Cyber Bullying in Ireland

Irish Gov't Seeks To Rein In Cyber Bullying

An anonymous reader points out a story on the Irish Times that says "the Irish government is looking for ways to combat 'cyber-bullying' after data indicated that a significant percentage of young children are subjected to this kind of abuse via their mobile phone and popular social network accounts. The industry has been asked to come up with solutions for this problem and a government office is due to publish a guide on the issue in the near future. Surely this is a problem faced by children in all developed countries these days." (Slashdot.org)

http://news.slashdot.org/news/08/11/14/0230256.shtml

When I received the assignment I was a little skeptical about writing something from Slashdot.org because of the news content and not visiting the site before. When I saw the content from Cyber-Bullying I remember the documentary/ news report we watched in class. The Government of Ireland has absolute right to consider the possible dangers of bullying online. More and more children, teens, even adults are becoming constant users of the Internet. Does the social aspects of Internet Networking make people more vulnerable to act more aggressively to others? Considering the possibilities that this may in fact be true. People seem to have no fear leaving feedback on someone's profile.

Having my own Facebook, as well as a Myspace page, communication between others is relativity limited because their is no non-verbal communication to interact with. Non-verbal communication is largely misunderstood.A hand gesture or facial expression can lead to another to believe the person in sending negative messages to them. Although "nonverbal communication" is limited these web pages have multiple accesses to use to talk and stay in touch with your friends. You can message, post blogs, and even chat live with your friends.

It's when a few bad apples that take away the fun and make socializing online difficult. I have to agree with bigtomrodney (993427) who is pro government control over online bullying. I am very happy that someone is taking the step to control this bad behavior. It's not even the kids anymore. Adults online are just as guilt as their kids. Sending bad emails or making posts around work is bad for business and creates tension in the workplace.

Didn't your mother tell you "If you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all."

I don't know exactly how the government plans to take action over this predicament, but bullying isn't so much on a computer anymore. It's on cell phones and mobile communication devices that allow online access. How is it the government plans to watch every bad cellphone message, or follow rumors or gossip about someone.

If I could propose a solution it would be to explain the dangers and harmful effects of online bullying. Kids these days are growing up with new technological advancements, which allow them to socialize differently. Communicaiton has changed dramatically over the past 20 years because of the access to the Internet, emails, and cell phones. Coming from someone who was once bullied the "old school" was I would NOT want anyone else to feel the same I did. Especailly when online commiction changes your perspectives and limits your ability to control what happens.