Cyberbullying is a new phenomenon that came into existence with the invention of the Internet. Cyberbullying is a form of harassment and humiliation through the virtual world. Research reported that 83% of the research participants in Indonesia experienced cyber victimization. This makes cyberbullying a significant problem among Indonesian teenagers and therefore deserves serious consideration.

To be a victim of cyberbullying can be very traumatic as it can hurt you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In 2011 the American movie Cyberbully came out. The movie explores the life of the teenage girl Taylor Hillridge. When Taylor turns seventeen, her mother gives her a computer and Taylor starts to use social media for the first time. As a joke, fellow high school students start to say bad things about her on a social networking site. The cyberbullying gets so out of hand, that Taylor does not want to go to school anymore in fear of what other students may say to her. She is afraid that others believe the lies that are being said about her online. At some point Taylor starts to think that it is her own fault that her classmates are so mean to her and she begins to hate herself. By showing Taylor’s case and following the desperation that takes hold of her, the makers of the movie want to warn viewers of the consequences of cyberbullying and give suggestions on how to act against it.

The act of cyberbullying often seems anonymous, so people generally say more than they would in a face-to-face situation. An interesting notion in the movie is that the perpetrator of cyberbullying does not realize that her words hurt the victim so much. To her, her actions are a form of joke. Taylor however, believes the painful words of her bully and assumes that it is the way everyone thinks about her. She attaches a lot of importance to what is being said online.

What makes cyberbullying more intense than traditional bullying, is that a single aggressive text or message is repetitive in nature. A message on social media is open for many people to see and it can be viewed repeatedly by the target whenever they go on to the website. Furthermore, thousands of people can view insults posted online because once something is out in cyberspace, there is no way to control what happens with it. There is no way to delete it completely. Traditional bullying can be defined as an aggressive act that is intended to distress or cause harm to the target, that is usually repeated over time, and that occurs among people among whom there is a power imbalance. This power imbalance can be physical, social, relational, or psychological. Other than with traditional bullying however, direct observation of the effects of bullying on the victim is not possible because of the online nature of the interaction. It impairs chances of empathy and remorse on the part of the perpetrator. This is different from traditional bullying incidents at school, where a few dozen at most may be witness.

Retaliation is the action most often taken by the victims in order to make the bully stop their harassment. However, as a counsellor suggests in the movie, this can work like throwing oil onto the fire and makes the situation worse. Another tactic that Taylor attempts is to ignore the bullying and act as if she does not care. Her last option is to call out to the bully and tell her how much her words hurt. Cyberbullying is often thought to be a problem of mostly female middle school students. However, it also occurs amongst adults and even though females are more likely to engage in cyberbullying than males , it also happens extensively amongst teenage boys.

Youth, whose parents are more attentive of the online activities of their children and communicate with them about Internet safety, show lower cyberbullying victimization rates. Therefore, teenagers should be informed on how to engage wisely in online social media, to cope with acts of bullying and to manage themselves appropriately when cyberbullying occurs.

Soeliah Hellwig

Universiteit Van Amsterdam