Stand Up Against Cyberbullying

Sad news. One more death due to online activities.

I remember as a young boy I enjoy playing football (or soccer in North American contexts). A few of us will come together to form two teams. Sometimes, it will be divided on the basis of class names. Other times, it will be based on ethnicity, nationality, or sometimes in random ways. We always have fun kicking the ball around, scoring goals, and cheering our own team. On one of those days, a tall bully a few grades older will invade the pitch, kick the ball far away, and taunt us little ones. We can do nothing about it. He is a mean bully.

I remember asking myself why such weirdos exist. Actually, weirdo is too nice a term. Why then do such nincompoops ever exist! Go pick on people your own size!

A) The New Media for Bullying: CyberBullying

Fast forward thirty years, and I see that bullying on the pitch has moved on to a new platform. The bullying is the same, but the medium has evolved from offline to the online world. With the ubiquitous Internet and social media, it has become very easy for all people to get onto the world wide wide at the click of a button. Software has become so easy to use, intuitive to understand, that young children are unwittingly putting numerous photos and their own personal information online for anyone to see. Friends see it. Teachers sometimes know it. Parents may even peek it. In such an open space, bullies lurk.

This week, one girl becomes a sad case of cyberbullying that begins with cyberstalking or online threats. Using her own photos against her, one anonymous guy threatens her with bullying. Last month, Amanda Todd, a teenager from Port Coquitlam, posted a video of her "hell," with music on the background and flipping little notes online, she described her journey of being bullied, humiliated, and ostracized, that led her to changing school, taking antidepressants, counseling, and even contemplating suicide. She even created a special video on cyberbullying. Two days ago, Amanda Todd was found dead in her home. She took her own life.

A Facebook page has been setup to remember Amanda Todd.

B) We Need To Stand Up Against All Bullying, Especially Cyberbullying

We need to stand up against cyberbullying. We need online vigilantes who are constantly on a lookout for any acts of bullying. Things like speaking out against bullying.

• The exerting the power of anonymity and using threats on vulnerable persons. (If you are man or woman enough, show yourself!)
• Unfair comments that are without base.
• Using someone's private information against that person. (Hello! What's private remains private.)
• Counter each act of bullying with warnings and advice. (Don't let the bullies steal all the limelight)

In an online world, rules remain the same in many ways. Behind every posting is not just a digital piece of data. It is a person. It is a person who deserves to be treated fairly and with dignity. Our likes or dislikes of that person do not necessarily define who or what that person is.

Jesus teaches us the golden rule of relationships.

"So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets." (Matthew 7:12)

You don't have to be a Church goer to practice it. You do not even need to profess your faith before you work it out. The teaching applies to all. After all, this helps us to be better people. Why not, folks?

C) We Are What We Feed

A story was told of an old man telling a story about human nature to his little grandson.

Grandpa: "You know, in every person, there are two animals inside, one gentle and the other ferocious."
Child: "Grandpa, what animals are they?"
Grandpa: "One is a lamb, and the other is a wolf."
Child: "Oh. Tell me who will win, grandpa?"
Grandpa: "The one we feed."

We are what we feed upon. William Butler Yates once said, "We had fed our hearts on fantasy, the heart's grown brutal from the fare." If we feed on fairy tales all the time, our perspective of life may take on similar expectations. Likewise, if we feed on violence and online activities that feed our fleshly desire for power and control, we will grow into people that mimics our online behavior.

In an age of social media, technology use is not going to go away anytime soon. It may never go away. What is needed now is to draw up rules of engagement. Better still, instill in people when they are young the right way to use technology. This is a task for all teachers, parents, leaders, and all who are concerned for the future of our nations.

conrade

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Links to Resources against Cyberbullying

• If in BC, call 1-800-SUICIDE or go to this website.
• Stop Cyberbullying (link)
• CBC article on cyberbullying (link)