Cyberbullying

All bullying arguments are appeals to emotion, principally guilt and fear. In the fleshspace, they push your emotional buttons through physical prowess and authority. They are at a disadvantage on the internet because they are limited to words. They cannot access your emotions if you don't let them. What a bully does not say reveals his weaknesses. If he had debating skill, he would have posted rebuttal rather than bullying. If he had wit, he would have used it. If he repeats himself, you've seen his entire repertoire. Don't let the bully set the rules of engagement by responding in kind. Attack his weaknesses. I graded this slightly dangerous because bullies can shout down conversation through sheer volume of postings. It usually takes several of them working in concert.

How could I possibly know anything about this??

It's misguided to focus on the 'cyber' aspect of the term cyber-bullying. It's bullying, and that’s the issue that needs to be addressed. Does anyone suggest that access to the mail system should be limited to prevent mail-fraud or telephones turned off because of phone scams? Sure kids are using the internet to be bullies. But if you took it away, those same kids would be conducting their bullying elsewhere. They need to be dealt with as bullies, not internet abusers. Some kids do stupid shit on-line, but at no different rate than you and I were doing stupid shit in the behind the 7-11, or at a friend's house when their parents were out, or at a mall, or in the school yard - I’m pretty sure of that. Your kids are WAY ahead of you in terms of understanding the nature of the internet and the risks associated with it. Instead of telling them what a dangerous place it is, parents should be asking their kids to help them understand what the hell is going on out there. You’ll be as... Read more

There are laws about this, and if you are being bullied on the internet, you need to make it known to the proper authorities to get it taken care of. There are a lot of internet trolls out there that make it main goal in life to make others miserable. Talk to your kids, and tell them that if they are having problems that they can talk to you and get it taken care of. Hell I have all my daughters passwords to her Facebook and email and I have full control of both.

I think this one is definitely dangerous because as Katrinabena and others have said, it is a form of bullying. I think it is really easy when you are thickskinned and more mature to claim "sticks and stones," but the truth is words have always hurt some people. The internet has made bullying more 24/7 because the problem lies in the fact, even if you avoid some of the social media sites yourself and keep your kids off of there, others are reading and posting and that can still cause a child big time problems at school or at play and in some instances even adults as well. One other user stated it should simply be caused bullying and that is true. I know there are a lot of states coming up with laws on this, but this one is tough because it is behind a computer. There is no question it is a real form of bullying though.

We have seen some of this on the RIA, and much is self induced. The remedy is to stay away from the machine.

I'm sorry, but this is a first-world problem. . . Stop acting like kids 'need' to be on the internet. They 'want' to be on the internet - it's not a 'need'. American adults have to start telling kids 'no' about this and other things. I don't IM/text/reveal my identity because America is a nation of overweight, sexually-frustrated, gun-weilding, overmedicated trolls. I write, post, and read things but other than that I don't reveal enough to really put myself in any risk. Kids need to be taught that - or suffer certain consequences. They should stop 'friending' hundreds of nobodies. They should stop texting when they should be studying. . .by allowing kids to relinquish their actual space and privacy we have created a whole new problem. Unplug. Disconnect. I realize it isn't that easy - but it's more than half of the actual solution.

Meh, I've put the smack down on Carl/Dan/Ralph/PBeavr and that weirdo fake Army Ranger guy that tried to bully me on Facebook is a light weight. Granted, kids need to be protected from cyber weirdos, but that doesn't seem to be too tall an order if parents are even a little interested in what their kids are doing online, not to mention all the anti-bully stuff out there in the media and whatnot.

Seriously, if you find yourself mentally affected by this and still have trouble pulling yourself away from internet, then you have a way more dangerous mental problem that will destroy you no matter what.

I happen to believe that cyberbullying is a real threat to people. Not everyone sees the world the same with and some people are very sensitive. It isn't always realistic to say "if you don't like it, stay off of a website" because one's reputation could still be tarnished. I believe if you can't say it to someone's face, it is better to just not say it.

I guess this can be a problem for younger people who are so overly invested in the internet, that what they do there defines them. If it crosses the line and gets physical, then it becomes a another problem. And, yet, since people are so invested in the internet, this type of thing can inflict real pain, the same way that a "ghost" can scare you. All-in-all, it's not real. So, where are the real bullies? The media bullies people. Advertising bullies people. The FDA bullies people. The government bullies people. Environmental whackos bully people. The medical industry bullies people. The latest example of this is the Treasury Department's ploy to make our lives easier by getting rid of written refund checks and replace them with electronic transfer. The hook is that x number of checks get stolen every year. (I do believe that more funds get stolen electronically.) But, the "bullying" aspect to this is that this tactic will force ALL funds through the banking system, which makes tons of... Read more