Article “Cyber Nightmare” explores the dark side of widely used technology, more specifically the extent and the impact of cyber bullying in schools.  It is shocking to find that up to a third of school students may be victims of this new trend, starting from an unkind text message, to extremely disturbing videos of someone being assaulted.

Even though the majority of kids will admit that cyber bullying is one of their top three major issues concerning technology, I think that the biggest concern is the fact that not many students will come forward and admit to being victimised. Main reason for this is that by talking about it, victims are scared of having their technology gadgets confiscated, therefore they keep to themselves. This unfortunately comes as an advantage to bullies who will use this as a means of control.

In conclusion, what are we, as a society, doing to raise awareness about this ever increasing problem? I believe that there should be more campaigns about this issue as well as education offered to students, teaching them how to deal with bullying and who to turn to when in need.

Rance, C. Winter 2007. Cyber Nightmare. Australian Educator; n.54 p.34-35.

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