Cyberbullying, By Justin Healey - 884 Words

To prevent cyberbullying, we need to go beyond responding to harm once an incident has occurred and practice healthy mindsets and relationships. In her article, Cyberbullying, Jennifer Holladay defines the form of bullying as an act of repeated harassment and humiliation with the use of technology. Also, unlike traditional bullying, it comes with a much wider audience. Bullies generally bully because of issues at home and their lack of coping skills. According to Stomp Out Bullying, bullies might be detached, have poor self-esteem, need an outlet, or just don’t understand how to socialize. This leads to the display of name calling, put downs, physical abuse, and manipulation. In terms of Cyberbullying it could be because they feel more in control when being anonymous. Bullies might have adult role models who themselves are bullies causing them to learn from those behaviors. This defines the lack of healthy relationship skills, empathy, compassion and the lack of a healthy mind set. Healthy relationships include communication, honesty, and most of all, respect. In Justin Healey’s eBook, Respectful Relationships, he talks about the importance of respectful relationships; it gives us the ability to mature, create self-confidence and self-expression, as well as mindfulness of oneself and others. Having relationships built on respect create support systems in which one feels comfortable, safe, valued and heard. Bullies do not have a sense of respect, online or not, when they are