Did you know that nearly forty three percent of kids have been bullied online? Cyber-bullying has increased due to social platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat just to name a few. Since more kids have smart phones, it is easy access to these forms of social media as well as being able to send mass text messages. The use of cellphones and technology in our world today has increased bullying among teens, especially girls bullying other girls.

About eighty percent of teens have a cellphone making it the common form of cyber-bullying. Forms of cyber-bullying include texting mean messages to the one being bullied, sending texts or posting mean messages for peers to see at school, and sending or posting inappropriate pictures of the student being bullied to everyone at school. Even though it is not face-to-face, it can affect kids at school because their classmates treat them differently. Being able to hide behind technology has made it easier for cruelty and the bully generally does not feel that they will have any consequences. Girls are twice as likely to be bullied or be the bully when compared to boys. When girl’s bully, they do it in a way that causes more emotional distress than physical, alienating others, prank phone calls, harassing emails, spreading rumors and malicious verbal interactions. This leaves the ones who are being bullied feeling alone with low self-esteem. Those who are two to nine times more likely to consider committing suicide due to how they are viewed by peers.

Although there is a lot of evidence to tie bullying to social media, not everyone believes this is true. Regardless of a person’s belief on technology and its roles in bullying, all agree that bullying has increased. Some would argue that bullying has existed for a long time as a way for teens to build social hierarchies and seize power over peers. The Internet, media, and technology do give more examples and make some believe that social media is a key component for bullying. However, media makes cyber-bullying more transparent but traditional forms of bullying are less reported. One could say Bullying is human nature. Kids and teens tend to pick it up from their surroundings. The increase in bullying is due to dynamic of the bullies. In past years there was a single bully who tormented kids, but the dynamic has changed to a group of bullies. Kids do not always perceive bullying the same way adults do. Eighteen percent of U.S. students are bullied. Of those bullied, eighty percent believe that cyber-bullying is a traditional form of bullying. Since bullying is a learned behavior, technology and social media are not the reason for bullying.

The increase in bullying is directly correlated to kids use of cellphones and technology. All forms of cyber-bullying can have a major negative impact on students who are bullied. With so many forms of social media, the possibilities of bullying are endless, and it tends to be worse for girls. There are some that believe social media is not to blame because bullying is natural and occurs already. As a kid who has been bullied, I can relate to those who are and test that cyber-bullying truly has a negative impact on on one’s self-esteem.