Social media has provided more avenues for abuser to conduct cyberbullying. Incidents of cyberbullying has been increasing through social media such as Facebook and Twitter which negatively impact on victims in the various aspects of their life. For instance, the "share" function in Facebook and Twitter allows people to share comments to the public. It also facilitates mass cyberbullying where many abusers can gather together and attack on a single victim through an interface. In addition, social media allows users to act on their free will; insulting and harassing others online without bearing any consequences. Thus, due to anonymity bullying, victimization is deemed continuous and inescapable. Many schools and parents have been utilizing the blocking software so as to prevent teens from accessing social networking sites. However, Pew Research Center (2010) has done an extensive national study that shows 76 percent of teens are active on social networking sites, proving that Facebook and Twitter are ideal avenues for engagement among today’s youth. Based on this result, teens may find a way to circumvent the blocking software in order to access social networking sites.
Kenneth Wong (2006) discusses that from a web article "Are your kids addicted to the Internet?", Microsoft warns parents, "Although filtering and monitoring tools are helpful, keep in mind that they can be disabled by a savvy computer user". In addition, articles in the popular press such as "Kids will find Web controls easy to beat", Anick Jesdanun of the Associated Press demonstrated how easy it was to defeat various filtering and blocking software. Although the software can be effective to younger and less IT savvy children, it may failed to achieve the same effective result for older and IT savvy teenagers. When teens are determined to break through the limits that parents have set, they will find all means to defeat the controls. This often leaves parents with a false sense of security as teens may have already deactivate the software without being noticed.
The current model of mitigating cyberbullying by blocking access to social networking sites only controls the actions of students when they are at school or at home. This control model does not prepare students when faced with a potentially dangerous environment for when they leave the safety net provided to them. It is impossible for a student to know how to navigate through without danger when the protection is no longer around. Thus, it is important to conceive that cyberbullying education is needed to develop students with the relevant skills when encountering any incident of cyberbullying. One of such skill is the ability to filter and evaluate information found in social networking sites. This can be achieved through workshops and classroom discussions conducted by the educators during school curriculum. Students will then undergone a process of reflecting, evaluating and making their own decisions regarding the sources they authenticate and information they choose to share about themselves to others. Next, the ability to withstand critique by others is also the most critical skills that students should have. A strategic approach will be more effective compared to the informed educational approach to help teens recognize and control their emotions when engaging social media. After all, with this cyberbullying education approach, students can still interact with different people through social media if they are acquiring skills that they feel is relevant to protect themselves.
In conclusion, the increasing usage of social media among teens and sharing more content than ever before has raises the need for eliminating cyberbullying. I believe that the existing solution to combat cyberbullying by solely relying on the blocking software is not effective. It will be better to manage them through cyberbullying education approach rather than just block them completely. Although it often feel that the problem of cyberbullying will never go away, the alternative of not solving the problem is not a viable option either.
Centre, P. R. (2010). Cyberbullying statistics. Retrieved from Pew Research Centre: http://www.pewresearch.org/
Enough Is Enough. (2006). Youth and general internet use. Retrieved from Enough Is Enough: www.enough.org/inside.php?tag=statistics#7
Fight Crime: Invest in Kids Pennsylvania. (2006, August 17). 1 of 3 teens &1 of 6 preteens are victims of cyber bullying. [News release]. Retrieved from Fight Crime: Invest in Kids Pennsylvania: www.fightcrime.org/releases.php?id=234
Gottesman, B. (2006) A hardware solution in the software-dominated world of parental control. Retrieved from PC Magazine: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1948981,00.asp
Microsoft (2004) Are your kids addicted to the Internet? Retrieved from Microsoft: http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/children/kidwebaddict.mspx
Riccardi, K. (2013). Cyber Bullying: Responsibilities and Solutions . Retrieved from Digital Learning Environment: http://www.guide2digitallearning.com/teaching_learning/cyber_bullying_responsibilities_and_solutions
Robey, T. F. (2008). Cyberbullying. Retrieved from National Association of Secondary School Principals: http://www.principals.org/tabid/3788/default.aspx?topic=58057
Sheppard, M. (2012). Cyberbullying Resource Centre. Retrieved from EdgeWave: http://cyberbullying.edgewave.com/
Wong, K. (2006). How Tech Savvy Teens Defeat Parental Control Software . Retrieved from Parent Support: http://www.pcmoderator.com/pcmoderator_021.htm
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