I know we have been discussing Cyberbullying a fair amount and I too am extremely interested in this area of Cyberpsych and I happened to come across this article entitle "Cyberbullying Goes to College" on Boston University's website.
http://www.bu.edu/today/2009/04/21/cyberbullying-goes-college
This article really brings awareness to the various populations affected by cyberbullying. It is not just younger adolescents who are committing and suffering from this online abuse. In my opinion, I think this article strongly captures many of the issues associated with this problem. I think it is extremely relevant to our discussions and to us as college students and professors because it focuses on cyberbullying in this type of atmosphere. The article talks about why some people may not think its happening as much in college and among older adults, and goes on to say that its because we are often less likely to come forward and talk about it, and try and deal with it in other ways. Its also hard because, as I am sure many of you have heard of, sites like juicycampus, ratemyprofessor and variations of these gossip sites are all to available and popular among our peers in college and schools nationwide. These sites have turned into nightmares for many students and professors and allow anyone to continue to fuel this cyberbullying movement. Luckily, some sites have been taken down off the net, but many individuals still suffer from the online insults/attacks.
Sorry if I am going on and on, but I feel like this is such a eye-opening article that all of us should read. The part that really hit home for me was hearing the stories from professors and college students who have had their own struggles with this. University administrations and faculty are having to spend a lot of time and energy trying to figure out how to deal with these horror stories. And as much as its easy to think that you can choose to ignore whats being said online, it often is brought up and discussed in daily life apart from online. In a way, its almost impossible to escape the bullying because you still have to hear about it.
Another interesting issue that this article discusses is that while there are many online organizations devoted to raising awareness about cyberbullying and attemtping to prevent and stop it, its still difficult to eradicate this when it is still a new concept and our legal system is trying to figure out how exactly to handle these cases and offenses. Its a completely new type of "crime" if you want to call it that.
Lastly, I think the reason I am most upset by this new type of bullying is because at twenty-one years old I would like to think that most people this age and older know the difference between what is right and wrong, what is acceptable and just flat out cruel and malicious. But, it appears that many dont, or at least choose to ignore it. Society almost expects and accepts this type of behavior and sites continue to keep promoting this and allow for this type of outlet and bashing to occur.
I am curious to hear everyones thoughts on this article or just input in general!?! Anything that was surprising to you?
amanda- this is so interesting! i really learned a lot from leading the discussion on cyberbullying and we still have more to talk about on Wednesday. One of those things was about how this does continue into college; however, I did not really ever think about the problem of students bullying teachers online. Now that I think of it- it would be so easy for this to happen. And like the article said, someone could have worked so hard for their good reputation, clean resume and then all of the sudden have all of that wiped away because of comments on the internet. And then it becomes this battle of my word vs. his/her word... what will people believe? Once those malicious comments are out there it is very hard to take them back, or at least convince people to not think about them.
ReplyDeleteIt is so sad that there is this idea that if you are an older adult you cannot come forward to report this... This is a serious problem that can lead to serious consequences. It is not weak to be affected by this. I hope there is more encouragement to be brave and come forward with experiences of cyberbullying so we can continue to put an end to it. We create this cycle if no one is willing to report it. We almost act like it is ok...And I never really thought about how rate my professors could be so hurtful. They seem to be comments about the class, but I have also read comments that cut right to the professor personally and I know I would hate reading those.
This is a problem. I am glad I am gaining more knowledge on this.
This article really made me sad. Cyberbullying is an ever present issue that kind of gets attention only when something devastating happens and then it is ignored again. For example a coupld weeks ago when the guy killed himself for having his gay sexual encountered posted to facebook -- cyber bullying was paid attention. But now its taken the backburner again. Its really a serious issue and there needs to be more awareness!
ReplyDeleteI went to the website collegeabc?? Kind of like juicy campus and was surprised to see people i knew up there being talked about. I was so offended that I actually commented and said that the person was a nice guy! I dont know how Id feel if I were made fun of online and especially somewhere were you couldnt even comment to defend yourself because you didnt know....