Cyber-Bullying and Cyber-Bating - Specific Issues of Generation Z - Assignment Example

Cyber-Bullying and Cyber-Bating - Specific Issues of Generation Z For years, cyber-bullying was disregarded as having little to no impact with regards the overall emotional health or development of the individual who suffered from it. However, recent scholarship and an increased focus upon cyber-bullying have increased the overall level of focus that this particular issue has received. Beyond merely impacting upon the way in which an individual experiences life at the moment in which they are bullied, researches indicated that cyber-bullying, and/or bullying in general, contributes to a range of negative social issues, family issues, and has the effect of creating a low level of self-confidence, encouraging nervous habits, or even contributing to depression. As a function of understanding all of these determinants, the following analysis will engage in something of a cause and effect analysis of bullying. It is the aim of this section that through such analysis the reader can gain a more informed and rational understanding of how cyber-bullying impacts upon the development and prospects of the individual who suffers from it. Likewise, the second portion of this analysis will focus on a new trend that has come to be known as “cyber-bating”; a technique that is used to prompt a teacher or authority figure past the threshold of anger and then record this demonstration of frustration as a means of degrading or humiliating them. All of this has come to be a core concern; especially with respect to Generation Z – commonly referred to as the cohort of individuals born after the Millennium. Firstly, the causes of cyber-bullying are various. Much of the existing scholarship points to the fact that existing social issues, dynamics, and the willingness to have a level of power over another individual oftentimes prompts a would be fully to engage in the process from the very beginning. However, it is also understood that unhealthy family relationships or issues that are unaddressed/traumatic oftentimes contribute to encouraging bullying behavior as a means of passing the pain and hardship on to another individual. Sadly, as a result of this flawed and inappropriate view of the world, bullies have a lasting impact with respect to the way in which individuals live their lives. For instance, pervasive bullying has been effectively linked to low levels of self-esteem or self-confidence. Further, this is something of a slippery slope due to the fact that individuals experience a particularly low level of self-confidence are oftentimes picked on even more and bullied by other individuals; due to their nonconformity. Additionally, pervasive levels of cyber-bullying have also contributed to the existence of nervous habits, ticks, or the development of varying personality disorders (Banninck et al. 6). As these are exhibited through stronger and stronger degree, specifically within adolescents, bullies oftentimes see these manifestations as something of an unspoken invitation for further cyber-bullying to take place. Worst of all, severe forms of chronic depression can be created as the result of prolonged or especially severe instances of bullying. From the information that has thus far been provided, it is clear and apparent that bullying has extraordinarily negative impact upon the lives of those that are bullied. However, rather than merely looking at ending bullying by strengthening existing organizations and institutions to protect the at risk members within the community, a far more actionable and effective approach would be to seek out those individuals that are at risk for becoming bullies themselves and provide adequate nurturing and training so that they will have an outlet to vent their frustration and release the negative emotions and feelings inside them prior to taking these out on an innocent victim (Kurk 290). As discussed briefly within the introduction to this analysis, a secondary topic that will be engaged is with regard to what is known as “cyber-bating”. Within this particular practice, an authority figure, generally a teacher, is pushed past the point of tolerance and patience until an emotional outburst is engaged. It is at this juncture that one or several members of the student body that is responsible for encouraging and coaxing the emotional outburst then begins recording this as a function of later uploading it to the Internet and humiliating the teacher in question (O’Moore 215). Although this might seem as a rather harmless and humorous tactic, teachers around the country are faced with a situation in which a technologically savvy group of students are utilizing technology not only as a means of bullying but as a means of shaming them in front of the community; and indeed the world. Beyond merely a level of shame, this practice has recently come to involve a litany of teachers being fired under situations that should have never existed to begin with. For instance, when a group of students utilizes this particular technological tactic as a means of shaming/humiliating a given teacher, one of the potential consequences of this is a situation in which the teacher loses so much of their patients that they will say or do things to the students that are provoking them that they might not otherwise do. For instance, teachers that have been reported releasing a string of obscenities at the provoking students have summarily been suspended. In even more extreme cases, some teachers have engaged in physical violence with the students that are provoking them and have in turn had this recorded. As such, teachers are often summarily fired without formal investigations taking place (Palma 7002). The reason behind this has to do with the fact that infuriated parents and concerned stakeholders throughout society oftentimes placed an inordinate amount of pressure upon the school district and/or principal to relieve the teacher of duties as a means of promoting the welfare of all students. Although it is not the intention of this brief analysis to indicate that teachers who engage in such actions should be given leniency, there is another side to the story; one that pits a group o maliciously minded students against an educational system; utilizing only technological tools as a means of fulfilling their goals mischief. A noted similarity that must be discussed is with respect to the fact that both of these practices that have been discussed within the preceding analysis perpetrate an overall level of disrespect to fellow stakeholders. As can immediately be noted, a lack of respect for the feelings and potential shortcomings of fellow students is ultimately what encourages individuals to engage in cyber bullying. Although there are of course a litany of different reasons for why any particular case of cyber bullying takes place, the need and desire to reduce another human being’s estimation of words and have power over them is ultimately one of the contributing factors. In a very similar manner, a desire to shame and ridicule a figure of authority is a fundamental aspect for why individuals within the student body around the United States are engaging in cyber-bating as a means of correcting these issues, is not sufficient to merely increase the penalties that such individuals will face. Instead, as with any negative behavioral pattern, it is necessary to educate these members of society with respect to the ramifications of the actions that they are perpetrating. Within such a dynamic and approach, it will be possible for these students to recognize the harm and danger that they are posing not only to their fellow students that the educational system as a whole. Although it is true that there was still be students and stakeholders in society that will engage in both cyber bullying and cyber-bating, the overall degree and extent to which these take place within a system that warns and educate stakeholders concerning their dangers will necessarily be lower as compared to the current model. Works Cited Bannink, Rienke, et al. "Cyber And Traditional Bullying Victimization As A Risk Factor For Mental Health Problems And Suicidal Ideation In Adolescents." Plos ONE 9.4 (2014): 1-7. Academic Search Complete. Web. 2 July 2014. Kurt, Hakan. "An Evaluation Of Teachers' Attitudes And Beliefs Levels On Classroom Control In Terms Of Cyber-Bating.” Education 134.3 (2014): 285-297. Academic Search Complete. Web. 2 July 2014. O’Moore, Mona. "Cyber-Bullying: The Situation In the United States."  Education 30.3 (2012): 209-223. Academic Search Complete. Web. 2 July 2014. Palma, Daniel, et al. "Is Cyber-Bating the New Educational Issue?" Sensors (14248220) 14.4 (2014): 6998-7012. Academic Search Complete. Web. 2 July 2014. Read More