Many actions have been proposed to prevent and combat harassment in various areas, mainly at school and at work. Traditionally, bullying faces insults, humiliation or physical aggression, but today, with new technologies, cyberbullying has emerged.
The digital world is part of our day-to-day life, we go to social media, we share a part of our lives and we face the reality of others, but it can be a double-edged sword. ? Read on and learn how to spot cyberbullying.
“If there are no heroes to save you, you must become a hero. -Denpa Kyoshi-
When we think of online harassment, insulting or threatening situations come to mind through instant messaging apps or social media, but not just that. To detect cyberbullying it is necessary to be clear that we can suffer in different ways, that is the first key.
Thus, we are also harassed if someone uses our identity on any of these social networks or apps and sends messages to other people under our name and image. Similarly, we will be victims of cyberbullying if someone offensively edits one of our photos and/or qualifies. them in an insulting way.
On the other hand, it also happens if someone records or takes pictures of us and publishes them without our consent on a web portal, in short, when someone uses technological means to perform unpleasant or offensive actions, harasses us.
Once we know clearly the situations in which we can talk about bullying in the virtual world, what should we do if we identify that we are in a similar situation?The second key point is to analyze and evaluate what happened. We have to think about how what is happening affects us socially and personally.
We can find several scenarios. First of all, it can really be a joke among minor friends and it doesn’t affect us. But it can also, on the contrary, be a situation in which we are offended, insecure and injured. In this case, we will get to the third key point: talking
“Never be mistreated in silence. Never allow yourself to be a victim. Do not accept that no one defines your life; describe it. “
If you are a minor, it is better to go to your parents and / or teachers, they can help you better solve the situation. But you don’t have to talk to them alone, you can also call friends or colleagues who can help you see exactly what’s going on, understand it, and support you.
With this we will implement the fourth key: collect information about what happened (don’t get rid of it, even if it’s unpleasant!). To do this, we will clarify what happened; how, when and for how long this happens, who is involved and what they intend to do, as well as the triggers of the situation.
Suffering from this harassment is unfair and painful, so we have to take it down, so we get to the last key point: finding solutions and creating them. As mentioned above, this is a complex situation, so you don’t need to be afraid or ashamed to ask for help.
“Often, the right path is the one that may be the hardest to follow, but the hardest path is also the one that will make you grow as a human being. -Karen Mueller Coombs-
To achieve this, we will have to analyze the information we collect, so we need to evaluate whether we can talk directly to the person or people involved to try to solve what is happening Once again, we don’t have to do it alone!
If we cannot solve what is happening, we will have to resort to other means, do we first need to draw the attention of a higher authority (school teachers or heads in the workplace) to take action on this issue?Remember: cyberbullying is the first step in solving it!
Images courtesy of Jay Wennington, Sergey Zolkin and Gilles Lambert.