Chapter 1 WHAT IS CYBERBULLYING Imagine this You’re in the school lunchroom eating with friends Someone just told a funny joke You and your friends are laughing Then someone else from your class walks by He reaches out and knocks over your milk carton He laughs at you hysterically Bullying often happens when adults aren’t around What do you call bullying that happens online 4 44
You are covered with milk You are embarrassed And this happens almost every day This is an example of bullying Now imagine this You get home after school and find that someone has sent you dozens of nasty e-mails The sender has called you names The sender has even threatened to hurt you The e-mails also include links to embarrassing pictures that the sender posted of you You feel awful And this happens almost every day This is an example of bullying too It’s called cyberbullying Cyberbullying is any bullying that happens online Cyberbullying can make victims feel afraid to go online 5
Both online and in-person bullying can make victims feel upset and scared Cyberbullying has much in common with face-to-face bullying In both cases one kid or a group of kids tries to make another kid feel embarrassed weak or afraid Both kinds of bullying can include things like destroying someone else’s property or making threats of violence When someone bullies you in person she might take your backpack When someone bullies you online he might send a virus to attack your computer or fill your e-mail inbox with hundreds of threatening messages 6
Did You Know Adults can be victims of cyberbullying too Police often use the word cyberharassment to describe threatening online behavior when it happens between adults Whether the victim is a child or an adult cyberbullying is never okay Any online harassment needs to be taken very seriously Adults sometimes also face threatening online behavior 7
