STEP 2 - IDENTIFY PROBLEM AND PROBLEM ANALYSIS

 

What : What is the problem/ issue ( vishnu)

Why : Why or reason for the issue (root cause) （felicia)

How : How the problem happened (aizu)

Where : Where was cyberbully happened (hanani)

When : When was cases cyberbully started getting worst (ikhwan) 

WHAT IS THE PROBLEM /ISSUE ?

            Today we are all wired to the web and technologies. The world that once couldn't imagine the possibility to talk to a person in a different country while sitting at home, now can interact with a person and communicate with them as they are talking face-to-face. The web opened the world of unique opportunities and possibilities, as well as new dangers. In fact, education has become more accessible and widespread than ever before because of the web. From the use of digital textbooks to getting an online degree, more classroom functions and student experiences are entering into online space, unfortunately bullying were part of this. Even though, the web has brought many great things to us, there are people who use it with evil intentions, and moreover bullying has existed since before the start of the web.

            As reported by 'Merriam-Webster Dictionary’, cyberbullying was first used in 1998. Which is define as the “electronic posting of rude messages about a person which is done anonymously”. While 'Stopbullying.gov' says “bullying that takes place in digital devices such as smartphones, computers, and tablets”, whereas the 'Cyberbullying Research Center' describes as an “intentional and repeated abuses through the use of electronic devices.” When an act of cyberbullying is out of control, it can spread false information about the victim or expose their personal information to illegal or indecent sites such as sex trafficking sites. These online verbal abuse are difficult to delete completely because so many people watch and spread the information at the same time. This serious social problem can spread widely in a short period of time. In short, cyberbullying is a repeated action which is targeted at scaring, angering or shaming a person. Such as :

• Spreading lies about or posting embarrassing photos of someone on social media.

• Sending hurtful messages or threats via messaging platforms.

• Impersonating someone and sending mean messages to others on their behalf.

• Pra​​nking : Repeated hang ups, anonymous, mocking or threatening phone calls.

• Image Shar​​ing : Forwarding or sharing unflattering or private images without permission.

• Sexually Explicit Images : People of any age, who forward or share images of a sexual nature of a person under 18 need to be aware that this is a criminal offence (child pornography) that may result in prosecution.

• Text and Em​​ail : Sending insulting or threatening text messages or emails.

• Personal Onli​​ne Information: Publishing online someone's private, personal or embarrassing information without permission, or spreading rumours online.

• Identity Th​​​​​eft : Assuming someone’s identity online and negatively representing them in a way that damages their reputation or relationships.

• Hate Sites : Creating hate sites or implementing social exclusion campaigns on social networking sites.

 

WHY / REASON FOR THE ISSUE (ROOT CAUSE) OF CYBERBULLYING ?

            Like the quote goes, “Blowing out someone else’s candle doesn’t make yours shine brighter.” However, the cyberbullying issue still keeps increasing and getting even worst. What is actually the reason or the root cause of this cyberbullying? As technology becomes more and more advanced, the trend of bullying had changed from real face to face bullying to online bullying. One can be bullied no matter where they are and where they from. Based on the McAfee study, the main cause of being cyberbullied is caused by their appearance (72%) while other respondents claimed that they are being bullied because of their race or religion (26%), and sexuality (22%). We know that we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover and it is a  shock when we look at the causes of cyberbullying.

 

            What is the other cause that leads to cyberbullying? First of all, a lack of empathy. When someone types a comment that hurts others, they just sit in front of their computers or handphones to type. Some even never meet the person they bullied in real life. We can’t know and see a person’s feelings and emotions when they are being bullied. Many cyberbullies think that it is fun and make them feel powerful. Secondly, they think that the victims deserve to be bullied. Sometimes cyberbullying can also happen because of differences in opinion. This problem will never solve if we did not respect each other opinions. One man’s meat is another man’s poison, you might not agree with somebody’s opinion but you should respect his opinion. Boredom can become a pain. Once it becomes an addiction to bullies others, he might hunt down more and more people through the internet and this causes the number of victims to increase. Another cause is self-loathing. Studies show that there is a connection between the previous victims and the current cyberbullies. When the victims are being bullied they might want to revenge back. This causes cyberbullying to become an endless issue. 

 

HOW CYBERBULLYING HAPPENED ?

In a piece entitled "RiskFactors", Stop Bullying provides five main reasons why people are bullying others like problems with popularity, family problems, frustration, influence or misunderstandings about violenc. This federal website also identifies two common kinds of intruders. One is popular children who view bullying as some way to remain popular and robust, and other socially successful teens who believe their acts of torture will help them adapt to society. Meanwhile, victims is also humiliated because of status, sexual orientation, unusual appearance, or low self-esteem.

Even so, these are several other reasons for cyberbullying. The first and most important factor that makes online bullying. Since offenders do not face the victim directly while they are in acting, because cyberbullying generally does not require courage. On other hand, since the first occurs in the a virtual world where people's true identities are often hidden, this raises a the general misunderstanding among the perpetrators that they would not be arrested, prompted them to do more online bullying. Also the second reason given by the delete cyberbullying is that intruders usually do not know the effect of their actions. Therefore, in some cases, they are almost unaware of the severity of the problem. In fact, Mishna et al in their 2010 study emphasized that many cyberbullying participants find the event funny, popular, and great. The description issued by cyberbullying is a social pressure. This shows that some actors consider their actions normal or acceptable, especially with the encouragement of their peers.

WHERE CYBERBULLYING HAPPENED ?

As technology is now evolving according to the era of modernization, there is no denying that cyber bullying can occur among today's social media users. Nowadays more and more cyber bullying is happening on social media because they feel they believe they are safe behind a screen. In other hand, they think that they can say or post whatever they wish without think the consequences. As the numbers of social media platforms have grown, so that the cyberbullies take the opportunity to bullying others without think what they feel.              

For the example of where the cyberbullying happened is on instant messaging where we most of the teens are using the texting platform to contact with each other’s. With texting this cyberbullying can happened without we realize it. It’s also can be even more dangerous for teens because its one of the way for cyberbullying take advantages. For them, a message that is not known or can not be tracked can be a platform for them to send messages to their victims and disrupted.

 

            Based on Department of Health and Human Services, 71% of teens have profiles on multiple social media sites. From this fact, bullies can easily post an embarrassing or personal photo , sending images, message to their victims without showing who are they actually because there are using the fake account. They believe that they can hide their actions from their parents, teacher and other adults. So it's important to monitor their social media, so they can avoid doing the bad things.

  

WHEN WAS CASES CYBERBULLY STARTED GETTNG WORST ?

Based on my research about cyberbullying, according the Merriam Webster Dictionary cyberbullying first used in 19998 and hit it’s stride in the mid 2000s when smartphone became the newest piece of technology. Teens could now share text messages and photos with unprecedented ease. An 18 year old named Jessica Logan killed herself after her boyfriend sent nude photos of her to other teenagers in at least seven Ohio High Schools. Logan was then relentlessly cyberbullied through Myspace and text messages. A year later, in a nearly identical case a 13 year old girl named Hope Sitwell killed herself after her boyfriend sent a nude photos of her to other students in six high schools in Florida. Both deaths resulted in lawsuits against the schools as well as new state cyberbullying laws.

Today, cyberbullying occurs on countless social media platforms and apps. A 10 second Snapchat post can jump platforms and then go viral on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter in a matter of hours. Anyone in the world can view and comment on public videos posted in Youtube. In 2010, a Rutgers University student named Tyler Clementi jumped off the George Washington Bridge after his roommate live streamed a video of Tyler Clementi kissing another man on Twitter. A federal cyberbullying law passed in 2012 bears his name. That same year, a Canadian teenager named Amanda Todd killed herself a month after posting a video entitled “ My story: Struggling, Bullying, Suicide, Self-harm” to Youtube. Todd’s video viewed more than 17 million times explained how a stranger convinced her to show her breast on camera and then blackmailed her with these photos. The stranger posted the picture on social media and used it as the profile picture for fake account he used to befriend Amanda Todd. A week after her death, Canada began drafting national antibullying legislation. These cases illustrate how cyberbullying continuously evolved with time and technology. It’s imperative for families and friends to recognize sign of cyberbullying and self harm and give much needed to support the victims.

Result of group discussion:

Video Links :

 References:

1.      Cyberbullying Research Center 2016, ‘Summary of Our Cyberbullying Research’ (2004-2016), viewed 6 January 2017, http://cyberbullying.org/summary-of-our-cyberbullying-research

2.      Delete Cyberbullying n.d., ‘Why do people cyberbully?’, viewed 11 January 2017, http://www.deletecyberbullying.org/why-do-people-cyberbully/

3.      Office of the Children’s eSafety Commissioner n.d., ‘Cyberbullying’, viewed 6 January 2017, https://www.esafety.gov.au/key-issues/cyberbullying

4.   Emma. (2018, January 25). Where Does Cyberbullying Happen? Retrieved from Learn Safe: https://learnsafe.com/where-does-cyberbullying-happen/

5.   Chu, M. (2020). dataoverhaulers. Retrieved from The Origin of Cyberbullying + 5 Ways to Identify and Prevent It: https://dataoverhaulers.com/origin-of-cyberbullying/

6.   wikipedia . (n.d.). Retrieved from Cyberbullying: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberbullying

7.     University, M. (2020). Maryville University. Retrieved from What Is Cyberbullying? An Overview for Students, Parents, and Teachers: https://online.maryville.edu/blog/what-is-cyberbullying-an-overview-for-students-parents-and-teachers/

8.   (2020, September 17 ). Retrieved from https://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/programs/bullystoppers/Pages/cyberbullyingcampaign.aspx

9.   Mercy Agbai, S. B. (n.d.). UNICEF. Retrieved from Cyberbullying: What is it and how to stop it: https://www.unicef.org/end-violence/how-to-stop-cyberbullying

10. PAUL. (2014-2020). heimdal security. Retrieved from Cyberbullying: Facts, Statistics and How to Stop and Prevent It: https://heimdalsecurity.com/blog/how-to-stop-and-prevent-cyberbullying/

11. Mitchell, D. A. (2013- 2020). sossafety magazine. Retrieved from THE REAL CAUSES OF CYBERBULLYING AND HOW TO PREVENT IT: https://sossafetymagazine.com/bullying/the-real-causes-of-cyberbullying/