A quote by Patrick Overton “Watch your thoughts, they become words. Watch your words, they become actions. Watch your action, they become habits. Watch your habits, they become character. Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.” According to the Lexico Oxford Dictionary cyber bullying means “the use of electronic communication to bully a person, typically by sending messages of an intimidating or threatening nature.” There are many causes and effects as it relates to cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is caused by being power hungry and lack of empathy which leads to feeling suicidal and stressed.
Due to people being power-hungry, they turn to negative activities, thus leading them to cyberbully others. Kids who are popular often make fun of the less popular kids. These persons normally spread rumors and gossip and may even belittle others through social media. Persons who are trying to climb the social leader or gain social power usually resort to cyberbullying, because they are usually looking for attention. They use cyberbullying to try and make people miserable and doubtful so that those persons are less of a threat to them. Power-hungry persons also might cyberbully to diminish the social status of another person for example Talia might start rumors about Chavanece to make other persons view Chavanece in a negative way so that she remains the popular girl at school or even at work. According to Weebly, power-hungry cyberbullies sometimes want to control the victim by using intimidation; they normally want the victim to react whether in a negative or positive way. A survey done by the researcher at Vere Technical High School shows that fifty-five percent of students aged ranging from fifteen to eighteen stated that they cyberbully because it makes them feel like they are in charge of not just the person but the situation. Power-hungry cyberbullying is usually done by males, but in some cases, females do it too.
Persons who cyber bully seem to be caused by lack of empathy and they see nothing wrong with it. They see nothing wrong with it because they were not thought about the negative impact cyberbullying can have on someone. Lack of empathy is high because the online bully cannot see the pain they cause the person so they feel little or even no remorse about what they have done. While the researcher was having a discussion with her university friends about the topic of cyberbullying some of the persons she was talking with stated that, “they did not feel any way about saying negative things about persons on the internet especially if it is true.” They even went on to say that they don’t believe that they are not empathic because of saying those things online. However, studies have shown that a person who cyberbullies lacks empathy. In a survey that the researcher conducted in her community with members’ age ranging from thirteen to twenty, she asked how they feel when they write negative things about or to persons online and their response was that they felt like they were funny and that it made them popular. However, the victim of cyberbullying feels humiliated, depressed, and even anxious. So it is best for parents, legal guardians, and even teachers to inform people how cyberbullying makes others feel and how it impacts them negatively
Order this paper