Causes of Cyberbullying

We can’t deny the fact that cyber-bullying is becoming more and more of an issue, as new online platforms are being created. Simply put, bullies now can be bullies in a lot more places. Cyber-bullying can certainly be devastating and harmful to one’s mental health as an effect, also the affects it has on a person’s future. Many people suffer from psychological issues due to being bullied in person or through a virtual platform, but what I’m interested in is the cause of Cyber-bullying or bullying in general not the effects.

What makes a bully who he is? We all have thought about it. Why would a person go out of his way to cause misery and sadness to others? Well reasons do vary from person to another, but all of them have something in common which is problems. Yes, problems are what creates the bully, whether they are family, social or even mental problems. According to Dr. Martyn Wild a cyber safety expert says” Cyber-bullying is poised to turn into the biggest online concern, already affecting up to 35% of all children.” One more thing Cyber-bullies share is cowardness, they all hide behind a screen or a phone may it be a 20th century computer screen. It’s the fact that they are anonymous and aren’t physically involved is what makes them comfortable doing what they do.

It has been proven that family issues are one of the major causes of bullying, albeit face to face or cyber bullying. For instance, problems within a household can affect the behavior of individuals in the outside world. To illustrate, a bad divorce could be a cause where the parents are not raising their children properly or not giving them the attention they need. Which might lead to the feeling of being unrecognized and cause need of attention. Moreover, abuse or suppression can feed a person plenty of negative feelings and cause them mental problems and resulting in an emotional discharge, that can be translated to hurting others physically or in an incorporeal manner through the media or online.

It is believed by many that the brain plays a role in this matter, whether it’s through mental problems or fulfilling one’s desires and satisfying one’s ego. What I think is a cause too is superiority complex which is a disorder that makes a person insecure and anxious about their shortcomings and weaknesses, consequently harassing others to hide where they lack. Another related matter is “schadenfreude” which means according to Wikipedia “is the experience of pleasure, joy, or self-satisfaction that comes from learning of or witnessing the troubles, failures, or humiliation of another.” That alone is a problem that needs fixing and a solution of its own. Some might say these issues are related to social status and social relations, and that takes us to the next cause.

Establishing social relations in the real world or the social media might push people to bully others, be it to draw attention or to maintain popularity. Simply put, it is to hide a person’s failure by pointing out other’s failures and showing superiority over others, and that brings us back to the “superiority complex”. A lot of the times it’s just a simple feeling like envy, that alone could push some to harass and hinder said person’s reputation, just to take them down and take away what they have from them.

To conclude, we can categorize the causes to two categories personal and social, and the latter could be divided to two parts. The first, family limited and the second, with society online or offline. Also, bullies are the result of conflict, whether it’s mental or social, so let’s not fight fire with fire by blaming it all on the bullies themselves. In the end, we can see that the bullies are not always the convicts, sometimes they are victims of life’s bullying. We should broaden our view on matters such as this matter to see the whole picture and make a righteous and just judgement without discriminating any side.

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