Lana, a thirteen-year-old girl, an intelligent girl with a high sense of sensitivity, exceptional social skills that were destined to be repressed, and a beautiful self-confidence that was fading to the point of fading away... All this because of the tired family home in which Lana lived, where affection deserted and gaps took over. The number of household members increases, the voice of controversy rises, and the sound of laughter is stifled.
Lana moved to live with her father after his separation from her mother and in turn took a new classroom seat in her new school in her new class. Of course, the new life into which our young heroine was inserted without any regard for what she might suffer, Lana had no room for new friendships or even fellowship, so she began to work after her school day on her mobile phone to dive into what might forget her new reality and fill the vacancy of loneliness in it.
One day, Lana notices someone's interest in her around.. a boy who likes her on her page in one of the social media platforms, he sees her and notices her.. and she in turn reciprocates some of her interest, and he took interest in the exchange for weeks until he became a close friendship and ended in a relationship Electronic sentiment.
Finally, our child Lana found someone who could throw some weight at him, even if she had never met him, because he was the best person present. She could tell him what was going around in her house and how her father's separation from her mother was a dramatic scene that she will not forget, and how her new life does not fit her. to grow or belong.
Lana slept lighter than ever that day, comforted by the fact that she was not alone anymore, to go the next morning to her school heading to her class, which was no less strange than it seemed before...
Everyone stares at her, looks varnished between bitter pity and mockery and mockery and disdain; Finally, Lana realizes that her online boyfriend was none other than one of her classmates who took her curiosity about the new introverted girl as an excuse to break into her isolation and as a means of entertainment and entertainment among her group's friends.
What a heavy way to start the article but why does this story sound so familiar? Not knowing where the error begins and ends, what exactly is wrong and who is at fault in a context that is not unique, the bully plays the starring role and feeds on a victim in the weakest and most exposed.
What was reviewed in the above story is one of the forms of electronic bullying that abounds in its forms and multiple forms and methods, and which we will resume our talk about in the coming lines, so we review its concept, ways to confront it, and more awareness about it to protect against it.
Cyber bullying concept
The concept of cyberbullying is summarized in all actions that aim to destabilize the targeted victim psychologically or socially, through correspondence, publication or sharing of private or fabricated information or pictures with the aim of harming someone and causing them embarrassment or for the purpose of making them feel insulted.
While it is easy for us to distinguish the conventional bullying represented in direct physical or verbal harm, electronic bullying hides in digital folds and corridors in which it does not leave tangible harm, except that its stains on the victim’s psyche may remain permanent and do not disappear or be seen. Cyber bullying does not appear alone without a digital device that embraces it, as this type of bullying is manifested through text messages, applications and social networking sites in all its forms, not to mention video games, especially those that provide spaces for chatting and sharing content. As for its channels and the most popular platforms on which it abounds, we mention them:
- Social networking sites: such as Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, and Snapchat
- Texting and messaging apps on smartphones and tablets
- Online and instant messaging on the Internet
- Online play groups
With the proliferation of forums and social networking sites through which content is created and images and publications are shared, where both acquaintances and strangers alike can view them, a person's solid digital reputation is formed, and his activities, views, and even electronic behaviors become a public record, or rather a reference available to all parties to which this is submitted. The person, whether from schools, universities, jobs, clubs, or even as a result of a quick current or future research, which increases the percentage of cyberbullying and the possibilities of it occurring within these environments.