Paper Example on Cyberbullying: Can Your Data Be Used Against You?

Introduction

Over the past years, there has been an increase in cases of cyberbullying all over the world. Ranging from embarrassing pictures being shared online to the private message going viral on the internet, bullies have found new ways to harass their victims. The situation is made worse by knowing that everyone has to use the computer or send a text message occasionally. Most people are therefore vulnerable to cyberbullying. Since people are all different, bullies select their victims based on differences such as appearances, personality, and physical strength. By the use of personal data to prey on the victim, cyberbullying has different effects on an individual in, but there are different ways of dealing with it.

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Although cyberbullies cannot be prosecuted in a court of law unless in a severe case, their victims are adversely affected. First, the people concerned may suffer from depression and withdrawals from family and friends, preferring to spend time alone indoors. In a few cases, the victims end up committing suicide since they cannot share their problems with anyone. Secondly, the victims try to avoid going to school or workplaces especially if there is a chance they would interact with the bullies. Instead, they prefer turning to drugs and alcohol abuse to fill the gaps they feel they have in their lives (Nixon 143). Also, individuals suffering from cyberbullying end up changing their personalities sometimes even interfering with their health. Others become secretive, and they would not want anyone touching their laptops and phones (Ciucci 585). While some people would argue that the victims should tell their loved ones or the legal authorities, it is difficult to share what is going on since the offenders hold offensive information that the victims would not want their loved one to see. The people, therefore, end up suffering in silence.

Several methods can be used to deal with cyberbullying. "Once one discovers that their friends or loved ones are being bullied, the first thing to do would be to comfort them" (Patchin 25). The victims should know that they are not on their own, with past experiences on bullying coming handy. If the evidence of the harassment still exists, it would be wise to save it to be used as evidence against the offender. Also, the victim should report the matter to the relevant authorities such as the school authorities if both the victim and the bully go to the same school (Zalaquett 21). Although some cases of cyberbullying may not be easy to notice, appropriate measures should be taken to deal with them once they are visible.

Conclusion

Cyberbullying is a serious problem in our modern society. People should try at all cost to prevent cyberbullying from happening by creating awareness about cyberbullying. However, incase cyberbullying occurs, several steps should be taken to avoid the negative effects; because it will never disappear until something is done. Everybody should be careful when dealing with their phones or personal computers, to ensure the mean individuals do not have a chance to bully them. If we do this, only then can we be sure that our data will not be used against us.

Works Cited

Ciucci, Enrica, and Andrea Baroncelli. "Emotion-related personality traits and peer social standing: Unique and interactive effects in cyberbullying behaviors." Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking 17.9 (2014): 584-590, www.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/cyber.2014.0020

Nixon, Charisse L. "Current perspectives: the impact of cyberbullying on adolescent health." Adolescent health, medicine and therapeutics 5 (2014): 143, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4126576/

Patchin, Justin W., and Sameer Hinduja, eds. Cyberbullying prevention and response: Expert perspectives. Routledge, 2012.

Zalaquett, Carlos P., and SeriaShia J. Chatters. "Cyberbullying in college: Frequency, characteristics, and practical implications." Sage Open 4.1 (2014): 2158244014526721, journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2158244014526721