Many teenagers are forced to live with stressful Cyber stalkers and other social media users who post nasty updates. Last week I decided to create a fake account. I profiled myself as a 16 year old girl and uploaded some beautiful photos. Within two hours I had more than 200 friends and 50 direct messages. Surprisingly, most of my friends were men – desperate men. Some of them had the audacity to send nude pictures of themselves on my page. Most teenagers can’t handle pressure from the internet.
Truth be told, cyberbullying is now a bigger problem than drug abuse . Some social media users are always ready to throw gibes to others. Technically, people think celebrities are the only people who are bullied on social media. However, survey claim that most teenagers have been subjected to cyber bullying.
The study, by Vodafone, surveyed 5,000 teenagers aged 13-18 years old across 11 different countries; the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, New Zealand, Greece, South Africa, US, Ireland and the Czech Republic. Cyber bullying is taking root and the United Nations called for internet censorship to tackle the harassment of women and girls on social networks. Most teenagers agreed to the fact that Cyberbullying is now a bigger problem than drug abuse.
Also read:Twitter Finally Introduces “Report Tweet” To Curb Cyber Bullying.
In Kenya, The Communications Authority launched a campaign dubbed Child Online Protection. The campaign will run for a period of two years and will be carried out in various phases. The authority is currently working on the first phase and bloggers went on Twitter to share their opinions under #BeTheCopKe. The other phases of the campaign will directly engage with students through various school activities and platforms.
Professor Dacher Keltner, a psychologist from Berkeley University, said it was vital that teenagers were able to offer support to their peers who may have been victims of cyberbullying. Reports Telegraph.
“A lot of emojis can be limited for communicating emotions. The bystander needs better tools. Specific emojis that they can send their friends to show that they are there for them,” he said.
Andrew Dunnett, Vodafone Foundation Director, said: “The results of the global survey which we believe to be one of the largest of its kind among teenagers in so many countries will be a serious concern for any parent.
“The new generation that was born digital thrives in a world of constant connectivity, but there are clear risks for young people as well as benefits – and it is striking that cyberbullying troubles many young people more than drug abuse.
“Our research showed many teenagers find it difficult to help their friends when cyberbullying is happening, and the #BeStrong campaign has been created to help them convey emotional support.”
