Do you think bullying is a
problem predominantly reserved for middle school kids? When you hear stories
about bullying, do you identify the sole victim as the child being targeted?
Both of these are common assumptions, but statistics inform us that neither is
completely accurate.
Times have changed, and those changes are changing us.
What we do know about bullies is that they are most likely being bullied
themselves. It is commonly a learned behavior from peers, parents
or both. We also know that bullying is no longer reserved for the schoolyard,
teens or tweens. With the growth of the Internet, bullying is now front and
center online (cyberbullying), and affects users of all ages.
Before we dive into this
phenomenon, I want you to think about how you behave while interacting in
cyberland. If you frequently leave comments on blogs or reply to status updates
and tweets, are your online responses less kind or more judgmental than your
in-person responses might be? Especially if you do not actually know the
person?
We are seeing an increase
in rude or downright cruel online behavior, especially on blogs and Twitter,
which are more anonymous than Facebook. This anonymity seems to give people cyber
balls (similar to beer goggles without the excuse of being drunk) that
they do not possess in a face-to-face situation. If you have deemed yourself
"Judge Judy of the Internet," as my assistant Marie would say, ask
yourself why. What's in it for you? What is the secondary gain of this behavior? How do you feel after you press the
"post" button?
It's time to look at
online interaction as real life, because whether you like it or not, it
is.
