“Cyberbullying is a very widespread problem in the IT world, especially in the world of video games and social media, including insults and teasing of people you want to harm and make them feel bad”
What is cyberbullying?
The expression “cyberbullying” has been used for some years to describe forms of aggression, harassment and discrimination which have found fertile ground for development in all the new opportunities for communication, sharing and exchange of information made possible by the now widespread and generalized access to Internet network. Even though they lack the physical and material dimension that characterizes the most classic bullying episodes, the attitudes attributable to the notion of cyberbullying must not be underestimated at all: the virtual context in which they are placed and at the same time the feeling of anonymity and impunity that the use of IT tools can falsely generate in younger users represent unprecedented and particularly alarming elements, due to the even serious consequences that the indiscriminate use of the web can cause.
The first case in Italy
The first case of cyberbullying was in 2002 in Genoa, the victim named Carolina was a 14 year old girl, sporty, intelligent, unfortunately envy is an ugly beast but above all the ignorance of her peers pushed her to remove herself life at the age of 14. This is how Paolo Picchio, father of Carolina, remembers her daughter, the very young girl who in 2013 threw herself out of the window of her house after receiving insults and teasing on the web. His story travels together with his father who every day renews his commitment to explain to the new generations that a word hurts more than a punch, he goes around schools to talk about bullying and cyberbullying saying that they are absolutely bad things and if you see them and suffer from it, tell your parents immediately or report it on the apps created specifically by the postal police.
The letter that Carolina left
Carolina’s latest deeds have helped improve the world, the father, despite being saddened by what happened to his daughter, is happy that Carolina had the courage to write the reason that pushed her to take the extreme action. In her last letter Carolina writes:
“Why this? Well, bullying, that’s all.
Words hurt more than blows, much more, but I wonder. don’t they hurt you? are you that insensitive?
I hope you will be a little more sensitive about words now.
It doesn’t matter what language it is, the meaning is the same…”
The birth of online bullying
The birth of online bullying is linked to the development of modern technological devices. Bullying actions can involve verbal harassment, physical aggression and persecution, usually all taking place in a school setting. New generations live in a technology-dependent society, and many are unable to distinguish what is real from what is virtual. But it is true that what happens in the virtual world also affects you in real life, which is why cyberbullying can be a serious danger for an individual who has been targeted.
Cyberbullying has emerged in recent decades, in parallel with the growing diffusion of the internet and digital technologies.
The caracteristics of cyberbullying
With the evolution of technology and the growth of devices connected to the internet, bullying has taken new forms, as the name in English says “Cyberbullying” (Electronic Bullying) which indicates the use of IT devices to essentially harm someone.
Cyberbullying has specific characteristics:
Anonymity, the ease of access to PCs, smartphones and tablets allows the cyberbully to carry out acts of physical and/or psychological violence anonymously, via social networks, offending the victim through the dissemination of denigrating material such as texts, photos and images or with the creation of groups against it.
Anonymity, the ease of access to PCs, smartphones and tablets allows the cyberbully to carry out acts of physical and/or psychological violence anonymously, via social networks, offending the victim through the dissemination of denigrating material such as texts, photos and images or with the creation of groups against it.
The breadth with which the materials sent can be expanded far beyond the circle of acquaintances and sometimes this can cause problems for the targeted victim.
Another typical phenomenon of cyberbullying is the perpetrator’s way of devaluing things by labeling the events as “jokes” or by shaking off the blame by saying “it’s not my fault” or “everyone was doing it and I added to it, it wasn’t my intention to offend was joking as friends.”
Nickname
Putting a video online is illegal if you do not have the consent of the other person, furthermore another important aspect of cyberbullying is that it does not occur directly, not face to face but all behind a screen where no one can see you.
The bully obviously always has a nickname to hide his real name.
Why does someone become a bully?
The reasons behind bullying are difficult to understand and very often have a profound origin: from the abuse that children may have received, when they can no longer manage their anger. The causes of such behavior may be a feeling of abandonment. In fact, the bully is a fragile, suffering individual and uses that behavior to make fun of the weakest. They usually do this to feel strong and in control of the situation. To accommodate the pressure of the problems he has at home. Because he has little social skills and self-control skills. To address self-esteem and confidence issues. Or because they themselves were victims of bullying or violence. Boys are usually more involved in direct and physical violence while girls are more likely to act at a different level, tending to hurt others through psychological violence, spreading false rumors, breaking friendships or promoting social exclusion .
How it comes cyberbullying
Cyberbullying defines a set of actions carried out with electronic tools such as telephones, the aim of which is to cause harm to a peer.
When Covid happened, cyberbullying exploded as many people use the web as a form of outlet, picking on the weakest, insulting them and making many fake advertisements specifically to deceive other people.
The cyberbully can be defined as a normal person, with an age ranging between 10 and 18 years, in real life he may even seem “harmless”, but behind the computer screen he loses all his restraints and lets himself go on the internet.
Interview
We interviewed a 15-year-old boy who encountered a rather delicate issue, bullying. Since he was 6 years old, the boy has always been targeted, and from what he tells us, no one has ever intervened to defend him and the parents themselves preferred not to intervene to avoid making the situation worse. The boy was taken into the care of a specialist for this reason. After a chat, the boy tells us that he would like to help people who find themselves or who could end up in the same situation as him and that is why he is undertaking this interview and wants to make his story “public”.
It all started at the age of 6, from an early age he had the misfortune of experiencing and understanding what it meant to be a victim of bullying.
Bullies begin their “carnage” as children and we remember that the wickedness of an out-of-control child knows no limits, perhaps also thanks to the naivety that fails to realize what he is doing. For the mothers of these children it is impossible to justify their child treating another child badly and so instead of trying to understand the problem many parents resort to lectures which obviously does not have a good effect on the child. Perhaps this is also why the wickedness of many does not disappear as they grow up but becomes stronger in adolescence. The boy, despite this situation, does not lose the desire to smile and confides that his reason for living is contained in a phrase “The sun will come out anyway”.