You scroll through the very long list of the comments on your last Facebook post. “You’re stupid,” the first one reads. “Stay away.” “No one likes you.” “How can someone be so ugly?” The thought of having a good day at school has suddenly disappeared as the tears stream down your face. You are a victim of cyberbullying. Cyberbullying has become an epidemic that needs to be stopped in its tracks. Why does it happen and what can we do to stop it?

According to stopcyberbullying.gov, examples of cyberbullying include “mean text messages or emails, rumors sent by email or posted on social networking sites, and embarrassing pictures, videos, websites, or fake profiles.”

A social worker at MHS, Mrs. Diane Marascia, gave some input on the cyberbullying. When face to face, “the irrational brain that reacts in the moment has some time where the emotions calm down and the rational brain takes over and impulsive decisions aren’t carried through. With cyberbullying, it’s instantaneous,” Mrs. Marascia said. “The thought comes, you don’t have to go and seek the person out, you don’t have to do anything but find them on your phone and boom; it’s done.”

There are many ways that this can be stopped and many ways that you can protect yourself from the harm that cyberbullying can cause. Touria Behammou, a tenth-grader at MHS, had some useful tips on how to protect yourself and how to be happy with who you are. “You can block the person, not associate with the person, and not worry about them. Only worry about yourself,” she said.

The worst thing to do when you are being cyberbullied is to keep it all inside. Tell someone you trust, (ex. your parents, a teacher, trusted adult, etc.) The hurt can build up inside and take away your self confidence. If you don’t tell anyone and keep it bottled up inside, you would ultimately be hurting yourself in the end. Let others help you face your problems and don’t be embarrassed to let others know about what you are facing.

Mrs. Marascia also had some ideas on how cyberbullying could be avoided completely. “From a very idealistic point of view, I think that when a parent buys a child a cell phone, there needs to be conversation about that, “ she said. “About responsibility and about treating people [right.]”

Bullies: when you bully, you end up hurting more than just that one person. Your actions have repercussions. Cyberbullying has been going on for too long. It’s time to end the issue and start being kind to one another.

Hard Facts

1. About 43% of kids have been cyberbullied at least once or multiple times.
2. 68% of teens believe that cyber bullying has become an epidemic and is a big problem.
3. Unfortunately, only 1 in 10 people have trusted an adult with their problems with cyberbullying.
4. Victims of bullying are 2 to 9 times more likely to commit suicide due to the problems they are facing.
5. 75% of students admit to bullying another student on a website or social media.