Cyber Bullying
Cyber Bullying a Growing problem.
I am writing this essay as I have been extremely moved by the recent suicide of a teenage girl in Ireland. Erin Gallagher a 13 year old girl from Donegal took her own life because of vicious online bullying. Her recent suicide adds to the growing number of teenage suicides not just in Ireland but worldwide that have been caused by bullying and cyber bullying or a combination of both. The issue of cyber bullying is something that needs to be addressed immediately both in the home and in schools. UNICEF carried out a study on bullying in Ireland and the results were staggering to say the least. 55% of children questioned admitted to being bullied in one form or another (Changing the Future, 2010). This essay will set out to define bullying and talk about the different types of bullying concentrating on the more recent problem of online bullying. With the growth of the internet since the 1990’s there has been a massive increase in the ways in which people can be bullied. The power of the internet has made it increasingly easier to attack and abuse people and the internet also provide people with the ability to hide behind a pseudonym appearing anonymous. This essay will also focus on what supports are in place for victims of bullying and similarly on what is being done to raise awareness and educate children and adults alike. Preventing bullying and cyber bullying is the only way to really stamp out this issue once and for all and later this essay will examine what prevention methods have been implicated and introduced to combat this ever increasing worldwide phenomenon.
Defining Bullying:
Bullying can be defined as an aggressive behaviour that causes intentional harm, is often repetitive, and usually involves an imbalance of power (Olweus cited in Jose et al 2012). There are many different variations on the definition of bullying but they all have common factors. Barnardos defines bullying on their website as: “Bullying is
I am writing this essay as I have been extremely moved by the recent suicide of a teenage girl in Ireland. Erin Gallagher a 13 year old girl from Donegal took her own life because of vicious online bullying. Her recent suicide adds to the growing number of teenage suicides not just in Ireland but worldwide that have been caused by bullying and cyber bullying or a combination of both. The issue of cyber bullying is something that needs to be addressed immediately both in the home and in schools. UNICEF carried out a study on bullying in Ireland and the results were staggering to say the least. 55% of children questioned admitted to being bullied in one form or another (Changing the Future, 2010). This essay will set out to define bullying and talk about the different types of bullying concentrating on the more recent problem of online bullying. With the growth of the internet since the 1990’s there has been a massive increase in the ways in which people can be bullied. The power of the internet has made it increasingly easier to attack and abuse people and the internet also provide people with the ability to hide behind a pseudonym appearing anonymous. This essay will also focus on what supports are in place for victims of bullying and similarly on what is being done to raise awareness and educate children and adults alike. Preventing bullying and cyber bullying is the only way to really stamp out this issue once and for all and later this essay will examine what prevention methods have been implicated and introduced to combat this ever increasing worldwide phenomenon.
Defining Bullying:
Bullying can be defined as an aggressive behaviour that causes intentional harm, is often repetitive, and usually involves an imbalance of power (Olweus cited in Jose et al 2012). There are many different variations on the definition of bullying but they all have common factors. Barnardos defines bullying on their website as: “Bullying is
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