The technology of today has brought a database of unlimited potential to the finger tips of everyone all over the world.
This database is the internet.
The internet has proved an invaluable tool for communication, research, business, and even fun.
But this technology has also invented a new way of hurting people (especially teens) and is much worse than anything we have experienced before.
Teenagers have turned to the internet to intimidate, scare, and hurt their peers.
When I was in high school cyber bullying was just starting to become popular.
Usually when people got in a argument, fight, etc...
, they would work it out face to face.
It was a very rare thing that someone would turn to the internet to hurt someone.
Now though, teenagers are turning to the internet even when there is no problem.
They do it because they think it's funny, or they do it just because they are bored.
It's amazing to me that you would write insults about someone and post it in a place where the whole world can see it.
What ever happened to common decency? Are people really becoming such cowards that they can't deal with their problems in person? I would like to tell you a story of a girl I know who had a cyber bully post derogatory things about her.
For all you cyber bullies out there I want you to realize just how much pain you inflict on people, and for everyone else I want to show you how she dealt with her problem, and what you can do to help yours if you to are a victim.
A few years ago in high school I was friends with a girl named Erin.
She was always made fun off all throughout high school for no good reason like I'm sure many of you have been or are, but dealt with it.
She never let any of it bother her.
One day I asked her how she could take being made fun of all the time.
Her response was "I don't care what other people think of me, it's what I think of me that counts.
After high school I'm never going to have to see these people ever again.
I just keep my eyes on college so I can go to a place where people actually want to learn, and garbage like half the people in this school aren't allowed in.
" These words stuck with me, and I still use the principals behind them to help me in current problems.
Then one day she got in to an argument with another girl who was making fun of her.
They got in to a screaming match in the hallway and had to be separated.
A few days went by and it seemed like the matter was over, but then fliers advertising a blog started to appear around the school.
They were made on regular paper, and contained no information except the blog url.
I never paid any attention to them because I didn't know what they were, and between all my sports practices and homework I didn't really have the time.
In turns out that I should have taken a look at the blog because I might have been able to make a difference.
I didn't though, and a few days later Erin committed suicide.
When I found out I was devastated, and surprisingly so were all the people who had made fun of her all those years.
They didn't want her to kill herself, they were just having fun.
A few days after I heard the news, I heard a rumor that she had taken her life because she was so upset and distraught about some internet blog about her.
That is when I made the connection between the fliers in school, and what had happened to Erin.
I finally got around to going to the blog and was so upset with what I saw.
The girl she got in an argument with had taken obscene pictures of her sleeping, and in the shower, and had posted them on the internet.
The blog also repeatedly made fun of her and used phrases like "she should kill herself" and "no one likes her, wish she was dead, no one would miss her.
" This just drove Erin over the edge, and she did the unthinkable.
She realized that people all over the world had now seen her naked, and read that everyone hates her, and it was just to much.
A few days later the girl who made the blog (I won't use her name for obvious reasons) was arrested.
But, to everyone surprise she was released only having to do 100 hours of community service.
The police said Erin killed herself, it was her choice and the other girl may have pushed her over the edge but what she did is not illegal.
That girl who made the blog got off with just a warning, a slap on the wrist, but she would end up paying a higher price.
A few months later Erins older brother who I played football with killed her.
He was then sent to prison for the rest of his life.
Sounds like something out of book or soap opera right.
Well it really happened, and I am much wiser for it.
I realize just how much damage a cyber bully can cause, and is the reason why I have chosen to write this article.
Now earlier in the article I made the statement that I would show you how to deal with a cyber bully if you to are a victim.
I am a man of my word, so if you have a problem with a cyber bully here is what you should do..
...
1.
Go to the police! In recent years the punishment for crimes like the one above has increased.
If you go to the police the blog can be taken offline, and the person who made the blog will be arrested, and prosecuted.
2.
Contact the blog site To make a blog someone needs to use a blog host.
Usually if you visit the blog the host of the blog will be listed, and will have a way to contact them.
Send an email to the blog host and tell them you found a blog used for bullying another person.
In most cases the blog will be removed in just a few hours after they receive the complaint.
3.
Go to your principal Tell your principal that someone made a blog of you, and is using it to hurt you.
Your principal should then (in most cases) contact the police, contact the blog owners parents, and in some cases the person who made the blog will be expelled from school 4.
Go tell your parents It's not healthy to keep all this hurt and pain to yourself.
You need to talk about it before you fall in to depression and you start to think about doing what Erin did.
If you go to your parents and tell them what happened they can help you emotionally, as well as help you pursue the matter with the police and the school.
This database is the internet.
The internet has proved an invaluable tool for communication, research, business, and even fun.
But this technology has also invented a new way of hurting people (especially teens) and is much worse than anything we have experienced before.
Teenagers have turned to the internet to intimidate, scare, and hurt their peers.
When I was in high school cyber bullying was just starting to become popular.
Usually when people got in a argument, fight, etc...
, they would work it out face to face.
It was a very rare thing that someone would turn to the internet to hurt someone.
Now though, teenagers are turning to the internet even when there is no problem.
They do it because they think it's funny, or they do it just because they are bored.
It's amazing to me that you would write insults about someone and post it in a place where the whole world can see it.
What ever happened to common decency? Are people really becoming such cowards that they can't deal with their problems in person? I would like to tell you a story of a girl I know who had a cyber bully post derogatory things about her.
For all you cyber bullies out there I want you to realize just how much pain you inflict on people, and for everyone else I want to show you how she dealt with her problem, and what you can do to help yours if you to are a victim.
A few years ago in high school I was friends with a girl named Erin.
She was always made fun off all throughout high school for no good reason like I'm sure many of you have been or are, but dealt with it.
She never let any of it bother her.
One day I asked her how she could take being made fun of all the time.
Her response was "I don't care what other people think of me, it's what I think of me that counts.
After high school I'm never going to have to see these people ever again.
I just keep my eyes on college so I can go to a place where people actually want to learn, and garbage like half the people in this school aren't allowed in.
" These words stuck with me, and I still use the principals behind them to help me in current problems.
Then one day she got in to an argument with another girl who was making fun of her.
They got in to a screaming match in the hallway and had to be separated.
A few days went by and it seemed like the matter was over, but then fliers advertising a blog started to appear around the school.
They were made on regular paper, and contained no information except the blog url.
I never paid any attention to them because I didn't know what they were, and between all my sports practices and homework I didn't really have the time.
In turns out that I should have taken a look at the blog because I might have been able to make a difference.
I didn't though, and a few days later Erin committed suicide.
When I found out I was devastated, and surprisingly so were all the people who had made fun of her all those years.
They didn't want her to kill herself, they were just having fun.
A few days after I heard the news, I heard a rumor that she had taken her life because she was so upset and distraught about some internet blog about her.
That is when I made the connection between the fliers in school, and what had happened to Erin.
I finally got around to going to the blog and was so upset with what I saw.
The girl she got in an argument with had taken obscene pictures of her sleeping, and in the shower, and had posted them on the internet.
The blog also repeatedly made fun of her and used phrases like "she should kill herself" and "no one likes her, wish she was dead, no one would miss her.
" This just drove Erin over the edge, and she did the unthinkable.
She realized that people all over the world had now seen her naked, and read that everyone hates her, and it was just to much.
A few days later the girl who made the blog (I won't use her name for obvious reasons) was arrested.
But, to everyone surprise she was released only having to do 100 hours of community service.
The police said Erin killed herself, it was her choice and the other girl may have pushed her over the edge but what she did is not illegal.
That girl who made the blog got off with just a warning, a slap on the wrist, but she would end up paying a higher price.
A few months later Erins older brother who I played football with killed her.
He was then sent to prison for the rest of his life.
Sounds like something out of book or soap opera right.
Well it really happened, and I am much wiser for it.
I realize just how much damage a cyber bully can cause, and is the reason why I have chosen to write this article.
Now earlier in the article I made the statement that I would show you how to deal with a cyber bully if you to are a victim.
I am a man of my word, so if you have a problem with a cyber bully here is what you should do..
...
1.
Go to the police! In recent years the punishment for crimes like the one above has increased.
If you go to the police the blog can be taken offline, and the person who made the blog will be arrested, and prosecuted.
2.
Contact the blog site To make a blog someone needs to use a blog host.
Usually if you visit the blog the host of the blog will be listed, and will have a way to contact them.
Send an email to the blog host and tell them you found a blog used for bullying another person.
In most cases the blog will be removed in just a few hours after they receive the complaint.
3.
Go to your principal Tell your principal that someone made a blog of you, and is using it to hurt you.
Your principal should then (in most cases) contact the police, contact the blog owners parents, and in some cases the person who made the blog will be expelled from school 4.
Go tell your parents It's not healthy to keep all this hurt and pain to yourself.
You need to talk about it before you fall in to depression and you start to think about doing what Erin did.
If you go to your parents and tell them what happened they can help you emotionally, as well as help you pursue the matter with the police and the school.