Cyber Bullying-It's not just for kids

December 27, 4:35 PMNY Education ExaminerLorri Giovinco-Harte

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Cyberbullying has become a growing problem for parents and educators.  School districts have been trying to find ways to deal with this ever increasing problem among young people, but it is often difficult.  Unlike school-based bullying, cyberbullying takes place outside of school grounds and therefore falls outside of school jurisdiction.

According to the website, StopCyberbulling, schools often face trouble when trying to reprimand students who are involved in the cyberbullying of a classmate.  They explain:

When schools try and get involved by disciplining the student for cyberbullying actions that took place off-campus and outside of school hours, they are often sued for exceeding their authority and violating the student's free speech right. They also, often lose.

Still, I've known some children who attend private schools and who have been suspended for engaging in online bullying of their classmates.  Private schools, however, may often have more freedom in their disciplinary policies, than public schools.

It's a difficult situation because, like schoolyard bullying, cyberbullying is dangerous and abusive and has resulted in numerous causalities among young people.  According to StopCyberbullying, such practices have caused numerous deaths and suicides among young people.

As school districts struggle to find legal ways to deal with cyberbullying, parents are left with the often harmful effects of this growing problem.

Like school yard bullies, online bullies find strength and satisfaction in making others feel unhappy.  Cyberbullies, like their real-life counter parts, are cowardly and weak at heart.  Studies have shown that most bullies are actually incredibly insecure people, who attack others in an attempt to compensate for deeply rooted insecurities and lack of worth. They often look for victims who are unable or unwilling to fight back. 

The problem with the Internet is that the anonymity of the net provides such individuals with the ability to "attack" their victims with little or no means for retaliation.

It seems that the Internet has provided  a whole new canvas to those with a propensity towards bullying - and both parents and school officials will need to find new methods to deal with the new generation of bullies.

It is important to note, however, that this "bullying" is not limited to children. 

There have been numerous, recorded incidents of adults who engage in the same puerile form of aggression.

We've read the stories of adults who pose as teenagers in order to bully, intimidate, and harm younger victims.    Such individuals often fall under legal restrictions and can be prosecuted by law enforcement for their attempts to harm young people - as they very well should be.

Still, what happens to those who use adults as targets of their own emotional problems and suppressed aggression?

Such individuals may not appear to be breaking any 'laws', but like their school yard counterparts, they seem to have found an outlet for their violent tendencies - commenting on blogs.

My friends who run successful blogs refer to these individuals as "trolls." They are the people who spend their time 'trolling' the Internet, looking for blog posts which oppose beliefs which they may possess.  Rather than move on to different blogs or intelligently illustrate their points of view, these individuals resort to a form of bullying.  They leave nasty, often threatening comments on posts which are meant to intimidate the blogger or very often, the other people who comment on the post. 

They are the adult form of school-yard bullies.  They are nasty and insulting.  They simply must have the last word, and will insult the other commenters until they eventually back down from frustration.  Like the ten year old who is being beaten at home, the adult commenter needs to prove that he or she is tougher.  It's a bit sad, actually, but still an annoyance to those who wish to engage in intelligent discourse.

So what does a blogger do?

Some bloggers explain that they simply delete the comments from these individuals.  Others explain that one must simply avoid engaging such people in any kind of dialogue in the hope that they will simply become bored.

The BlogHerald has posted some suggestions for dealing with the emotionally disturbed who seem to have found a new outlet in leaving comments on posts.  They explain:

Why is anyone surprised by this behavior? Remember, we humans bring our experiences and history with us to the web. Bullies will always be bullies, online and off. Jerks will be jerks. Just as I hoped at the start of the school year that they would change, few changed. Just because the location changes, the nastiness of human social behavior does not. The more people entering the virtual world of the web, the more uglies join the crowd.

They also provide some tips for how to deal with such individuals, whom some classify as "blog roaches."

I have to admit, though that, unlike some of my friends who express the desire to 'stomp' on some of these so-called roaches, I kind of like the fact that they have found an outlet on the net.  After all, isn't it better for us as a society, that the emotionally disturbed have found  an outlet for their normally socially unacceptable behavior?  God only knows what these lunatics would do if they acted out their tendencies in real life.

Hopefully, leaving nasty comments and threatening people on blog posts will allow these weakened individuals to let out some of their repressed aggression, which might otherwise be acted upon in the physical world.

Or will it?