What is Cyberbullying?

Cyberbullying is when a child, preteen or teen is tormented, threatened, harassed, humiliated, embarrassed or otherwise targeted by another child, preteen or teen using the Internet, interactive and digital technologies or mobile phones. It has to have a minor on both sides, or at least have been instigated by a minor against another minor. Once adults become involved, it is plain and simple cyberharassment or cyberstalking. Adult cyberharassment or cyberstalking is NEVER called cyberbullying.

Direct cyber bullying includes all of cyber stalking’s modes, and then some: (from Officer.com)

• Instant or text messaging harassment. Bullies use these tools the same way they’d use e-mail – to threaten or say hurtful things.
• Password stealing. With the victim’s password, a bully can impersonate the victim, change profile information to include personal or inflammatory language, or use the password to hack the victim’s account.
• Blogs and Web sites. Blogs are free online diaries. They can stand alone or be linked to a Web site. In both cases, a bully might post disparaging information about a victim, or start a blog or site impersonating the victim.
• Digital pictures. Teens may use their phones to take pictures of other teens in the locker room or shower, then e-mail the pictures to friends or even post them online.
• Internet polling. Bullies participate in insulting or degrading polls about a classmate’s physical characteristics or sexual experience.

Another form, cyber bullying by proxy, is more troublesome than direct cyber bullying, because bullies involve people who don’t know what they are getting into. In most cases, cyber bullying by proxy makes it look as if the victim has started trouble, most often when a bully impersonates the victim. The victim’s friends may become angry and shun him; the victim’s parents may punish him; or a bully may even notify the ISP that the victim is a bully, so the ISP takes action against the victim.

One of the most dangerous forms of cyber bullying by proxy involves the bully either pretending to be the victim, or posting the victim’s personal information, in chatrooms and bulletin boards that pedophiles or hate groups frequent. Advertising the victim for sex, or portraying the victim as a racist, can put the victim in significant physical danger.

Who are the bullies?
StopCyberBullying.org identifies four main types of bullies. These bullies are not like “traditional” playground bullies. Moreover, no one group or “type” is more at risk than another to become either a bully or a victim.

1. “Vengeful angels” typically cyber bully teens who have been bullying them or their friends.
2. “Revenge of the nerds” cyber bullies are similar to vengeful angels, though they bully more to have power over others with whom they normally have no power. Unlike vengeful angels, they need others to know what they’re up to.
3. “Mean girls” get together in a group to cyber bully, often for entertainment. Attention feeds their egos (and thus their behavior).
4. “Inadvertent” cyber bullies either don’t know they are doing wrong when they respond to an upsetting message or intend to be “playful” and don’t understand that others could take it seriously.