The increasing use of the internet has become dangerous for children who post their profiles online. The profiles attract bullies who are out to cause harm to the unsuspecting minors (Wolak, Finkelhor, Mitchell & Ybarra, 2008). Cyber bullying has negative effects on children and there should be concerted efforts by parents and caretakers to sensitize their children on responsible internet use. Cyber bullying leads to psychological distress and even death. For example, Megan Meier, a young girl committed suicide in October 2006 after an incident of cyber bullying on MySpace. This case signifies the implications of cyber bullying; an online relationship that started on a good note resulted in the death of the innocent girl. Cyber bullying goes unnoticed and can be very harmful to juveniles; thus, caregivers must understand how it starts and prevents it by making their children mindful of what they post online, and ways to identify and report suspected bullies.
Cyber bullying affects a lot of children and leads to psychological distress among the children; in the United States of America, one in every three children has been a victim of cyber bullying. The problem of cyber bullying has been on the increase since the late 1990s. The increased use of the internet by young people without parental guidance in the past years is to blame for the current problem (Cook, Williams, Guerra & Tuthill, 2007). Cyber bullying ranges from demeaning messages to sexual assaults. Wolak, Finkelhor, and Mitchell (2004) conducted a study that showed that the bullies used the information that the children divulged in their online profiles to identify the potential victims. Pappas (2015) notes that just like regular bullying, the demeaning messages, sexual posts, and other types of abusive languages affect the children negatively. Cyber bullying is associated with the depressing effect. Studies investigating the impacts of cyber bullying on the health of teenagers aged between 12 and 18 years have concluded that cyber bullying leads to an increased likelihood of depression.
In many instances, children experience cyber bullying without noticing. In most cases, the molesters are mainly adults who disguise their identity. The bullies lure the children to divulge personal information and with time, they take advantage of the information and start exploiting the children. Cyber bullying is not limited to certain age groups, a study conducted by Peter, Valkenburg, and Schouten (2005) shows that as soon the children begin accessing the internet sites, they are likely to be preyed on by the molesters. The children may not notice that they are being bullied. Besides, many parents may not realize what is happening in their children’s lives. Studies show that cyber bullying is more common than most parents realize. Due to the unnoticed nature, children do not seek help and hence the parents realize later when the negative effects have already happened.
Social networks provide a simple platform for cyber bullying. In the past ten years, social media has revolutionized the way people interact. Social networking sites provide virtual platforms that make it easy for people to share their information, photos, and even post videos. Nowadays many children have access to cyber space and social networking sites. For example, through Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts, the minors can easily share their information with strangers.
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Parents and other caretakers can reduce cyber bullying by sensitizing their children about the safe use of the internet and the dangers that relate to sharing information with strangers they meet online. A study by Wolak, Finkelhor, and Mitchell (2004) shows that teenagers are usually secretive and they may not allow their online profiles to be accessed by parents and caregivers. This can be overcome by teaching children the benefits and dangers of social networks. As noted, the children play a critical role in encouraging the bullies to prey on them. The bullies normally use the information the minors post on social media accounts. As a result, minors need to be guided on the safe use of the internet. Parents and caretakers should make friends with their children. This will enable the children to trust them and share their online encounters. For example, they should take initiative to discover the social networking sites the children visit and the information they divulge. This will be the first step in the detection of possible online bullying and thus the opportunity to devise solutions to the problem.
Governments should formulate policies on the safe use of the internet and enact legislatio
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