Photo credit: Verywell Family
Cyberbullying is bullying a person online through electronic or digital gadgets and technologies. Cyberbullying can happen anywhere online, it could be on social media, dating sites, gaming platforms, and even through SMS.
It can occur in many different forms, it could be by threatening a person, forcefully making someone do what they don’t want to do, and spreading false information about a person. Cyberbullying comes in many forms but the main aim and objective of the bully is making a person commit an action they don’t want to.
What is cyberbullying?
Cyberbullying is an intentional act done by a person consciously to inflict pain on somebody else. Why you may ask? There are a lot of reasons as to why this happens but the most common reasons are to exact revenge, inflict pain, and to make a person suffer. The location for cyberbullying is online.
Effects of cyberbullying
The effects of cyberbullying range and vary from one person to the other, as one mind may be stronger than the other, or a person stronger than the other. The evident effects of cyberbullying can manifest in forms such as depression, anxiety, fear, loss of appetite, and even jumpiness. There are no specific characteristics or traits that make people suffer from bullies, as even the strongest and smartest can become victims of bullying.
Why do people do it?
Human nature is complex, so there is no specific reason that hits the hammer on the head, and fully explains why bullies do what they do. Some bullies bully for fun, to get money or just to inflict pain on other people. Some bullies do it to make other people experience the pain they felt when they were bullied. Like said human nature is complex, so reasons vary according to each bully.
How do people do it?
Cyberbullying is mainly associated with activities that are done online, so basically any type of bullying that is done online is cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is conducted in multiple ways online and some of them are through abusive posts, rude texts, bad tweets, defamatory words, and posts.
What to do when bullied
Sometimes when people face or go through cyberbullying they tend to shrink into a shell and even go as far as distancing themselves from society. But it’s not their fault that they went through such horrible experiences, so they don’t have to hide from society or make themselves suffer. Here are a few things to do to overcome the pain of cyberbullying
- Tell or talk to someone close
- Walk away from the bully, but if you can’t do it alone ask someone to help you
- Report the bully to the police
- Block the bully
When dealing with bullies online, it is important to note that most of them just make empty threats and they can’t do anything to you. But to feel safe and secure you should report to the authorities so they can put an end to the bully.
Written by Dike Ijeoma
