Cyberbullying is the intentional dissemination of untrue, humiliating, or hostile information about another individual via digital media. Cell phones, computers, tablets, and other electronic devices and communication tools like websites, chat, social networking sites, programs, text messages, instant messages, and e-mail can all be used for this. Teens are most frequently at danger for cyberbullying, which can happen to any young person online and result in psychosocial consequences like anxiety, sadness, extreme social isolation, and even suicide.

People who are harmed by cyberbullying are the targets of such behaviour. Cyberbullying typically involves more than just the bully and the target. Numerous onlookers may engage in a variety of ways, such as passively observing, continuing the bullying, or taking action to prevent cyberbullying.

Let us go through some cyberbullying now:-

1. A new website is published in the name of the person: The person remains unknown

Ashley, who lives in Colorado, has been growing up just like any other adolescent, influenced by her peers just as much as by the advice of her parents. She didn’t realise, though, how intrusive the Internet could be without her knowledge or her control. Ashley’s bullying may appear harmless at first glance, but it might have been far more serious. Ashley was unaware that a classmate had started taking pictures of her when she was eleven years old.

The photos were subsequently included in an online portfolio along with a phoney social media profile. Ashley was the subject, and the website page was designed to appear as though Ashley had written everything herself. Ashley just learnt about the presence of the internet knowledge from acquaintances and other people.

The information was comprehensive as well; it contained her home address, school name, family details, birthdays, and more. Even worse, all of the material was left unfiltered and unrestricted for the whole public to access. When confronted, the page’s creator denied the deed. Ashley’s school friends started to shun her in the interim. Ashley had to enrol in a different middle school in order to break the cycle of freeze-out and get a “clean slate.”

The loss of a few friends was the extent of the harm in Ashley’s case. It could have been far worse, though. Furthermore, another child who had the time and resources to post anything they wanted for the world to read did the harm.

2. Nude Photo leaked online

Jessica Logan, a senior in high school at the age of 18, emailed her lover naked pictures of herself. The boyfriend shared the picture, which was intended solely for him, with hundreds of other kids over group chats after the couple split up. At school, the photo sharing resulted in ridicule and name-calling. Schoolmates frequently used terms like “slut, porn queen, and whore” to describe Jessica. Through text messages and Facebook, the teasing persisted.

Jessica was depressed and miserable. She began missing courses because she was scared to attend to school. It wasn’t until Jessica’s mother began receiving letters from the school informing her that her daughter was missing classes that she realised there was an issue. Jessica continued to miss lessons even after her mother took away her daughter’s car and drove her to school herself. She informed her mother that a group of younger girls had obtained the images in question and were using them to abuse and defame her. Regretfully, the mother was unaware of how hopeless her daughter truly was.

Upon learning of the harassment, the school administration promised to visit one of the students who owned the photos and instruct her to remove them from her phone and to never communicate with Jessica again. Talking to the parents of the girls who were bullying Jessica seemed like a good idea to Jessica’s mother, but her daughter claimed that would simply expose her to more mockery.

Jessica killed herself two months later.

3. The New Kid at school

A shy sixth-grader from out of state, Henry had just started school. While perusing a social media platform one day, he stumbled upon a website about the school that featured images of pupils, one of whom was tagged as “The Fat Nerd.” He expressed his dismay in a reply that he posted, upset.

As the posters got more offensive, some students started yelling remarks on the playground and in the lunchroom. It took several weeks for Henry to feel hurt and humiliated before anyone understood what was happening. Henry was so ashamed to notify his parents that they were unaware of it. At last, a teacher asked Henry what was happening after hearing some of the names. He talked about cyberbullying and the social media website.

Quick action was taken by the school, which had a zero-tolerance policy for bullying and had trained its instructors. After identifying the ringleaders, they had the person who created the unapproved school page remove it from the social networking platform with the assistance of their parents. Parents and students attended sessions led by school officials that focused on preventing cyberbullying.