Cyberbullying
By: Marisa Barrera
Cyberbullying, what does it mean to you? There are plenty of people that abuse social networking and bully people everyday. There are some people who are the victims of cyberbullying and have to deal with their comments and posts. This is not okay. Teens commit suicide because of the lasting effect these posts have. No one should be made to feel this way, cyberbullying is not a victimless crime.
The School Crime Supplement reports that 6% of students are being cyberbullied. People who are cyberbullied are more likely to do drugs and alcohol, skip school, and be bullied in person. Usually, kids who are bullied are afraid to talk about it. If you or a friend is being bullied, here are somethings you can do to stop it.
How to Prevent Bullying:
Make sure that at school you are creating a safe environment for the kids around you. Bullying happens when bullies feel like someone is insecure and vulnerable. Cyberbullying is when kids use social media to abuse other kids. Negative posts, comments, are all apart of cyberbullying. If you see someone cyberbullying someone else, you need to either stop it or tell a trusted adult. If you are a bystander to bullying, there is no shame in standing up to someone. Bullies need to know that it is not okay that they hurt other people.
Talking About Bullying:
Victims of bullying are usually afraid to open up because they don’t want to expose the bully and get hurt again. If you or a friend our being bullied, its okay to talk about. They only way that teachers or a trusted adult can help you is if you tell them what happened.
The Impact:
Bullying can affect teens and children for their whole lives. It can lead to suicide, drugs and alcohol. Adrian Alaveres was a high school student who committed suicide after being bullied in Austin, Texas. He posted on Facebook the day before that he was going to kill himself and no one responded. Don’t let his fate become someone else’s.
If you want more info on bullying, visit www.stopbullying.gov
