BLOG 6
ONLINE BULLYING
Online bullying in 2019 is extremely rife. Social media is becoming increasingly popular, and unfortunately, so is the number of children who say that they have had a negative experience online. Instagram is one of the biggest online platforms in the world, where users share photos on their profile, and other users can ‘like’ and comment on those photos. Instagram’s number of users has rocketed in recent years, with an estimated 1 billion users as of June 2018 (Statista, 2019).“Instagram is most popular with teens and millennials – this holds true in the United States where more than half of Instagram’s user base is between 18 and 29 years old.” (Statista, 2019)
It is against Instagram’s terms of use that any person under the age of thirteen use their website. “We want our service to be as open and inclusive as possible, but we also want it to be safe, secure, ad in accordance with the law. So, we need you to commit to a few restrictions in order to be part of the Instagram community” (Instagram, 2018)
It is against Instagram’s terms of use that any person under the age of thirteen use their website. “We want our service to be as open and inclusive as possible, but we also want it to be safe, secure, ad in accordance with the law. So, we need you to commit to a few restrictions in order to be part of the Instagram community” (Instagram, 2018)
While on the topic of Instagram, I thought it was important to share the positive role it has played in exposing and growing businesses and communities. As of March 2016, 98% of fashion brands had an Instagram profile. (Statista, 2019). Along with these fashion brands, come models. One of the biggest topics of discussions of the past year (online) has been about women empowerment, embracing our bodies, and celebrities such as Beyoncé, are encouraging others to be respectful to one another (Beyoncé’s music has always been an advocate for women’s rights, especially in black communities). One of the things that highlights the era that we are living in now, are ‘Instagram models’. Instagram models are typically photoshopped to look a certain way, or having photos altered by the company that they are working for. These photos can be seen as unrealistic, and could lead to younger audiences feeling like they need to change their appearances in order to look like the photos that they see online. Instagram models can cause children to alter their physical appearance, which could result in bullying. A paper showed that Instagram can have a negative impact on people’s mental health. A user named Kelly expressed that the constant exposure of seeing other people’s posts gave her distressing feelings. (Elliott, 2018).
Staying safe
I feel that it is important for children to acknowledge the risks of being online. Teachers and parents carry the duty of educating their child(ren) about what t post and what not to post online. It’s also important to recognise that not all children are a victim of bullying, sometimes, it could be your child who is the bully. Understanding the consequences of bullying could reduce the number of children who do it to others. It is known that in a lot of cases, children will bully others because they are jealous, insecure, or even because they have issues that they have not resolved themselves yet. Bullying UK is a charity that offers all kinds of support, including support for cyber bullying. Here are some tips:
· Never give put your real name
· Never tell anyone where you go to school
· Never agree to meet anyone you’ve met online, alone.
· Tell an adult if someone makes an inappropriate comment towards you, or makes you feel uncomfortable.
These are all things that a child could do to prevent online bullying. Here are a few things that parents and teachers can do to prevent bullying:
- Educating children to celebrate positivity and how to comment online.
· Educate the child about using social media in moderation. Not all day every day
· Ensure you have access to all of their passwords, so that you can keep an eye on what they are looking at online.
· Gain a sense of trust with your child, so that if there ever was a problem, they would feel comfortable enough to come forward to you and ask for support.
· The school should give e-safety lessons, and sometimes have guest speakers come and speak to the children, such as the police, to share stories and give evidence on what could happen in dangerous online situations.
Below, I have provided a link to an online video which speaks about cyber bullying, and how to beat them.
References
1. Statista. 2019. ‘Number of monthly Instagram users from January 2013 to June 2018 (in millions) https://www.statista.com/statistics/253577/number-of-monthly-active-instagram-users/
3. Elliott, B. 2018. ‘Helpful or Harmful? The role of Instagram in the recovery from major Depressive Disorder’ https://repository.cardiffmet.ac.uk/handle/10369/9961
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