Human Behavior in Bullying

Human Behavior in Bullying

Gregg Policari

Composition 170

June 23, 2014

Instructor Newman

Human Behavior in Bullying

While bullying in all forms is negative, both tradition and cyber-bullying differ in the physical, social, and emotional impact on the victim. "If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse, and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality." (Tutu, D. 2003). When someone does not take a side of a dangerous situation, and you stand aside you do nothing but hurt the one who is being hurt.

The distaste that most people feel toward physically violent bullying doesn't necessarily apply to electronic bullying. Traditional bullying has always had an effect on the victim - physical, socially, and sometimes emotionally. Other people witness traditional bullying. Physical bullying is when a person uses apparent physical acts to gain influence and power over classmates, as well as peers. Sometimes the bullying will occur in a back hallway, a bathroom, or other places where a teacher or some authoritative figure cannot see the action, therefore the incident will keep occurring because the victim has no way to prove it is happening. Outside students sometimes gang up on or become involved in the fight against a classmate. Bullies sometimes use verbal bullying and substantial power to control physical objects or dominion. Physical bullying may also cross the line into sexual provocation, sexual assault, or aggravation. Physical bullying happens most often on school grounds, though it sometimes occurs on the way back and forth from school and after school. Theft, pushing, hitting, fighting, and wrecking property all are types of physical bullying. Traditional bullying makes it much harder for a defenseless child to protect themselves against their bully.

With the creativity of computers, came with the newest type of bullying, cyberbullying. The word cyberbullying did not exist ten years ago, and the problem has become a common one in this day and age. Cyberbullying is usually characterized as electronically arbitrated behaviors among classmates such as making fun of, spreading lies, telling rumors, intimidation and sharing private information or photos without their permission to do so. If a bully remains unknown in cyberspace, the fights can occur more often, without being bullied in physical space. Because physical fighting cannot occur, verbal abuse often takes its place that can sometimes be much more painful. Kids do not have to be very large or even strong to be a bully anymore. Children become energized by the erroneous belief of being unidentified and most of the time they will type many hurtful things they would not have spoken on a personal one on one basis. Cyberbullying can be done at any time, from any location, and possibly worst of all can be completely anonymous. Kids are often involved in cyberbullying because they are going through a transitional period in life and are especially vulnerable to criticism and pressure. While a teacher can break up a fight, they cannot necessarily stop someone from posting an embarrassing photo online. Cyberbullying is a terrible weapon that can destroy someone’s reputation and life for good in no time. That is why cyberbullying may have serious implications, even legal ones, for those who practice it. The use of an alias e-mail account or yahoo account makes it hard for the bullied to find the identification of delinquent as well as seemingly adds to the false freedom a culprit has with the online chat. Cyberspace allows the smaller, defenseless individual to gang up on the big bully type kid. With physical bullying, you can steer clear of a particular person which you cannot do with cyberbullying. The victim only witnesses cyberbullying. A tormentor can antagonize a victim in front of an online audience with hundreds of people, such as a group of friends on social networking site like facebook. Cyberbullying occurs online by individual texting, sometimes mass texts, e-mails, instant messaging like AIM, facebook, and the listing of unsuitable photos of the individual they are bullying. All of these different aspects of cyberbullying may share to its possible effects. Furthermore, it is normally not illegal to use texting to abuse, hassle, or badger others especially with the First Amendment safeguards.