Online Harassment Of Kids And Teens

• How can online harassment cause so much trouble for today's kids and teens?
• How do you stop it from happening?

First, let’s define what this kind of bullying means. We can start by saying that serious cases of online harassment almost always occur in a repeating pattern. That means the same online bully or group of bullies attacks the same victim several times or more. It's often a very negative form of communication which is totally unwelcome, unwanted, and often intimidating towards the victim. Sometimes, however, the bullies put on kind faces in order to hide their true intentions.

This type of online bullying can take many forms. It may be an email one day and an offensive picture the next day. It may be continuous text messaging through Internet-enabled cell phones. It can be hurtful messages posted on public social forums and network communities - these are very popular places for bullies who like to stalk their victims constantly. Online harassment, also called cyber bullying, is now considered to be a major problem at such enormous sites like Facebook and MySpace. Millions of people go to these sites every single day.

Kids and teens love these sites because the entire school they attend can read the posts they have carelessly written concerning their victims. They'll often lie, make jokes, and stir up gossip intended to defame or discredit. They can easily post pictures, audio files, videos, or anything else they can use to accomplish their goals. All this eventually adds up, and it gives enough power to the bully to recruit more members to further harass and intimidate the victims.

The life of a teen is based upon social interaction with peers. Their peers can have either good or bad influences upon them. The problem is that teens will do just about anything to be a part of a social group, and they very rarely take responsibility for cyber bullying or other bad behavior associated with that group.

The need to belong is more important than the negative activities that the group might be embarking upon. This is where online harassment can take route. Kids, especially teens, form peer groups in an attempt to feel wanted and respected. If those peer groups are into cyber bullying, then rather than being left out of the group and risk becoming a target, these youth will group together in camaraderie to harass their victim. It becomes more important to follow along with what the group is doing than to do what is morally right. Right for these kids is to follow the group no matter what, and wrong could mean that they might become the victim if they were to leave or be kicked out of the group. Their rationale is that you are either a friend (meaning group member) or you are the enemy, and there are no 'in-betweens'.

Online harassment often occurs simply because the victims are not part of the group. The reasons for this type of bullying are many.

• They may have been part of the group at one time but had a falling out.
• Disagreed with the group leader.
• Made friends with someone the group did not approve of.
• There may be jealousy issues concerning teenage crushes.

Anyone or anything going against the group or it's philosophy could end up becoming the target of intense, systematic online harassment. The intended victim could be a new student at school who is made to feel very unwelcome. It could be someone who is shy, quiet, or tends to keep to themselves that is made to suffer through relentless teasing. Even a teen who dresses just a little differently than the others risks becoming a victim of ridicule.

For information on how to stop cyber bullying, click here now.