In many instances bullying in general is seen through several stereotypes that we see through television shows, movies, and sometimes the media, and in some cases daily life.
- Tough individuals bully weak individuals
- Males bully more then females
- Popular girls bully nerdy/not popular girls
- Popular/jock boys bully nerdy/not popular boys
Take away the face-to-face interaction and what do we have?
Anonymity
or being anonymous.
Anonymity
or being anonymous.
That's why in many instances, finding a relationship to gender and cyberbullying can be very difficult due to the fact that a person can hid behind technology such as cell phones, or social media sites. Due to this, authors, Li (2005) found in their article, Cyber-harrassment: A study of a new method for an old behavior , that " there are nonsignificant results for cyber bullies and targets, which indicated that across gender, students have similar experiences of and engagement in cyber bullying."
The chart above is from an educational blog titled, "Gender Issue in Cyberbullying." The article displays the differences and similarities both boys and girls experience. It isn't always just the boy or the girl, both have equal parts in cyberbullying. Along with different methods and reasoning's behind doing it as well. I would like to highlight some words form the chart, PHYSICAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL, MANIPULATIONS, TELL PARENTS, VULNERABLE, SUFFERS and of course CYBERBULLY. All of these words have a deeper meaning and effects on anyone. For example physical can relate to the effects a schoolyard bully may have inflicted upon another a boy/girl situation or it may be the consquences of what the victim has inflicted upon themselves boy or girl . You see the media inflates situations reflecting a girl being bullied like the video of Amanda Todd, but it could have been a guy in that same situation. In pursuit of an exact number of guy versus girl situations, not one site had an exact percentage of incidents. And WHY SHOULD IT MATTER? It shouldn't matter who is being bullied or who is the bully. What should be present in defining cyberbullying is the effects it has on the other person.
In the article, "Confronting Cyberbullying And Exploring The Use Of Cybertools In Teen Dating Relationships," the author Antonia Alvarez discussed the intimate relationship of an abandoned girl and a strong influencing young boy. This wasn't your typical strong hold relationship you would expect from the expected abusive relationship. Technology was a big part and a new spin on the use of being cyber bullied. He spied on her and stalked her every breathing moment. However, he didn't stalk her in the same sense you would think, instead, he controlled her through her many accounts such as Facebook and Twitter. She was so controlled that during one instance in the relationship caused many tears and fits. She had a pre-planned no phone event, which he had known about, in which he had called her, and left no message. When she finally turned her phone back on, she tried to call him back, but he had not answered. Well, at this instance, she had broken down. She didn't know what to do with herself. She was lost. You see, he only had to call her once to make her wonder, to make her think she was going to lose him, but in reality that is exactly what he wanted. He didn't want to really leave her, but to put her in a position of absolute surrender. Later in the relationship she encountered another instance. Except at this point, she had broken things off. The only issue now was her dependency upon her various technology outlets. He would try to call her to reestablish the relationship, and she would answer the call. He would bribe her and threaten her, but she still always ended up answering the call each and every time. When asked why she always answered the phone, her response was "I CAN'T NOT ANSWER MY PHONE." She can’t answer her phone, what would make her endure the abusive relationship only to avoid breaking away from her dependency on technology. She had gotten herself into this relationship and couldn't walk away from it because of her dependency?
This is similar to the ABC family's movie Cyberbully, where instead of listening to her mother and shutting the site down, she engaged in the humiliation only making it worse. Why do people engage in activities that will hurt them?
Why do teenagers not listen to the wiser adult? Why can't we pull away? Why can't we put aside our technology dependent society to improve our well being? This goes back to the victim engaging in the activity instead of shutting down the site. The same examples are displayed in both the film and the journal article.
Why do teenagers not listen to the wiser adult? Why can't we pull away? Why can't we put aside our technology dependent society to improve our well being? This goes back to the victim engaging in the activity instead of shutting down the site. The same examples are displayed in both the film and the journal article.