Bullying in the 21st Century 

  The Dark Side of Technology 

 As a society, we celebrate the digital revolution. We use technology to learn about any unknown idea or topic we can think of. Technology creates convince in our daily live. For example, our lovable mobile smart phones can connect us to anyone any where in the world written and oral, tell time, entertain, calculate, capture moments in videos or pictures and request a personal grocery shopper. We can't live without them now. But, with the revolution comes a responsibility and understanding of ethical and appropriate behavior. This unlimited access to technology can be beneficial in unimaginable ways but there is a dark side as Monica Lewinsky expressed during her TED Talk. In her presentation she shared her personal testimony of how the advancement of technology gave her a different perspective of how we as a society should engage with it. The internet which was newly introduced at the time of her scandal gave the world a front row seat to her shame. A moment that she thought was private, quickly turned public because of the wonderful advancements technology has to offer. As she mentioned  the hate emails and various blog sites that overtly insulted her, It made me think about how many apps and video platforms are know for such behavior. Lewinsky's controversial experience not only draws attention to unpopular ethical behavior in general but, it shines a light on the unpleasant power technology has when used harsh or inconsiderately by irresponsible digital citizens.

When individuals are not aware of appropriate digital citizenship and how to model ethical behavior, technology becomes a dreaded experience rather than an exciting or enjoyable. Unethical behavior suggest no respect for the digital community and leads to poor judgement and bad decisions invariantly affecting others negatively. This is the birthing ground of cyberbullying and online harassment. Victims become targets of harassment projecting unescapable shame, torment, humiliation and embarrassment fueled by various forms of aggression. What was once inside school settings such as the school yard, hallways, restrooms, playgrounds has expanded to virtually anywhere with internet access. Bullying has advanced to platforms which is open for the world to observe publicly. Hinduja and Patchin defines this as cyberbullying. The willful and repeated harm inflicted through the use of computers, cellphones, and other electronics. (p.11) Bullying on steroids thanks to the advancement of technology.

Cyberbullying is much like traditional bullying. It is an act of violence because of the cruel nature. An individual who targets other individuals or groups to victimize by provoking aggression and exhibits behavior that harasses and develops a hostile environment. The aggressive behavior carried out repeatedly over time inflicts not only harm to the victims but affects their physical, social, and educational wellbeing. The unethical aggressive behavior includes written, electronic, verbal, or physical through transmission of electronic textual, visual, oral communication with malicious and willful intent. Cyberstalking, tagging and untagging, impersonation, information spreading, photoshopping, rumor spreading, flaming, posting pictures and videos are the most common forms of cyberbullying that enable content to spread from person to person in large numbers of people in a short time period while contributing to negatively affected psychological, emotional and relational mistreatment.

According to Hinduja and Patchin bullying in secondary schools rate between 3-10% and 14-19% in elementary schools. US Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics reported that of those yoth between the ages 12 and 18, 8%had been victims of bullying. This harassment is now one of the major causes of depression and suicide among teenagers.

Bringing awareness to cyberbullying is essential to creating and promoting appropriate digital and ethical digital behavior. Clear and repetitive communication that express bullying should not be accepted or tolerated. This is  something all school should be accountable for ensuring. I believe an anti bully campaign is a great way to communicate, educate, and ensure accountability. This could even become a district and  community wide initiative with the purpose of promoting laws, awareness, policies and solutions toward bullying and cyberbullying. This unites all stakeholders which helps to communicate digital expectations even when there is not a direct authoritative presence. Hinduja and Patchin believe schools should establish a climate in which bullying behaviors are not permitted. The persistence and understanding removes the need to gain popularity from bullying or being a willing by standard to look past the inappropriate acts. We have an obligation as society to no longer look past bullying and show compassion as if or own life depends on it.