According to statista.com, a statistics and studies website, it was revealed that 95% of teenagers in the United States have access to the internet while 74% percent used a mobile device to do so. Half of all teenagers that are online have experienced some form of cyberbullying and 10-20% experience cyberbullying regularly (Cyber Bullying Statistics, n.d.). As young people spend more time online, incidents of cyberbullying have started to grow.
Cyberbullying is different from your typical harassment due to the obscurity that the internet can provide. Perpetrators of cyberbullying do not have to own their actions because the internet allows them to remain anonymous. Cyberbullies can use online aliases and other forms of masking their identities to attack their victims. If a victim blocks a particular user for cyberbullying, it can be easy for a cyberbully to create new screen names to re-attack their victims. Cyberbullies believe that they are unknown to the victim and therefore are more likely to say more insensitive things than they would if they were facing their target (Juvonen & Gross, 2008).
Types of Cyberbullying Cyberbullying attacks can be done in several different ways. According to the website of the End To Cyber Bullying Organization, there are 5 common types of cyberbullying, which are:
1. Harassment
2. Flaming …show more content…
Knowing what sites their kids are visiting, and what activities they are participating online (i.e. online gaming), and who they are interacting with is very important. Applying parental controls and family filters can help deter flaming in online gaming and block sites and forums that allow lewd behavior. Another way to monitor a child’s interactions online is for a parent to “follow” or “friend request” their children on social media. It is also important to encourage kids to tell their parents immediately if they, or someone they know, is being cyberbullied, and letting them know that they will not lose their personal electronic devices for confiding in their parents about problems they are having