By: Allyson and Melanie (813)
There are many types of problems that teens go through everyday. But one main problem is cyber bullying. You may ask, what is cyber bullying? Cyber bullying is too harass, threaten or say rude things on the internet to someone. Many people cyber bully to relieve stress and anger out on someone. But they don't know the impact cyberbullying does to a person. That's why in this article, it'll tell you the effects of cyberbullying and what someone can do if they or someone is getting bullied online.
Effects of Cyberbullying
As you may know, cyberbullying is when someone says rude things to someone online. People do this because it's easier to bully online than in person. But many people don't know how cyberbullying can affect a person.
Cyberbullying makes people want to do self-harm, have no confidence in themselves (low self-esteem), and have depression that could lead to suicide. Cyberbullying can also effect someone mentally, emotionally and physically. It can also make people have lower grades and test scores in school, a possibility for someone to drop out of school.
Getting bullied online can also change the way a person acts. Cyberbullying can make someone have self-destructive behavior or talk back to adults. People who bully online usually want to provoke someone else. They want to get a reaction out of them.
A girl shown to be crying over something on her phone.
How to respond to bullies online
- Report them.
You can report an account if they violate the media platform's community guidelines. Reporting them can result the bully to get banned from that platform.
- Mute them.
You can mute the bully, making their responses not show up on your screen. Muting them is the best way to ignore the bully online.
- Block them.
Blocking the bully can prevent them from looking at your profile or chat with you online.
- Document everything.
It's also best to screenshot the chats or posts of the bully online. You can use those screenshots to administration and use them in court.
A girl shown to be stressed by something.
How to help someone after they get cyber bullied
- Tell the person it's not their fault they're getting bullied.
- Give advice.
Giving advice can help the person know what to do next after they get bullied. Consider telling them to talk to a counselor or a trusted adult.
- Cheer them up.
Cheering them up may not be the best solution, but it will help the person feel a lot more better than before.
- Listen and focus on the person.
It's important that you learn what is happening so you know how to help.
- Make sure the person blocks the bully.
To make sure the bully doesn't interact with the person, blocking the bully is the best solution.
A woman helping someone solve her problems.
Sources used:
https://www.boscolegal.org/blog/how-to-stop-online-harassment/