Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying: the electronic posting of mean spirited messages about a person, often done anonymously -Merriam Webster

You might delete it, but you can never erase it from the internet once it has been posted. Have you ever taken the time to ponder that? Really? Amanda Todd didn't, not until it was too late. Maybe you already made her mistake, maybe in the future you will be tempted, or maybe you know someone who believes they ruined their life that way.

Sound familiar? Students especially are vulnerable to become a perpetrator or victim of cyberbullying. It may be the restlessness we face during our routine that never seems to end, or the amount of time we are forced to be together, or just our sheer immaturity; it couldn't matter less. It cuts individuals; strikes some, shatters others, never to fully recover, and can even come to the breaking point of deranged actions and even suicide. 

Sometimes cyberbullying is inadvertent. Sarcasm is contagious among younger generations, like a disease, joking around can easily transfer into cyberbullying. Your words are flat and left to interpretation online, meaningless ideas can be taken the wrong way, to be thrown back in a devastating way that is left to suffocate spirits. Intentional or not, it doesn't matter it's still bullying.

To anyone who posts anything online, 

         You are capable of cyberbullying, think before you post. Never create anything online that may be taken the wrong way, but if something gets twisted, tell people what you meant. You can't completely fix something you put out there, just be careful. I'm sure you have heard this a million times, this time, actually listen! If you hurt someone else, their life is on you. You don't know what else they have going on in their life, so you have no right to add to their misfortune. While you may think something is just a joke or funny, think what message is sent to the rest of the world. Would you say that to a family member? If not, why are you saying it to your peer? Is it kind and loving and will aid to human growth and interaction? No? Then you have no right to say it. If you make this mistake there is always time for an apology, a sincere one. Just recognize the power you hold in being able to ruin another masterpiece of God with a few strokes to a keyboard. 

To those who have experienced cyberbullying,

        You are not alone. There are others out there who have become victims, you can get though this. Now that you got your daily dose of generic phrases I want to be serious with you. Stop and think. Has it changed your life forever? Work with it if it has, don't let it control you, those words mean nothing if you don't act like the person they belong to. Who cares what they say?

Let me give you an example... People say that I have a tendency to not care about others. The only problem with their logic is that if you were in peril I would put every effort in to save you. I don't know you at all, I don't care who you are, I would. I know both my heart and my mind would tell me to do so. Their words mean nothing to me if they aren't true. Do they bother me? Yes, but only because they are missing out on a genuine friend. It takes time to be able to say this, (I'm going a little cookie cutter advice here) but confidence is key. It is something you will gain over time, that is, if you allow (or force, in a good way;)) yourself too. 

So if you actually made it to the bottom of this post, I congratulate you! It was a bit long but I am praying that you stuck with my words. Cyberbullying impacts all of us, whether we are the cause, the victim, or the end. Hopefully you see this and feel the same way. Thank you for putting your time into reading my post. As always I love you and God bless,

Shannon