There is no doubt that there are many parents out there who have asked what is cyber bullying?
Cyber bullying is a form of bullying where one child or group of children will target another child through the use of interactive technology such as computers, internet and mobile cell phones.
Cyber bullying should not be confused with cyber harassment and cyber stalking which is when adults are involved.
There are many different methods which can be used in the process of cyber bullying and the only limit is down to the child’s imagination and access to technology.
There are two types of cyber bullying, direct cyber bullying and cyber bullying by proxy. Direct cyber bullying involves messages sent direct to your child while cyber bullying by proxy involves the bully possibly using others to carry out the bullying.
Here we take a look at those two types of cyber bullying to help you better understand what is cyber bullying?
Types of Direct Cyber Bullying.
Instant Messages / Text Messages.
- Kids send nasty, hurtful and cruel texts messages, emails or instant messages directly to the victim.
- In today’s world of computers it is very common for children to have social gatherings on line through the use of instant message services or social networks. Most of these networks and services a system where users can report other users for inappropriate behaviour. Many children fall victim to cyber bullying when other kids gang up and falsely report a child for inappropriate behaviour regardless of whether or not it happened. This is done in an attempt to get one child banned from the service and can cause considerable distress to the child.
- Sometimes a bully will create a fake profile on an instant messaging service or social network so that they can impersonate the victim of cyber bullying. Once they have the fake profile the bully will go about saying and doing nasty things to get the victim into trouble.
- Cyber bullying can often take the form of what is known as text wars. Text wars involve many children ganging up against one child and sending 1000’s of texts and instant messages. Not only can these messages be of a threatening nature they can often consist of inappropriate images of an adult nature.
- It is also common practise when it comes to cyber bullying that the victim receives death threats via text messages and instant messages.
Stealing Passwords.
- Cyber bullying can involve one child stealing another child’s password to gain unauthorised access to email, social networks and instant messages.
- Once a password has been stolen it can be used to change the victim’s online social profile to show inappropriate and false information.
- A stolen password can be used to lock the victim out of their own online accounts.
Blogs.
- Blogs are online journals that any internet user can setup. They can be used to write nasty things about another child or can be created and written as if it is supposed to be the victim who is writing the blog.
Websites.
- Websites are becoming increasingly used in cyber bullying. They are often used to post personal information about the victim on the internet.
- Websites that are created and used for cyber bullying often display personal information about a child and can include photographs which puts the child at considerable risk. A common tactic that is used in cyber bullying is when the bully will create a website offering adult services along with the victim’s cell phone number. This results in the victim receiving 1000’s of phone calls.
Sending Photos via Email and Mobile Cell Phones.
- Since the introduction of camera phones it has become increasingly common for nasty photos to circulate as a form of cyber bullying.
- Photos are often taken in the locker room and circulated.
- Photos can be photoshop edited to appear inappropriate and humiliate the victim.
- Sometimes children can be manipulated into letting certain types of photos to be taken then are bullied because the images are circulated.
Internet Polling.
- This is where a bully will create a voting poll on the internet. An example of a poll which can be classed as cyber bullying could be where one child asks others to vote on whether another child is more attractive than a farm yard animal.
Interactive Gaming.
- Computer games have come a long way and in today’s world children can use the internet to connect play games together across video game networks. Cyber bullying across such services usually involve several children ganging up within a video game against one child, trying to get a child banned from a video game service or not allowing one child to join in on the game. In a sense such service becomes a kind of virtual online playground where standard types of bullying exist online.
Sending Pornography and Junk Mail.
- In cyber bullying sometimes one child will give out another child’s email address or other online contact details so that they receive large quantities of junk mail, spam and pornographic messages.
Types of Cyber Bullying by Proxy.
Cyber bullying by proxy can be a lot more difficult to understand than cyber bullying which is direct.
Posing as Someone Else.
- One or more children will create fake online profiles to attack and bully another child. This way it can be very difficult to know who is actually doing the bullying which can increase the levels of distress for the victim.
- It has been known for children to pose as adults to carry out the bullying which can be extremely dangerous if the adult is a real person.
If you are concerned about cyber bullying and your child please check out our article on how to stop and prevent cyber bullying.
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