Cyber bullying is the repeated use of information technology, including e-mail, instant messaging, blogs, chat rooms, pagers, cell phones, and gaming systems, to deliberately harass, threaten or intimidate others. Unlike physical bullying, where the victim can walk away, technology now allows for continuous harassment, from any distance, in a variety of ways.
While cyber bullying is often done by children who have increasing access to these technologies, it is by no means confined to children. The problem is compounded by the fact that bullies are often anonymous and never have to confront their victims. This makes it difficult to trace the source, and encourages bullies to behave more aggressively than a traditional “physical world” bully.
The full scope of cyber bullying is difficult to measure. However, according to a recent survey, 42% of children have been cyber bullied and 35% have been threatened online. Peer approval is very important to children. This means that cyber bullying can have a negative or even destructive emotional effect on victims, ranging from hurt feelings to intense anger. It can also result in significant depression and in the most severe cases has even resulted in suicide. Unfortunately, children rarely report occurrences to an adult.
Online Predators...they can be stopped!
People use mobile phones to send explicit messages or photos.
Sexting is the act of sending sexually explicit messages or photographs, primarily between mobile phones. The term was first popularized around 2005, and is a portmanteau of sex and texting, where the latter is meant in the wide sense of sending a text possibly with images.
Sexting that involves teenagers sending explicit photographs of themselves to their peers has led to a legal gray area in countries that have strict anti-child pornography laws, such as the United States. Some teenagers who have texted photographs of themselves, or of their friends or partners, have been charged with distribution of child pornography, while those who have received the images have been charged with possession of child pornography; in some case the possession charge has been applied to school administrators who have investigated sexting incidents as well. The images involved in sexting are usually different in both nature and motivation from the type of content that anti-child pornography laws were created to address
An online predator is an adult Internet user who exploits vulnerable children or teens, usually for sexual or other abusive purposes.
Online victimization of minors can include child grooming, requests to engage in sexual activities or discussions by an adult, unwanted exposure to sexual material (email with naked pictures, etc.), and online harassment, threats or other aggressive communications that are not sexual in nature but cause distress, fear or embarrassment.
Chat rooms, instant messaging, Internet forums, social networking sites, and even video game consoles have all been accused of attracting online predators.
Many experts recommend talking to children and teens about online safety.
