The reputational damage can be very different and somewhat inescapable. 3:: Why do you feel some people bully online? On some level they just resent people being happy, doing their own thing. They want to make people as miserable as they are, preferably more miserable. One way of getting ahead is to push others down, rather than lift yourself up. It can be a waste of time going after secure people, so they usually look out for people with some vulnerabilities. And with internet anonymity, they can hide their own weakness. That's a very good policy. Normally. But someone who bandies around the phrase "grow a pair" is someone who can take it. Clearly he is made of stone. Have you ever found yourself in a situation you didn't know how to deal with? Have you ever made a mistake under stressful circumstances? Sometimes suicide is just a mistake. The wrong way of dealing with the problems you face. Maybe you can't empathise with the kind of torment those kids must've felt, but you can sympathise with their families... right? Well instead of worrying about people having a few nice things to say about these kids when it's too late, you could do something positive to redress the balance. The take-home message here isn't that these kids were holy martyrs to their victimhood, it's that you should reach out to people who find themselves in that position, and not become a party to that kind of abuse.
This entire debate boils down to two things: 1) that everyone has different tolerance levels for emotional and verbal abuse and 2) most people utterly fail to realize this simple fact. Not everyone in the world is the mental equivalent of an adrenaline junkie or member of the Jackass crew. Kudos to you if you can deal with that much crap, but don't expect the entire world to be like you.
One minoota my young cheena. I'm hardly some ded who'll creech at the young lewdies on my lawn, but if they don't have the sharries to treat this cal like the chepooka it is they can go platch for all I care. I don't viddy why it's any more serious now than what you're govoreeting about up there. If they're so oddy-knocky that the pages are their primary way of socialising, then maybe these nazzes need to go run with their shaika and droogies a bit more and get some perspective about who's opinion is actually important. Just 'cause it's something nadsat doesn't mean it still isn't wrong. - Coeloptera (Vellocet or drencrom my ptitsa?)
Bullies thrive in a situation where authority either condones or ignores, aka condoning by proxy, their actions. Not all children are created equal, and the village thats supposed to be raising the children, is encouraging them to become more and more sociopathic, chiefly through lack of wanting to put any effort into it. Bluntly put, helpful individuals who are concerned with their surroundings and exhibit empathy are not good consumers since they will be troubled by things such as exploited labour. But if you make sure they don't care about anything but their own gratification, either through tearing another person down, or foreclosing enough homes to get a bonus.. then they will be more likely to act on their desire for gratification and spend more money. Several individuals in this thread are a perfect example of it. I'm of the opinion that Morals are absolute, but Ethics are objective. Public flogging is the answer to bullying, and it should be implemented with frequency. Even if that is simply doing something as simple as retaliatory strikes, such as the publishing of baby pictures on facebook. The point of that would be to explain to the bullies, that there is always going to be some one bigger, meaner and nastier than they are in the world, and so its best to play nice and keep your head down.
I totally agree with you on #1, but #2 can be flipped around to say: "Not everyone in the world is the mental equivalent of a bowl of jello or member of the Glee crew. I'm sorry you can't deal with any hard times, but don't expect the entire world to be like you." Which is my opinion. (I don't mean that to be as venomous as it may sound, but many people think the opposite of your #2 point.)
