Social responsibility on the Internet: Addressing the challenge of cyberbullying

What is it about?

This article discusses the phenomena of cyberbullying especially among young people. The discussion, based on an interdisciplinary study in the fields of brain studies, child development, psychology, social policy, victimization and Internet studies, probes the troubling phenomenon of cyberbullying which may result in suicide. It is argued that adolescents are more vulnerable than adults because they lack maturity with respect to capacities such as thrill seeking, impulse control, peer pressure, reward sensitivity, cognitive processing, rational decision-making and long-term planning. The article suggests remedies to counter online social ills and argues for responsible cooperation between parents, schools, governments, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and social networking sites.

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Why is it important?

Each and every year hundreds of young people die as a result of bullying. Each and every death is a tragedy. Each and every death is unnecessary and could have been avoided. We all need to fight bullying and cyberbullying with all our influence and power. Please circulate it widely to your contacts. Awareness is a key.

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