“Bullying” is a new term in the Arab world, unlike what the Western world has known for a long time. In a quick glance at the Arab heritage, we find many blatant examples of bullying, but the interaction of this bad trait with developments in the modern era opened eyes to its effects on personality, mental health and quality of life. No wonder that cyberbullying is one of the most common forms of bullying in the current era, as bullies consider it a means of fun, laughter, or revenge.. Sociologist Abdullah Al-Baqawi believes that cyberbullying is no different from the definition of general bullying ( school, occupational, and marital bullying); What actually differs is the method of bullying, and cyberbullying or cyberbullying can be defined as any form of violence, abuse, abuse or harassment using technology, the Internet and modern communication devices, including threats, blackmail, embarrassment, hate and racist messages, and the publication of personal information or photos and videos Leaked content, or content designed to harass and humiliate a person – or a group -, and every electronic practice intended to annoy and harass a person.
Al-Baqawi adds that despite the clear impact of cyberbullying on adults and adults; However, the greatest danger of cyberbullying threatens children, as young people are exposed to various forms of cyberbullying and abuse through platforms and online games, without having the necessary knowledge and ability to defend themselves, which necessitates families to have more knowledge of bullying issues and how to protect children.
Scandals, verbal attacks and hate
Sociologist Meshaal Al-Shammari confirms that the types of cyberbullying are the same as the general types of bullying in terms of substance, with the exception of physical assault, as this is not possible on the Internet, but cyberbullying may be a precursor to assault and physical bullying, and the most prominent types of cyberbullying are verbal assault via the Internet. Such as comments, publications, and messages that aim to disturb, harass, or harm a person or a group of people. Verbal bullying also includes the use of words, insults, sexual expressions, hateful or racist expressions, and cyberbullying also by publishing personal information and pictures when someone intends to publish personal information publicly. Without the permission of its owner, and this personal information is confidential, embarrassing, or causes humiliation to its owner, and this category also includes publishing conversations without the permission of the other party, and this type of cyberbullying may be planned by deceiving the victim with security and confidence to obtain information, pictures or statements with the aim of using them Scandalously, this is called phishing. Among the forms of bullying are hacking, surveillance, and theft of personal accounts, as the bully accesses the personal account either for the purpose of monitoring, or to impersonate the victim and post in her name or modify her profile in an abusive way, or comment in the name of the victim in abusive comments.
Expulsion from the group.. bullying
It is considered to create a fake account impersonating the victim; With the aim of offending and defaming reputation, it is a form of bullying, and there is collective and organized cyberbullying, and although the case of individual bullying is the most common via the Internet, the case of organized and group bullying can be observed, as a group of people targets a specific person and pursues him in an abusive and continuous manner, Cyber ostracism is one of the forms of organized bullying, where a group of people agree to reject a certain person and remove him from the group, for example.
Al-Shammari reviewed the bullying of content makers; Such as targeting Al-Sanea to a specific person or group of people with hate speech, racism, abuse, or scandal, as well as sharing offensive content not only by writing, but by sharing it and contributing to its spread, which is a form of cyberbullying. Sharing scandals or information that constitutes abuse of a person or group is considered cyberbullying. , whether tweets, posts on Facebook, videos and photos, or sharing through groups.
School bullies
According to a research study prepared by the King Abdullah Research Center, it was found that the rate of bullying in Saudi Arabia is 47% among children, and 25% among adolescents. According to a report issued by the National Committee for Childhood in the Kingdom, 57.1% of boys and 42.9% of girls suffer from bullying in schools. A survey prepared by the Family Safety Program at the Ministry of National Guard, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, on peer violence (bullying) showed that about 32.9% of students are subjected to peer violence sometimes, and 15% of students are constantly bullied.
Cases of doubling the penalty
Legal advisor Salman Al-Ramali explained to Okaz that the punishment for bullies, according to the fifth paragraph of Article Three of the Information Crimes Law, is imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year, and a fine not exceeding 500,000 riyals, or one of these two penalties. For everyone who defames and harms others through various information technologies.
And he indicated that the prison sentence or the fine shall not be less than half of its maximum limit if the crime is associated with the perpetrator committing the crime through an organized gang, the perpetrator occupied a public position, and the crime was connected to this position, or committed the crime exploiting his powers or influence in addition to deceiving minors and their equivalents, and exploiting them for sure. That the fourth paragraph of Article 3 of the system applies to bullies, and infringement of private life by misusing mobile phones equipped with cameras, or the like.
5 ways to deal with bullying
– Tell someone
According to DoSomething.org, only 1 in 10 victims tells a trusted adult about cyberbullying, while 68% of teens agree that cyberbullying is a serious problem. Many times this lack of communication stems from embarrassment or fear. Children worry that telling an adult will make the harassment worse once the bully is found out, or that teachers and parents will be unable to do anything to stop the abuse. You should intervene if you think your children are being bullied online.
– Keep everything
In some cases, bullying goes beyond inconvenience and reaches criminal threats and harassment, and this is what happened with “EasyDex”, who committed suicide in September 2013 after being subjected to constant harassment via the Internet, and although the police launched an investigation into the incident, enforcement agencies did not find The law lacks any evidence to indict those responsible for Easy's death. Her mother, Gabby, has now obtained records showing a pattern of bullying on social media and wants the case reopened.
– Not responding
Nobullying.com reports that 55% of all teens who use social media have witnessed some form of bullying, and 95% of them have ignored the behavior completely. To combat this, he recommends a combination of acknowledgment and distancing.
– know more
According to InternetSafety101.org, only 7% of parents are concerned about cyberbullying, even though 33% of teens have been victims.
Understanding the scope
Many adults believe that social media is a potential platform for bullying behaviour, and they are right. However, with 73% of teens now using smartphones, the range of potential harm is even greater.
Jealousy and compensation
The expert, Abdullah Al-Baqawi, says that the reasons for cyberbullying differ from one person to another and stem from jealousy and compensating for a deficiency. Usually, bullies resort to communication as a means to solve their problems in practical and real life. The bully may also be subjected to bullying and abuse in his professional life, at school, or at home. Then, he reflects the experience on the virtual reality, as he has wider and safer options to release his anger and tension.
Cyberbullying does not need courage, and one of the most important motivators and motives is that it is less dangerous for the bully than other types, as cyberbullying does not require a direct confrontation with the victim, and there are no clear consequences for the practice of bullying on the Internet, and the means of cyberbullying allow the bully to hide his identity And it allows him to withdraw easily when feeling threatened and also not seeing the results of bullying, and seeing the victim's reaction may be a reason for stopping bullying, as the bully feels that he has caused obvious harm to his victim, so he stops and backs down, while in cyberbullying, the bully thinks that he is doing something fun and may find it funny without To see the victim's reaction and its impact.
Enjoying revenge!
81% of adolescents who participated in a survey about bullying reported that they find bullying fun because they do not see the reaction of the other party. For some, the behavior leads to revenge by targeting a person. Revenge may be social revenge and a reaction to bullying or abuse, especially among children and vulnerable groups. One of the most complex causes of bullying is the search for affiliation, as bullies resort to abuse as a kind of response to pressure and reinforce their affiliation with the group, because they believe that insulting others enhances their value among the group to which they belong, and this appears clearly in adolescents, and among patients with racism in various ways. forms. Al-Baqawi believes that the most important means of treating cyberbullying is ignoring offensive comments, not responding, working on banning and reporting, and staying away from communication platforms if the person is unable to confront and respond.
Shocking global numbers
This year, the US Department of Health and Human Services revealed that the most common means of cyberbullying are Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, text and instant messages via chat applications or messaging options.
Cyberbullying statistics for the year 2021 AD revealed shocking numbers about the spread of the phenomenon globally. Including that 53% of American users of the Internet have been subjected to cyberbullying, more than half of them via Facebook, 34% of children have been subjected to cyberbullying at least once, and 48.7% of students in Asian countries have been subjected to bullying by posting embarrassing videos to them and the age most exposed to bullying Cyberbullying is between 13 and 15 years old, and only 38% of children tell their parents about being bullied on the Internet, and most cases of cyberbullying make fun of health and mental problems and people with special needs, and 75% of cyberbullies mock autistic patients, 70% make fun of flaws Physical, 52% ridicule learning problems and difficulties, girls are more likely to spread offensive rumors than boys, 21% of victims of bullying in the United States are girls at the secondary level, and 66% of females who have been subjected to harassment and cyberbullying feel helpless and frustrated. sleep disorders, and low self-esteem.
Motabalawwd (Hail) @Motabalawwd