Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying is the type of bullying that happens in digital spaces such as the internet. This is where there are individuals who share texts, images, or videos that can be hurtful to other people. In the social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok, people can share whatever they may wish to share even though it can be harmful to other digital citizens. This is what leads to cyberbullying, and the victims may suffer some undesirable effects as a result of cyberbullying. Even the perpetrators may be subjected to undesirable consequences themselves.

Consequences of cyberbullying:

Victims:

• May experience depression.

• Commit suicide.

• Bad digital footprint.

Perpetrators:

• May face legal actions (arrests and convictions).

• May be permanently banned from digital spaces.

• May have a permanent negative digital footprint.

Learners need to understand that cyberbullying is an illegal serious matter and the way it is dealt with can be extremely harsh. Bullying online simply means that one is not a good digital citizen, contradicting digital citizenship because it is against the values and standards of the general digital public. They also need to be able to protect themselves from being the victims of cyberbullying.

Some ways to protect yourself from cyberbullying (Gordon, 2022):

• Ensure that your social accounts are private.

• Avoid sharing info that can be used to identify who you are by strangers.

• Have strong digital passwords.

The following short video below unpacks cyberbullying: https://youtu.be/niaDJdEXk9U