Jillian Lynch
English 15
23 March 2012
Reflection Proposal
When I was
in high school I was President of Peer Mentoring, a program that helped the
incoming freshmen with anything they needed, whether it be finding classes or
bigger issues. One of the bigger issues that this program dealt with a lot was
bullying, cyber-bullying being the most common. Bullying has always been common
in the high school age, but with technology being what it is today,
cyber-bullying- bullying someone via technology, has become the bigger issue.
Why is that? Is society actually initiating this form of bullying?
Social
networking is the biggest thing for kids to connect with each other outside of
school. Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and Formspring are all enablers of
cyber-bullying, some being worse than others. I agree that Facebook is a great
way to keep in touch with distant friends, and display photos, but when it is
taken to the next level things can get out of hand. Luckily with Facebook
anything you comment is linked to your name. This doesn’t mean that bullying
can’t occur, it just isn’t anonymous. Twitter is similar, anything you tweet is
linked to your name, but you can tweet about someone without directly “tagging”
or mentioning them. Tumblr is a blogging site where people can post pictures of
themselves or anything that “self-expresses” them, and they can also write
whatever they want. Along with writing about themselves, people can comment
with their usernames or anonymously. And lastly, Formspring, is a question and
answer website, where anyone can ask questions or comments about someone
anonymously. I believe that the
anonymity pushes cyber-bullying even further.
When names
are linked to comments or posts, people are extra careful about what they say;
they are more afraid of getting in trouble. But, behind the anonymity of a
computer, people are harsh; they say things they would be afraid to say
otherwise. I know many friends who have received formspring comments from
people they thought were friends, saying awful things.
Is society
giving us too many opportunities to cyber bully?
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