Piercing Truth Edition 4 - City of Greater Geelong

3
CYBER BULLYING:
Gone are the days wherein the typical
schoolyard bully stood over their cowering victim
initiating the haunting pain that would ruin their
childhood.
We now live in a time of rapid technological
advancement yet it is with this development
that new and possibly even more dangerous
problems concerning teenage bullying have
arisen. So where have the typical bullies gone?
They, instead of facing their victims, are now
merely able to sit behind their computer desk,
orchestrate spiteful, hurtful and unnecessary
pain all the while taking a break from doing their
algebra homework.
This is called cyber bullying.
According to acclaimed website http://
au.reachout.com, Cyber bullying is a form of
bullying which is carried out through an internet
service such as email, chat room, discussion
group, online social networking, instant
messaging or web pages. It can also include
bullying through mobile phone technologies
such as SMS. Spreading rumours online can also
be an extension of this form of bullying.
Cyber bullying is the new way to scrutinise
people and for the perpetrator, the benefits
are obvious. Without seeing a their face,
people are able to escape any feelings of guilt
over spreading rumours about a person. By
way of typed words, which cannot be taken
back, bullies make themselves feel safe while
terrifying and hurting others. The act of bullying,
and especially of cyber bullying is wrong and is
cowardly.
This ugly phenomenon has left victims with
no safe place to hide. Now, not only are
victims being tormented at school or at social
gatherings but are also facing this horrible
reality when they are at home.
Incidents are rapidly rising in numbers, that
is, cyber bullying is steadily becoming a big
problem for youth in Geelong. Police at the
cyber bullying is steadily becoming
a big problem for youth in Geelong.
moment, have started to realise just how
ridiculous this problem has become, forcing
them to raise the issue among young people.
Many schools in the Geelong area have already
been talked to, at both big formal school
assemblies and at more intimate levels in order
to get the main message across: cyber-bullying
is dangerous.
So what happens when this relentless bullying
of an unfortunate victim continues?
Firstly, it is not uncommon for youth to become
depressed or anxious regarding this great issue.
Ongoing bullying could lead to devastating
results. People have been ostracised from
their groups of friends, are gossiped about by
people who don’t even know who they are and
sometimes result to extreme measures when
their depression becomes too hard to handle.