Nearly 42% of kids have been bullied online and almost one in four have had it happen more than once. 25% of middle school and high school students report experiencing bullying at school, while 26.5% have been exposed to cyberbullying. On top of that cyberbullying was associated with a 91% higher rate of suicide attempts.
You might be thinking “How does cyberbullying even happen?” usually people hiding behind a screen are scared or insecure about themselves and take it out on other innocent people. Another occasion where cyberbullying could occur could be peer pressure. For example, a bully could be hanging out with a friend and the friend thinks something is funny to say something, but it could really impact the person being bullied.
If you have been cyberbullied or know someone who is being bullied here on some ways to prevent this…
- Stay calm, the bully’s goal is to trigger you and make you mad.
- Screenshot, take screenshots so that you have proof.
- Shut it down, you can block the bully.
- Support, go report it to a trusted adult or a school counselor.
I interview some students here at CMW lets here what they have to say about cyberbullying/bulling at CMW.
11th Grader Sophia Adams says, “I don’t think it is a huge problem here at CMW, but there are definitely some problems that could be handled better so bulling doesn’t continue to happen.” Student Sophia Hodges exclaims “Cyberbullying is a problem, and it could definitely affect kids academically and socially like in their friend group.”
Next time you think about posting something or saying something that you think is funny, you could even be getting revenge. I want you to think about how it could affect other people.
