Cyberbullys

So in class we discussed. I don't know if anyone was paying attention (probably not, but whatever), and I made my opinion heard. Kind of. We do a lot of bouncing around.

Kids will be kids. There's always a pecking order established, it's just the way things work. Human nature and all that. However, there is a certain stigma about it now. There's so much want for the 'good' things to counteract the omnipresent 'bad' that so many are bombarded with that bullying is no longer tolerated.

But that doesn't keep it from happening.

This emphasis on being nice is completely counteracted by the absence of actually teaching kids how to act human. It is the parents, teachers, and older siblings (if applicable) to teach kids how to deal with and interact with people. We're not doing that anymore. Once they can walk and talk and make food for themselves there's an increasing drop off in parental supervision. Once the kid is slightly independent then they're off to learn whatever they can. That wouldn't be too terrible - the latchkey kids and all that noise. But we have internet now. the internet is fricken horrifying. There's too much out there to be potentially found that can warp young minds by itself. Not to mention the people.

Oh God the people out there.

There is no better way to avoid reality than internet. We're demonstrated this through Second Life and probably experienced it once or twice in a chatroom or on a messaging site. We've heard about predators and all sorts of weird crap. And bullies (the creative things they are), have capitalized on the ability to hide behind a screen and harass at their leisure. While I'm not condoning this in any way, shape, or form; this is the INTERNET. The whole of this network is randomly cute or disgusting pictures and trolls. There are a few good things but not really. The majority of people let on here are assholes and they act accordingly. You can't let them get to you so much that they make you lose self worth. This place is full of hate spewing attention mongers.

Basically what I'm getting at is, yeah, people will be jerks and there will be trauma in every kids life. It just happens. While kids shouldn't be taught to be so PC that being called 'stupid' is totally demeaning, there shouldn't be people looking to rip open old wounds either. There should be supervision, parental involvement, something even remotely resembling human to human contact to take away from the impact of screen to screen contact. It's because these computers and whatever (oh God I sound so old) dominating the interaction that these kids are falling apart at the seams over words that can't even be said to their face.

As crass as it may sound, they just need to grow thicker skin and realize that someone is making fun of them through the internet. The Internet. Don't give them the satisfaction of knowing you've heard them. DO NOT FEED THE TROLLS.