Back in the day, we had to walk in and among the livestock to determine their general health. Livestock will leave you alone especially during their feeding time, however, there was a two-thousand-pound Charolais bull that was temperamental and unpredictable. He would snort and stomp on the ground, picking up dust, and would poise himself to charge at you, all I needed was matador attire to give you the entire picture. One of this week's episode, a New York licensed psychologist discussed a growing problem with bullies that will do all they can to intimidate, humiliate, taunt, and habitually deprecate their target or victim, yes, other children by means of the internet. There has always been bullies since the inception of the human family, however, cyberbullies is a category all onto itself in terms of how much emotional damage this causes to children during their formative’s years. During my school years, there was once an incident of three boys that surrounded me to threaten and pounce on me, but this was thwarted when they saw my older brother coming around the block and they scurried away like no bodies business. However, when children are cyber attacked, it only takes one child that could be a ninety-pound weakling or even a girl, because many times it is anonymous.
The psychologist sent me a list of forty-two methods of examples of cyberbullying and here are a few which are not limited to just children. 1: Images Bash Boards: Defamatory content a cyberbully posts in chat rooms, online forums, and message boards. 2: A cyberbully creates a blog and then makes their target the central character and topic of defamatory posts. 3: Cyberbullying by Proxy: Using deception, encouragement, or manipulation; a cyberbully persuades other online users to harass their target. 4: Cyberstalking: When a cyberbully uses intimidation and persistent taunting that frightens their target 5: posts melodramatic content to alarm or defame their target. 6: Cyber Threats: When a cyberbully falsely implies their target is in danger from unknown or nefarious assailants, which causes the target distress. 7: Denigration: When a cyberbully sends or publishes cruel rumors, gossip, and false assertions about a target; trying to damage their reputation or friendships. 8: Digital Piracy Inclusion: When a cyberbully persuades their target to engage in illegal digital piracy and then reports them to the authorities, their parents, or educators. 9: Exclusion: When a cyberbully informs their target that they are not invited to a social activity that other peers will be attending. 10: Happy Slapping: While the target is physically attacked and simultaneously recorded; the images and video are posted online by the cyberbully. By Dr. Michael Nuccitelli NYC Psychologist. As the information age grows, the issue of cyber-attacks will assuredly get worse, he says. He believes that this social problem with children should be an educational mandate in the curriculum in public and private schools from K-12. I tend to agree with him; however, this education should start within the nuclear family. The principles that should be implemented in the home like not allowing any electronic devices in the bedroom is fundamental to keeping our children safe. In fact, he indicated that there should be times during our day when the entire family is together to put all devices in a basket, thus, engendering better communication and bonding. It reminded me of an episode we did a few months ago regarding the Amish community where they employ these principles during dinner and other times of the day not allowing any electronic distractions. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. Whoever coin this phrase was foolish and completely detached from social reality to say the least. The human condition as we see it today, verbal abuse. Epithets, slurs, and character defamation will continue to injure as much as physical violence. Language is a powerful tool that can be likened to carrying a hammer of which on one end you have the part to tear down or the other side to build, it is our choice how we use it. Statistics indicate 45% of children experience cyberbullying before they turn eighteen. Here are some initiative-taking steps. 1: Stay calm and collected: Take a deep breath and push yourself away from your electronic device, and if it would help take a walk. Remember that bullies have their own personal issues and are trying to get a rise out of you to make themselves feel better about their own problems 2: Never reply: Many times, staying quiet or tacit speaks louder than words, never engage, otherwise, you are giving the cyberbully what he or she wants, a response. It is often the case; the cyber-attack will stop when there is no interaction. 3: Make a log: Never delete the online activity you are receiving but make a record of the attacks by taking a screen shot, hence, you would have evidence to share with your parents, school counselors and law authorities. Did you know that at one time the word (bully) had a positive connotation? It is interesting to me; bullies have not always been thought as an intimidating and threatening playground bully. In the English lexicon in the 16th century, bully was analogous to the word (lover). Let us do what we can to get back to that!
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