Over the past couple of months, I’ve written a few stories outlining online bullying and the negative impacts it can have.
For Pink Shirt Day, I delved into how bullies have turned to the Internet to torment their peers, and how it’s changed since the invention of the worldwide web.
I also researched a story about a local woman who was the target of online harassment through an online confessions page, and was upset to see what she had endured.
While we like to think bullying is an issue only faced by children and teens, that’s not the case. Adults can feel the impact of online bullying just the same, and there’s no break from it for anyone who’s enduring it.
Robynne Henry The Henry Hype
When we put people in front of computer screens, they take it as a chance to cause the most damage with their words and face little to no consequences for their actions. It’s not like looking into someone’s face and insulting them, you don’t see the emotions they experience or what your words put them through.
When I was a kid, I was the target of a very intense bout of bullying by a few people I considered my friends. It put me into a very dark place where I felt isolated, and I didn’t tell a soul.
Strangely enough, I also didn’t really consider it bullying until much later. I don’t think I really learned about online bullying until college or university, and that was when it clicked that I had suffered through what so many others had.
No matter what way you slice it, a bully is a bully regardless of how they do it. Your words or actions have a negative impact on the target, and it shouldn’t be allowed.
I always go by the saying ‘if you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all.’ You have no idea what someone might be going through, nor do you have any idea the effect your words could have on them.
I also go by the rule that I wouldn’t say something about someone behind their back that I wouldn’t say to their face. Whenever I say something negative, I pose the question of how I would feel if I heard someone say that about me.
Plus, if you’re an adult, you should really know better. What example are you setting for the next generation if you make it seem to like hiding behind your computer screen to say bad things is acceptable?
Please, think before you speak and stop the spread of negative words.
