Cyberbullying

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Community Problem Report: Cyberbullying

Melanie Romero
University of Texas at El Paso
October 23rd 2015

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Table of Contents
Cover Page............................................................... Page 1
Table of Contents.Page 2
Community problem report.Page 3
Community problem report..Page 4
Community problem report. Page 5
Community problem report..Page 6
Reference Page.Page 7
Reference page continued.....Page 8

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Social networks are everywhere and they can be used by anybody in the world. People
have access to technology and can use it whenever they would like. A new app gets created every
day which means more access to social media. You can make a profile at any age as long as you
have any kind of technology like an IPad, phone, tablet, or a computer. There are certain people
who use social media to communicate and have a glimpse into their life, but others like to abuse
social media and use it for their own malicious satisfaction. These people are called cyberbullies
and they love to harm, scare or embarrass people. They are people who bully online and can do it
24/7 through a bright screen. Cyberbullies can make their identity known or keep it a mystery for
others. Cyberbullies target people who go to their school, work or anyone who they see in their
life. Anyone can be a cyberbully; it could be your own best friend or a stranger you have never
seen before. These cyberbullies use apps like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat to
harass others.
On the app Instagram you can post pictures, videos, have conversations, leave comments
and hashtags. You can make as many profiles as you want and put whatever name you would like
as well. Cyberbullies take advantage of this feature and make hate accounts. Hate accounts can
be anything from a vulgar profile name to embarrassing pictures of others. The bullies can put
videos making fun of someone with just a click of a mouse or a tap on the screen. The profile is
public for anyone to see. Usually the bully takes pictures from the victims profile and uses their
pictures to post to the hate account. They then put rude captions and hashtags for the world to
see. Another way the bully can take advantage of the apps features is simply commenting on a
picture of one of their followers. You can write whatever you want without the app blocking
what you say. If the bullies follow them they can tag them in the pictures they posted so the
victim can see what is being said about them. Cyberbullies look for a reaction and get

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satisfaction from hurting you mentally. They do not just put

one picture up; they put multiple pictures and sayings over
and over to get into your head. Anything they can do to hurt
you they will do and will not stop for anything.
Cyberbullying can affect anyone from the young age
of 7 to the age of 20 and over. The effects that cyberbullying
leaves on the victim can be scarring. The victim has a whole
new perspective on life when they get bullied. They no longer see the happiness in life instead
they fear for their health and have many problems. Anxiety, depression, weight change, low selfesteem, poor mental health, hopelessness and even death is felt when you are cyberbullied. When
a person is cyberbullied they feel like they did something wrong and wonder what actions they
did that caused them this humiliation. They feel like they are the problem and the bully is
pointing out things that are really wrong with them. The first signs of being bullied are mood
change; they react to everything in a snap. The victim has such high anxiety they cannot control
how they act. Weight gain or loss is a physical change that anyone can notice within the person.
Drifting away from family, friends and schoolwork starts to occur and worries loved ones. They
are not the same person anymore they are physically and mentally drained from the bullying. 9
times out of 10, the victims hide the fact they are being bullied. They fear if they tell anyone at
all about whats going on the bullying will continue to get worse. Since most of the time they do
not tell anyone about the threats and nasty comments towards them, the consequences of
cyberbullying get worse in a short amount of time. 1 in 10 kids under the age of 13 thought about
suicide to escape the bullying. 1 in 5 kids committed suicide due to bullying which let to 4,500
kids suicides in a year.

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85% of people in 2015 are currently or have been cyberbullied this year. Many things
have been done to prevent or aid in bullying. There are hotline numbers to call to report a bully
and talk to someone so you could get help. The representatives of these hotlines are non-profit
organizations that have all the help you can get and more. Victims can block the hate accounts
and the bullies profile on social media. There are report buttons to report any rude comments,
pictures and videos. The best way to stop cyberbullying is ignoring the bully and not reacting to
what they have posted. If you do that they do not get any satisfaction thus the bullying stops.
Taking screenshots of the comments or posts made by the bully can be printed out and given to
the school to take action. Always talking to someone you trust helps you air out what you are
feeling and get a sense of relief. It lets those loved ones stay involved and be there for you if
anything does happen. Threats made to you can be taken to higher authority like the police
where you can take legal action. If you are on social media and you see someone being teased
take a chance and step into the situation to help the victim in need. It could save their life in the
long run and make them feel secure. About 95% of people have avoided these situations and just
observed online the bullying instead of helping out. Protect yourself by making your accounts
private and not sharing personal information. Prevention is key when it comes to cyberbullying
and anything that can prevent it you should do. In schools, principals are talking to students
about bullying and are trying to get the message across that being a bully is not a good thing.
There are programs and clubs where you can participate in to help people who are being bullied.
Counselors are becoming more involved and talking to students about bullying online. Parents
should be involved in the childs life and notice anything different.
Social media is everywhere and is not going away anytime soon. It is out in the world for
people to connect and share pictures and videos of their life. Not everybody uses social media for

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good things. They use it to humiliate people and break them apart. These cyberbullies have no
feelings and have no mercy on anybody. The people doing these things cause victims to not be
themselves anymore. It psychologically hurts them and makes them vulnerable to further
harassment. This leads to substance abuse and death in extreme cases. Cyberbullying is a
community problem that affects everybody and it needs to be stopped. More prevention and
talking about the situation needs to be implemented in schools and in families. Kids need to
know the difference between messing with each other and bullying somebody. Social media apps
such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter need to put stricter rules and make
punishments for cyberbullying. They need to make it a message that cyberbullying is bad and
that there will be consequences if anyone does it. If these ideas are done I feel that cyberbullying
and deaths would decrease all across the world. There would not be a fear in the world and this
would not be a problem anymore.

References:

Cyberbullying Research Center. (2013). Cyberbullying on Instagram. Retrieved from:

www.cyberbullying.org/cyberbullying-on-instagram/
Gordon, S. (2014). 8 Ways kids are using Instagram to bully. Retrieved from:
www.bullying.about.com/od/Cyberbullying/fl/8-Ways-Kids-Are-Using-Instagran-toBully.htm

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Cyberbullyhotline. (2013). Effective Cyberbullying prevention strategies. Retrieved

from: www.cyberbullyhotline.com/blog/effective-cyberbullying-prevention-strategies/
Connect Safely. (2013). Tips to Help Stop Cyberbullying. Retrieved from:

www.connectsafely.org/tips-to-help-stop-cyberbullying/
Zande, I. (2015). How to prevent and stop cyberbullying. Retrieved from:

www.kidpower.org/library/article/cyber-bullying/
Will, J. & Clayburn, C.(2012). The Psychological Impact of Cyberbullying. Retrieved

from: www.universitybusiness.com/article/psychological-impact-cyber-bullying
Palmeri, J. (2011). When Cyberbullying Victims Cant Escape. Retrieved from:

www.steinhardt.nyu.edu/appsych/opus/issues/2011/spring/cyberbullicide
American Osteopathic Association. (2015). Cyberbullying and its effect on our youth.
Retrieved from: http://www.osteopathic.org/osteopathic-health/about-your-health/healthconditions-library/general-health/Pages/cyber-bullying.aspx

Psychalive. (2009). Emotional, Physical or cyber: Bullying hurts. Retrieved from:

www.psychalive.org/emotional-physical-or-cyber-bullying-hurts/

No Bullying.(2015). Cyberbullying Statistics 2014. Retrieved from:

www.nobullying.com/cyber-bullying-statistics-2014/

Larid, S.(2012). Cyberbullying: Scourge of the Internet. Retrieved from:

www.mashable.com/2012/07/08/cyberbullying-infographic/#DRLkn_Pp6zq0