Cyber bullying

It’s a fact, bullying has been around since order overruled anarchy and now we have the ever increasing problem of cyber bullying. The lack of monitoring system and increase in ways to communicate it was inevitable that bullying would become easier and occur more. Whether it’s recording a video of bullying on your mobile and posting it on social network sites or bombarding victims with torments on text message/email, it has caused more grief and depression than ever before.

Surveys would suggest there are high numbers of teens falling victim to cyber bullying and being too afraid to tell an adult or friend. Cyber bullying attacks you at home where you’re meant to feel safest from the outside world and when that is shattered then a person will feel completely helpless and alone. Monitoring all activity online is a major concern as well because of how vast the internet is, in reality there is just too much information for a monitoring process to work. There are things as reporting a comment or flagging inappropriate behaviour but that will only get the abusers profile deleted and not stop them from creating a new one and continuing to bully.

As this graph from the US illustrates both genders are equally effected in most areas and all results indicate about 50% of victims are not affected by the bullying but that also leaves the other 50% feeling the effects. Victims of cyber bullying tend to be young and vulnerable as well as impressionable, they will believe what they are being told and will not know how to respond to this type of anti-social interaction. At least when bullying wasn’t cyber the victim could look into the face of their tormentor and know who they are, one of the problems with bullying being cyber is that it could be anyone pretending to be someone else on their profile, there is no proof of who it is and that makes it difficult to know who is bullying and why.So will there be a stop to cyber bullying? Well like actual bullying it’s hard to stop and you may not even know it’s occurring, but measures are being taken to eliminate bullies online and hopefully cut down the suicides related to cyber bullying.

Lazy Student Syndrome

Recently, I read a newspaper article (online) that universities are planning to post lectures online so students don’t even have to get out of bed to go to class. Stereotypically students have been seen as being lazy and this method of teaching just encourages this reflection. Is this an advance on teaching with modern technology or just another reason for students to lie about?

In today’s world we are seeing more and more objects making life easier, you can now use your phone as a satnav and browse the internet on your television, you can call people and see them on the other side of the world for a cheap price on Skype. Does this mean we have more time for pleasure or does it mean we are now less mobile then we were 50 years ago and have become lazy versions of ourselves? As I think back to my younger years I can see that getting cable television did make me stay on the sofa more and having Gameboys meant I didn’t need to entertain myself with people or other toys. Now at present I rely heavily on my BlackBerry to keep in contact with friends, use as a calculator, as a camera, look up things on the internet, find out what’s on at the cinema or to play games o when I’m bored. It seems obvious that technology has made me less inclined to be active, I don’t even have to check my spelling anymore as either my phone will correct me or spell check on my computer. I can even look up alternate words without having to go get a thesaurus I just look on Word or Google it.

So in the end was Ellison et al right in thinking that the internet has reconstructed the way our social capitol is formed? Do we now have more contact and relationships then previous generations because of the constant updates from Facebook and other social networking sites? It’s clear that we can now follow what our friends are up to everyday instead of having catch up conversations and we can contact people instantly without having to wait for a letter in the post or for them to call.

The ‘Lazy Student Syndrome’ can obviously not be targeted at only one type of group as all these advances in technology are helping and improving everyone, from hospitals to schools our lives maybe easier and we may rely too heavily on our technology but when it comes down to it I suppose I could get by without the internet or my phone. Negatively speaking yes newer generations seem to be unable to function without new mediums but is that technology’s fault or parenting, should older generations be teaching the younger ones how to think independently and work hard for knowledge and not have it handed to them on a fibre optic place? I say yes, I would love not to depend on spell check and have confidence in my spelling abilities; I would like to be able to remember roads and not have to use satnav directions. But no extremes will work in this world, a fine balance is needed which is the case for most struggles in life (something I mentioned in the copyright fight post) and so we will continue to upgrade our lives to be more comfortable and inactive.

Referneces

Ellison, N. B., Steinfield, C., & Lampe, C. (2007). The benefits of Facebook "friends:" Social capital and college students' use of online social network sites. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 12(4), article 1. http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol12/issue4/ellison.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1371444/Lectures-internet-Now-sick-students-wont-bed-classes.html