Putting a foot down on cyber bullying

Social cognition can be something that, unfortunately, could be developed later in life or something simply developed inappropriately. They way one views themselves or others is one way to define social cognition. Coming to terms with who you are is a challenge almost every individual faces. Having the added challenge of someone constantly criticizing you and trying to tell you who they think you are can become very taxing especially on youth. Bullying has taken on a whole new role over the past few years. Not only has it increased in severity and forms of which bullying can take place but also adults have been known to underestimate the damage that can occur from bullying.

Bullying has been taken to a whole new playing field online. Cyber bullying has become increasingly popular in youth today. Bashing someone online on Facebook or Twitter is something that can be seen all too often. Kids get amusement out of publicly humiliating someone without realizing the damage they are causing that individual. Having previously been able to do my internship at a psychiatric hospital I saw too many kids come in with plans to commit suicide because of something that someone else said about them online. It was really hard to sit down with a kid who was intelligent, goal oriented, with a bright future in hand and for them to be broken down because of bullies online telling them they weren’t worth anything. The social cognition of the individuals doing the bulling as well as the victims isn’t accurate. The victims are allowing the bullies form their own opinion of themselves and believing what the bullies tell them to be true. The bullies may see one fault in the victim and only believe that one fault is what defines that person.

Parents and adults should pay more attention to their children and what they are doing and saying online. Although they may not understand the severity that cyber bullying can play, it is crucial to decrease the amount of cyber bullying that is happening between youth. Perhaps getting children more involved in activities that do not require technology could aid in that movement. Restricting their computer time and putting parental controls on certain sites can help as well. The issue of bullying isn’t something that will disappear over night, however there are steps that can be taken to lessen the risk of happening.

 

Reference:

Penn State World Campus (2014) Media Communications Technology – Lesson 12

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