Reader's Digest Reflection

Issue: May 2008
Article: The Rise Of Cyber Bullying

Through the years, technology has improved greatly. These improvements have undeniably made things more convenient for us, but there are an increased number of irresponsible people taking advantage of technology for undesirable deeds. Cyber bullying is just one example, and it has become a concern among many cyber users. It has even reached the extend of causing some to give up their precious life to run away from the cruel truth that terrible false information about them are being spreaded around on the Net. An example from the article is Ryan Halligan, who committed suicide after his classmates started spreading through Instant Messaging that he is a gay.

There are in fact many forms of bullying, such as playground bullies, road bullies and loan sharks harassing innocent households who did not even borrow money from them. Why is cyber bullying becoming more prevalent? I feel that it is because of the large audience the culprit is able to reach and also ensures that they will not be easily apprehended. Cyber bullying is also receiving a lot of publicity because of its accessibility. I strongly believe that other forms of bullying are also causing a lot of stress to the victims and many also ended taking drastic actions like committing suicide. It is because of the potential to reach the larger audience that cyber bullying is viewed as more serious than other bullying as more get to hear about it.

In my opinion, one should not feel that technological advancement is the sole cause of all these problems and poor victims taking their life because of cyber bullying. From the article, it is evident that some of the problems are also self-created. As long as there are irresponsible individuals, cyber and many other forms of bullying will happen. Unfortunate things will happen to victims who cannot take the stress.

Bullying in different forms has existed since a long time ago. Why do people living in the past not end up doing drastic acts like committing suicide when they are being bullied? I feel that perhaps it is because people nowadays are being pampered too much, therefore they cannot handle stress and obstacles well and end up making the wrong decision by ending their life.

Why shouldn’t we change our response to the situation, instead of trying to find ways to stop cyber bullying? Even if there is a definite way to prevent Internet users from cyber bullying, other forms of bullying will still take place. People should be taught more on how to deal and cope with such stress. In conclusion, I strongly feel that by helping to change a person’s mindset, it will do greater help than to try to stop cyber bullying.

Soon Min Jia Eunice (19)