Cyber Bullying & How to Prevent It

 Bullying is a major thing that happens online, at schools, at work,  from kids to adults, bullying can occur. Bullying is to harm, intimidate, or coerce. Many people think bullying doesn’t involve them, but they could have been bullied, witnessed bullying, or were the bully. After talking to a school counselor Mrs.Burns, one of Rio Norte’s counselors she said you can see what bullying is and how we as a school can prevent it. Mrs. Burns talked about how bullying is constant. Constantly making jokes, calling names, leaving others out is bullying.  You putting other people down might be funny to you because you are making others laugh, but the person you’re doing it to might not think it is as funny as you feel.

Cyber bullying is also very common because lots of people are using it and are more confident online than in real life. Mrs. Burns says that online bullying is the most common type of bullying she sees.  She says “it’s easier because it is not face to face,” which is why it is so common. Also the bully can be anonymous, making it harder to find the culprit. For example ship pages can also be a form of bullying. Many people can get uncomfortable being involved. The way people respond to the ships, “Eww, she’s weird for him’ or “No, he’s ugly” can make the people feel less than they really are. That is a very common type of bullying. You sometimes don’t even realize that you are the bully or are being bullied.

Lots of people can be bullied or be a bully without even realizing it. All bullying doesn’t have to be obvious. For example, making group chats without someone, treating someone differently, not inviting someone because they probably won’t find out, is a form of bullying. You sometimes don’t even realize what you’re doing or agreeing to.

It can be hard to realize bullying. Some signs of bullying are constant events. Mrs. Burns says we can prevent bullying by making people realize the difference between from just being mean to actual bullying.I also talked to one of the yard supervisors, Julie. She says that the most common type of bullying she sees is teasing. She thinks that bullying can be prevented if people start  to care about themselves. Bullying is serious and can lead to multiple mental issues, so if you have witnessed bullying or are being bullied there are multiple things you can do. If you have any involvement in bullying you can go to your counselor, or make an anonymous call to the student care line.