It is a reality that people begin to use technologies (mobile phones, internet, etc.) at increasingly younger ages. Whenever I think about this I remember the video of that baby trying to enlarge a photo on paper with the only power of her fingers.
Having premature contact with this infinite virtual world full of possibilities does not come with the maturity, also necessary, to know the risks of the network and the appropriate tools to protect oneself, as well as the criteria to discriminate moderately reliable information from which it is not.
When technological means such as the Internet, mobile phones or online video games are used to exert psychological harassment between peers, we speak of a phenomenon called cyberbullying or cyberbullying
This is a particular type of harassment that occurs between colleagues, friends and people of a similar age group and that can have different manifestations within the ICT environment (offenses, threats, blackmail, humiliation, insults…).
Cyber goes one step beyond traditional bullying or harassment. They are two forms of aggression between equals that share many characteristics. However, the first presents certain peculiarities that make it even more harmful for the victim.
Anonymously on the networks
Firstly, the fact that the aggression is carried out through a virtual space favors the anonymity of the aggressor. This status gives the individual greater freedom to act, since he is less exposed to being caught In other words, compared to what happens in traditional bullying, in cyberbullying the attacker gets “more for less.”
Second, the victim of cyberbullying becomes, once chosen, an “easy target” for the aggressor It is available 24 hours a day, while in bullying, the attacks are usually limited to those moments and spaces where both parties coexist (for example, school), leaving the child “freed” from the pressure when he returns to the safety of your home.
Furthermore, it must be added that contacts are always initiated at the will of the aggressor, without the victim having any control over them.
They are accessible at all times and cannot avoid, as would happen in bullying, visiting certain sites that they know are dangerous, since the Internet, in this sense, keeps them continuously connected. This causes the victim to develop a feeling of unpredictability and uncontrollability which generates anxiety and fear.
The lack of empathy in cyberbullying
Another differentiating aspect of this type of harassment has to do with the distance from the victim and the absence of social cues. The fact of not seeing the person’s face and suffering who is being insulted, humiliated, threatened, etc. facilitates the development of these behaviors.
This distance makes empathy difficult, that is, the ability to put yourself in the victim’s shoes and know how they are feeling, which could be a deterrent to aggression.
Regarding social cues, in cyberbullying There are also no direct spectators who give negative feedback to the aggressor (disagreement, bad faces, defense of the victim and other elements used in initiatives such as the KiVa method) that allow the victim to regulate their own behavior. You are alone and free of all feedback to act.
The massive – and in some cases exclusive – use of virtual environments for the development of social relationships has some risks such as the tendency towards depersonalization (“me on the internet vs. me in reality”), fantasy-reality confusion. (forgetting that this insult is just as real as if I say it in person) or the construction of erroneous moral judgments.
public humiliation
Two last characteristics make the effect of cyberbullying more powerful. First, thanks to technologies, the stalker can reach a much wider audience, for example, spreading a hoax about the person on one of their social networks. Second, you have surely heard the saying “what is posted on the network, stays on the network”.
Because of this, the effect that aggression has through the environment of technologies and the Internet is much more permanent. It is not limited to the moment in which the person is insulted, but rather stays in that virtual cloud for a long time
Cyberbullying cases are growing at a worrying rate. The introduction into the world of technologies should come with an “instruction manual”, administered by educators, parents, etc., which will include a section aimed at raising awareness about the risks and real impact that cyberbullying can have in a person’s life and train in appropriate self-protection measures.
