Cyber Bullying in Mass Media
The internet can reach a worldwide audience and it has made it easier for people to communicate from around the world. Internet has given a way to communicate or broadcast news, and other types of information worldwide. With so many advancements in technology people tend to abuse and misuse it. People tend to blame technology for the ways it’s used against others. Violent behavior has been around longer than technology. This paper will look at the link of cyber bullying in mass media.
As technology grows so do the ways people abuse others with the use of technology. With so many advancement in technology social networking sites is a huge advancement. Social networking sites superseded the email sites on the net. According to the textbook, “These communities are often defined by common interests such as hobbies, professions, or schools, but as the name suggests, users usually visit them to socialize; once there, however, users can gravitate toward groups, more specific categories of interest-bound socializers.” (2012, p.271) Some of these social media networking sites are; Classmates, Myspace, Facebook, and Twitter. Many of these social networking sites are mainly used by teenagers. With technology growing at a fast pace teenagers have access to this entire social networking site through many plethora of technology devices. “A decade ago, technology had not advanced to the point where cyber bullying was even an issue. Times have changed, however, and, unfortunately, kids are keeping pace with the changes much more readily than adults.”(Kowalski, Limber, Agatston. p.41-42) Bullying is being a problem longer than technology was available. “Although the advent of cyber technologies has provided new arenas in which children and youth can bully each other, the phenomenon of bullying is hardly new.”(Kowalski, Limber, Agatston. p.17) According to the book Cyber Bullying: Bullying in the Digital Age, “Bullying is aggressive behavior that is intentional and that involves an imbalance of power or strength (Nansel et al., 2001; Olweus, 1993a). Sometimes this imbalance involves differences in physical strength between children, but often it is characterized by differences in social power or status. Because of this imbalance of power or strength, a child who is being bullied has a difficult time defending himself or herself.”( Kowalski, Limber, Agatston. p.17) In the book Banishing Bullying Behavior: Exploring the Culture of Pain, Rage and Revenge, “The frequency of bullying was higher among sixth through eighth grade students than among ninth and tenth-grade students. The study found that both bullies and those bullied demonstrate poorer psychosocial functioning than their noninvolved peers. As to the prevalence of bullying, the report extrapolated that 5,736,417 youth are involved in some type of moderate or frequent bullying.”(Fried & Sosland p.37) Teenagers have taken bullying to the next level of violence.
Teenagers are using the social networking sites to continue the harassment against those scare defenseless teenagers. It’s not only enough to harass them during school now they are taking it to the cyber world. According to Bullying Statistics website, “Cyber bullying affects many adolescents and teens on a daily basis. Cyber bullying involves using technology, like cell phones and the Internet, to bully or harass another person”( http://www.bullyingstatistics.org) Bullying has advance that teenagers are using cell phones and other methods to continue their bullying even after school is out. Besides all the technology being used they are using social media networks to continue the harassments. Victims are also using these media avenues to either confront their aggressors or to write their suicide notes. Victims use this as a mean to reach out for help and when they can’t get anyone to hear their cry end up taking their lives. According to the Bullying Statistics website, “Cyber bullying is a form of teen violence that can do lasting harm to young people. Bullying statistics show that cyber bullying is a serious problem among teens.” (http://www.bullyingstatistics.org)
In conclusion, people abuse technology and its advancements in order to satisfy their needs. Mass media is being used to intimidate and harm others for their gratification. Kids are dying due to other kids bullying them through text messages, Facebook, MySpace and other social network sites. It’s hard to control young people in this fast growing technology world. Technology has become a necessity and how can it be taken away from the young teenagers when it’s required for school in most cases. With so many advancements in technology the people have to educate themselves in order to keep up with all this technology. Educating parents will help prevent from children taking their lives due to cyber bullying and help those teenagers get the help they need. The help should be for the victims as well for the bully. The bully might have issues that might be triggering this type of behavior and with help it can help others as well.

References
Baran, S. J. (2012). Introduction to Mass Communication: Media Literacy and Culture. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
Bullying Statistics: Cyber Bullying Statistics. Retrieved from http://www.bullyingstatistics.org/content/cyber-bullying-statistics.html
Fried, Suellen; Sosland, Blanche E. (2009). Banishing Bullying Behavior: Exploring the Culture of Pain, Rage and Revenge. Blue Ridge Summit, PA: Rowman & Littlefield
Publishing Group. Retrieved from http://site.ebrary.com/lib/nuls/Doc?id=10404854&ppg=35
Kowalski, Robin M., Limber, Susan P., and Agatston, Patricia W. (2007). Cyber Bullying: Bullying in the Digital Age. Oxford, GBR: Wiley-Blackwell. Retrieved from http://site.ebrary.com/lib/nuls/Doc?id=10196670&ppg=33