Cyber-Bullying in Youths

The phenomenon of cyber-bullying is spreading in a worrying way: does this mean that more and more teenagers and children are being born "predisposed" to behave in a violent manner? Is there a particular gene, or the biological conditions that generate predisposition or instinct to become a cyberbully? In general: are bullies born or become ?!

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The development of cyberbullying , ie that new form of bullying closely linked to the massive diffusion of new technologies, can be explained by resorting above all to the concept of "presumed invisibility". Only a very small part of those who act as cyber bullies behave in a similar manner due to complex neurophysiological problems, or more generally mental problems. One can not speak of the cyber bully as a mentally ill, or as a subject with a disturbed personality: the cyberbully is not a "sick person". In fact, in 99% of cases, biology and physiology do not "condemn" a person to become a bully on the Net. (So is fair to say bullies are not born).

But cyberbullies can be done very easily, and this is because the enormous development of technological tools has provided adolescents with the means to behave in a very different way from how they behave in the "real world": the virtual world offers the illusion of becoming anonymous, almost invisible, and therefore the fear of being traceable and punished decreases significantly. The "alleged invisibility" therefore becomes the means by which most adolescents take the path of bullying. As soon as you enter the web in fact, each subject can undress the usual clothes worn in everyday life, to dress those suitable to enter a new world, a world based not on the traditional concept of Learning , but a world based on the concept of " Nickname ",personal account , Online profiles , etc. The "real" name and surname are left out of the virtual world: in such a new dimension, in fact, it is necessary to be non-traceable, non-identifiable, non-recognizable.

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Through the use of these conceptual tools it is possible to give an explanation of the aggressive behaviors put in place by the bullies in their Internet communications. Just as in everyday life the victim is "removed" and marginalized by a group of subjects, in the same way inside a virtual room you have behaviors defamatory and aggressive towards certain targets: the practice of kick is in fact one of the more common inside the rooms . As soon as we enter the Internet universe, for example in a chat room, each of us appears to the other not as I-of everyday life, but as I-of the virtual world: each of us leaves in the "real world" all his true personal traits, to enter the robes of a virtual subject ready to exchange of information with another virtual subject. It is thanks to the creation of the "web-identity" (or virtual identity) that people act free from the usual constraints imposed by social norms and the good morals of everyday life. The web disinhibits. The nickname generates the illusion of wearing a mask that will completely conceal the true identity: act in an unethical or violent way will therefore become easier if you wear a mask like that.

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The cyber-bully is nothing more than a subject who wears a sort of virtual mask , and who exploits this new situation to perform uninhibited and aggressive behavior. It is important to underline that not only does the bully have the impression of being invisible, but also that the victim is the same one: both the figure of the perpetrator and that of the victim in fact take on virtual identities and nicknames . (Nancy Willard, a scholar of the Center for Safe and Responsible Use of Internet , summarizes the question with the phrase: You can not see me, I can not see you). If on the one hand therefore the bully is believed invisible and therefore not accused and not detectable, on the other side the victim appears to the bully not as a real person, but as a semi-anonymous entity and not endowed with emotions or feelings . In other words, in the relationship between cyber-bully and cyber-victim , there is a lack of feedback that make the bully understand that the person he is behaving in an unethical manner is suffering. Milgram's performed in the seventies are the greatest confirmation of how the " social distance" may be the cause of violent and horrible acts. It is very difficult that in the CMCs (computer communications) to have such stimuli like : The body language , the sound of the voice, and all the other aspects of communication that takes place in the real world are in fact lacking when using the net for criminal acts. Consequence of this fact is that the bully can not really understand that the pain, frustration, humiliation, generated against the victims.

TO BE CONTINUED!!!!