01, Jun, 2022
Why should we worry about Cyberbullying?
Cyberbullying is a form of bullying or harassment done using electronic means. In this age of internet, cyberbullying can affect anyone, but mostly it affects the younger generation the most. As per reports from the last 2 years, more than 80% of cyberbullying victims are under age of 28.
Here are some reasons why we should take cyberbullying seriously.
- India as a country stands 2nd in the global list of cyberbullying.
- 1 out of 8 children online have either experienced themselves or witnessed bullying or harassment online.
- If 50% of children are falling prey to cyberbullying rest 50% are becoming bullies themselves
Causes Mental and Emotional Stress: 19 year old Ankit (name changed) was bullied into paying money to hush his visit to a chat site. This affected his mental wellbeing , his sleep cycle, his relationships and his grades till the time he got help. If not looked into, it is these incidents that can cause people to take extreme steps like suicide.
Mental Harassments Linger: The event of someone’s private pictures being leaked on the internet causes long-term mental trauma as once the pictures/videos are online it is very difficult to get them removed. Threats of morphing pictures can cause equivalent harm. Unlike other forms of bullying, cyberbullying is 24X7 on and the impact is magnifold due to the presence of a wide audience.
Children Especially Girls Are At Risk: Being rushed into the cyber world without appropriate education about the norms of the virtual world, children can fall prey to predators online. They can be influenced, groomed or coerced into doing things against their will. Pay special attention if your ward goes silent suddenly or behaves in a different manner.
Could Lead To Physical Confrontation: Cyberbullies online can be very smart and with a few tactics might be able to find your address and confront you, which is why it is necessary to check the kind of information you divulge online.
Cyberbullying is a real thing and is much more rampant than we would assume it to be, it is best to avoid falling into it by reducing the amount of information given online. Also, one must be apprised of the dangers of the cyberworld and tackle them.