I’m sure everyone here today is going to be like “Oh my god, we know what cyberbullying is. We don’t need to be told,” And that’s all right, I’m sure you guys are aware of what cyberbullying is but we’re human and sometimes we forget how our actions and words affect others.

So, let’s start off with what bullying actually is. Bullying is repetitive aggressive behaviour towards another person with the intention of hurting that person. Now cyberbullying is a form of bullying. However, this bullying is done through the use of technology. It can be through the comments, messages, and pictures of social media websites.

Cyberbullying can have a negative effect on an individual psychological and physical wellbeing. It can affect a person by making them feel unsafe, physically sick, they may have trouble sleeping, trouble eating, dropping grades. These things may seem small but eventually a person may become buried underneath these bad thoughts, ultimately leading them to hurt themselves and even committing suicide.

Why do these people become cyberbullies? Well, majority of these people may feel jealous for what you have, they may like the feeling of having control over others, they may want to prove something to their friends. Some of these cyberbullies may have mental health issues but it does not justify their actions. Overall, they may think they’re cool by putting others down. But they’re just keyboard warriors and they believe they can get away with the things they say to people.

What do you do if you’re being cyberbullied? Try telling them to stop, block their accounts and if they keep finding different ways to harass you, tell your parents or teachers.

If the cyberbullying continues and you feel unsafe no matter where you are, the bullying should be reported to the police.

Let’s be honest, majority of us use Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok. Specifically, with Snapchat when you open a snap or message it instantly goes away but it actually doesn’t. You leave digital footprint every single time you’re on the internet.

What the hell is a digital footprint? A digital footprint is data that is left behind when users have been online. Meaning those snaps, you post or messages you send, that you think may go away or be deleted, is still there. And you need to be careful. If you threaten or try hurting people through social media thinking you’ll get away with it, you won’t, especially in scenarios where the police get involved. They have.

So being smart about your actions on the internet is crucial to not getting in trouble.

And remember telling a trusted adult doesn’t mean that a cyberbully has defeated you, it means that you’ve been able to defeat them by telling a trusted person about the situation.

Pari Tawfi

School Captain 2022