Cyberbullying

As technology continues to advance and more and more people every day continually sign up to join social networking sites and join the craze of interactive technologies, so does the amount of vulnerable individuals that come with this latest trend. This is known as Cyberbullying.   Cyberbullying (or online bullying) is using modern communication technology or digital media to deliberately and repeatedly harass, humiliate, embarrass, torment, threaten, pick on or intimidate someone.
Cyberbullying can happen in lots of different ways. Some of these include by mobile phone, text messages, email, internet channels or through social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace. Examples of cyberbullying include sending anonymous threatening emails, spreading rumours online, or setting up a fake social networking account using real photos and contact details. The 2008 youth poll found that cyber bullying is affecting more than 1 in 5 young people. The poll also found that 64% of those aged 15-20 belonged to a social network site such as MySpace or Facebook and that over 22% of users in this age bracket had been harassed or bullied through such mediums.  
In comparison to bullying, cyber bullying adds a new dimension to the consequences of bulling. These include:
• This powerlessness felt by victims with its ability to reach the target 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.   Now a victim of bullying cannot even rely on his or her home as a safe haven from bullying behaviour.
• It can involve harmful material being widely and rapidly distributed to a large audience, for example, rumours and images can be posted on public forums or sent to many people at once
• It can provide the bully with a sense of relative anonymity and distance from the victim, so there is a lack of immediate feedback or consequences.
Some of the effects associated with cyberbullying include:
• Feeling distressed
• Finding it hard to interact and connect in social situations
• Having difficulty...