Essay Sample on Online Harassment

The onset of the internet has revolutionized many aspects of our daily activities, from online money transactions to communication through social platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp, and Twitter, among others. The internet has proved advantageous since its onset in 1983. Despite all the positive things, many negative and harmful practices have since come up as well. Online harassment such as body shaming, death threats, and falsified accusations, negative trolls, personal hacking information, verbal abuse through audio recordings (Fenaughty & Harre, 2013).

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There is no specific reason as to why online harassment is rampant, especially among teens. Among the leading causes of this vice is the intent to seek revenge. Many bullies will try to seek redemption on social media platforms. In real life, these individuals are either bullied and cannot defend themselves out of it but then find solace in bullying others online. They tend to look out for victims that have a weak personality compared to them (Feinberg & Robey, 2009). Online bullies are always trying to seek relevance and mark their presence on the internet or social media where they will harass with the aim of attention-seeking resulting from ignorance by family members, friends, and neighbors. They have pain, rage, and anger, and instead of dealing with them personally, they vent out to others. They think by doing this, they are boosting their pride and see it as a form of entertaining their desires of causing distress to others (Fenaughty & Harre, 2013). The social status quo is part of another cause of online harassment to feel accepted. Introverts think that they need to be heard and known, and some of them find online harassment as the perfect route to mark their presence (Hoff & Mitchel, 2009).

Similar to other forms of harassment, adverse effects on the lives of victims and bullies are inevitable. Feeling anxious, lonely, and isolated are associated with online harassment. When harassment is targeted towards a particular victim, there is an overwhelming feeling. If the harassment is prolonged, especially to kids, they seem like they cannot handle the situation. Vulnerability and weak are other effects on the victims. Online harassment does not mean physical abuse, but the fact that the bully can invade your privacy or attack you at any time of day makes one feel like he has no power to control the situation. They feel like they have nowhere else to run to (Fenaughty & Harre, 2013). The anonymity of the bully creates a feeling of fear, and the victim feels like their every move is being watched. The bullies manipulate the weaknesses of a person and develop a sense of self-dissatisfaction (Ybarra, 2004). Trying to remedy the situation might cause physical harm to themselves. In most cases affects the victims of body shaming like being called fat. Failing to eat will only make the situation worse as the victim now wants to slim in every possible way. Vengeance comes to mind of the one being harassed, especially if they know who is behind the online harassment. It might escalate to severe cases such as attacks or even murder to those who react quickly to the anger of online harassment.

School kids lack the motivation to attend school. They feel depressed and unable to control the situation. Their school activities are greatly affected, and the grades are not spared either. They perform very poorly, and they are not in a position to speak out their problem. They feel like skipping school is the best option to avoid embarrassment and being laughed at due to the messages or pictures that were shared online (Ybarra, 2004). They are disintegrated from the other kids at school and try hard to stay further away from them and do not want to participate in school activities. Depression is another significant effect of online bullying, and the victim may even experience suicidal thoughts. The torment by their age mates makes them feel unwanted, sadness, and hopelessness clouds their judgment, and they feel like suicide is the easiest way to ease the pressure (Hoff & Mitchel, 2009). Bullies, on the other hand, may feel like they are in control, and forget that their future and reputation is tainted by how they harass others. Keeping a record of the harassments as evidence is enough to prosecute a bully if caught. There are laws in practice against bullying and making others feel inferior (Ybarra, 2004).

In conclusion, online harassments are a vexing issue where the effects and traumatizing things that an individual is subdued to, are a lot to handle. Feeling depressed and withdrawn are adverse effects that lead to having low self-esteem. Victims feel like they no longer have control over their lives and that their private life is no longer private. The government needs to make the rules and regulations more strict, and everyone to participate in creating and spreading awareness of the issue that is reaching new heights as technology advances. The best thing any person would do is to report any case of online harassment the moment they feel like they are cyberbullied.

References

Fenaughty, J., & Harre, N. (2013). Factors associated with distressing electronic harassment and cyberbullying. Computers in Human Behavior, 29(3), 803-811.

Feinberg, T., & Robey, N. (2009). Cyberbullying. The education digest, 74(7), 26.

Hoff, D. L., & Mitchell, S. N. (2009). Cyberbullying: Causes, effects, and remedies. Journal of Educational Administration.

Ybarra, M. L. (2004). Linkages between depressive symptomatology and Internet harassment among young regular Internet users. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 7(2), 247-257.