Since it was anti-bullying month this month I decided to do an article on Cyberbullying. Although I had never experienced it myself I had friends who did and unfortunately the number of cases are increasing especially in our own country Ireland.
Cyberbullying is the phenomenon of using cyber technologies and networked spaces to bully weaker individuals. From chat rooms, to social media and email it’s a new and more advanced form of just plain bullying and harassment except it makes it easier for the bully to hide. By using fake profiles or email addresses the bully can disguise him/herself and make it easier for them to attack without being found out. The most frightening thing is that because it takes place online most parents are unaware that their own child is being bullied or that their child is in fact a bully. Although this takes place mostly with children and teenagers it can be found between adults too particularly in the form of blackmail.In the link above is an article from last months The Irish Times with the headline Report shows sharp increase in cyberbullying over past year. Some of the statistics and numbers are quite shocking particularly the ones concerning the parents.
”The report found that while 16 per cent of students admitted to being cyberbullied, only 12 per cent of parents reported being aware their children had experienced online bullying.”
This information is quite worrying in the fact that parents are so unaware. This can also lead us to believe that most parents wouldn’t even realize their children have access to the internet. With all these new gadgets and games coming out every year how are parents suppose to keep track if a child can access the internet with the new PS4 or NintendoDS? Parents need to be more informed by schools and need to even do some more research themselves to keep on top of technology, because whether they like it or not this is the world their children are growing up in.
They need to be informed of parental control online and how to set it up but also of the dangers a child can run into online. I hate to say it but a lot of Irish parents are still clueless of how vast and dangerous the internet can be and have no clue of how they can help to protect their children from these dangers. Children themselves also need to be educated on this subject. Classes on online safety and explaining how the internet works can be helpful on teaching the child things such as like personal safety and not to reveal any personal information online. Follow the link to read more shocking statistics and leave your opinion in the comments section below!
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