Say No to Cyberbullying.                                                                                                                                 Have you ever been cyber bullied? Cyberbullying happens when kids bully each other through electronic technology. Some examples of cyberbullying include mean text messages or emails, or rumors sent by email or posted on social media. It also includes pictures, videos, or fake profiles. When cyberbullying happens it is very important for you to report it. As long as kids have accessories,computer, or other devices that can hurt other people.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Cyberbullying happens a lot in high school. I interviewed a high schooler and asked him about cyberbullying in high school. His name is Ahmed Shenaq ,and he is an 11th grader at Fordson High School. I asked him if he ever got cyber bullied and this was his response “In 9th grade I got cyber bullied a lot”. “When I first got braces people would call me brace face through Kik and Instagram.” This is a big example of cyber bullying. I asked him what he thinks the solution to cyberbullying is. This was his response, “Maybe if kids used less time online it would be harder for them to get cyber bullied”. This can be a solution but most kids can’t go a day without technology.

        I also interviewed Zainab Dabaja, a student from Unis Middle School; who has been cyber bullied. Getting bullied is one of the worse things that can happen to a person.  She is an 8th grader who has been cyber bullied. I asked her how it felt to be cyber bullied, and this was her response. “Getting cyber bullied is hurtful, It has effected me emotionally”. She has been cyber bullied several times.Frequent cyberbullying can leave both victims and bullies at a huge risk for anxiety and  depression, maybe even suicidal thoughts.

            The hardest thing for whoever is getting cyber bullied is to report it to a adult. So, I decided to interview the mother of one of a student at Unis Middle School. I first asked her what would some tips be for parents such as you to watch out for cyberbullying. “It’s hard to spot cyberbullying because you’re not constantly aware of what’s going on”. There are many ways to avoid getting cyber bullied, but spotting it is hard unless the student reports the situation. The easiest way to avoid getting cyber bullied would be to just simply block the bully on whatever social media site you are using. I also asked her what she thinks of cyberbullying as a parent. She told me, “Any type of bullying is wrong and no child should go through this”.                             

          I also found out that many teachers witness cyberbullying and some have students that report to them. Although most kids don’t they just suffer, and that is not good. So i decided to interview Mrs.Issa next to see what she thinks about cyberbullying. She is an 8th grade teacher at Unis Middle School. So the first thing i asked her was what she thinks about cyberbullying as a teacher. This was her response “Cyberbullying really needs to be taken seriously as if it was physical bullying”. Mrs.Issa has also witnessed cyberbullying. She explained to me what happened. It all started when a boy was talking about another boy’s mom on instagram. This caused the boys to have a physical fight in the bathroom. They both ended up getting suspended. What’ the point of cyberbullying someone? In the end you will end up  getting in trouble. Why would you want to hurt some one else’s feelings? Its wrong! The last question I asked Mrs.Issa was what she thinks the solution to cyberbullying is. She actually had an awesome idea. She said “A solution would be to have an open discussion where teachers give students anonymous tips. I think this would help many students that are getting cyber bullied.

                    Cyberbullying is something I believe no student should be a victim of. Most kids should stop wanting to use the internet or phones because of this situation. Some kids even have a withdrawal from family members or friends. They start to get the feeling that in this world they are nothing, when that is not true. Some more ways to avoid getting cyber bullied would be to limit the access to technology and for parents to know about their kids online world. So we all need to work together on stopping cyberbullying. I think that if we all work together we can come up with a variety of ways to stop cyberbullying.

Mariam Shenaq

Middle School Journalist.