8/12/2019 Text bullying has become a serious problem among adolescents and teens.docx

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Text bullying has become a serious problem among adolescents and teens. It can have devastatingconsequences, and parents may not even know it's occurring. Parents can play an important role inpreventing text bullying and helping teens who have been the victim of a text bully.

Text bullying is sending mean, embarrassing, untrue, or hurtful message to or about someone using cell

phone text messaging. This can also include sexting, or sending sexually suggestive text messages tosomeone or about someone.

Many kids get cell phones when they are in middle school, which is when bullying, including textbullying, is most common. Almost 9 out of 10 teens have a cell phone, and about 1 in 5 will be victims ofa text bully. About 1 in 10 teens engage in text bullying. Text bullying has become more common than

traditional bullying, especially among girls.

There are several factors that can make text bullying more damaging than traditional bullying for both

the victim and the bully:

It can happen 24 hours a day, even at home, which is usually a refuge from bullying, so it can feelinescapable.

Text bullies are often much meaner because they don't have to see their victims.

The victims may not know who is sending the messages, which can be frightening.

Teens may think text bullying is anonymous and that they can't get caught. They also may use someoneelse's phone to send the messages. Text bullying can often be traced, however, and the bully, as well as

his or her parents, can face criminal penalties as a result.

Victims often respond by sending mean messages back to the bully, becoming bullies themselves.

Sexting is against the law and can result in child pornography charges for the sender or senders even if

they are minors.

Text bullying doesn't necessarily go away. It may get passed around and it can end up where someone,like a potential boss, will see it in the future. This can harm the victim further, and can be even more

damaging for the bully, who may miss out on job opportunities because of the text messages they sent.

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Bullying can take many forms but it usually includes the following types of behavior:

Cyber Bullying - any type of bullying that is carried out by electronic medium. There are 7 typesincluding:

1. Text message bullying

2. Picture/video clip bullying via mobile phone cameras

3. Phone call bullying via mobile phones

4. E-mail bullying

5. Chat-room bullying

6. Bullying through instant messaging (IM)

7. Bullying via websites

Parents can play an important role in preventing text bullying and helping teens who have beenthe victim of a text bully by understanding what is being said. Often coded messages that area derivative of the English language, and representation of youth lingo are understood by thosewho perform sms and txt, or online chat.

Online cyber bullying by text is defined as sending mean, embarrassing, untrue, or hurtfulmessage to or about someone using cell phone text messaging. Being in written form, thesemessages do not go away and can escalate including being sent to more people, or even

change in context to include sexually suggestive text messages known as sexting to someoneor about someone.

Talk to your kids about text bullying and why it is wrong. Tell them if they ever are the victim orcontributors that they need to know that is wrong. They should not respond to the bullying, butinstead should save it to report to a parent or teacher. If the message is sexual or threatening innature they can report it to the police, who can easily trace it and take legal action against thebully or bullies.

Text message bullying, much like online cyber bullying, is fairly new. Due to technology, youthare now able to bully others in more create ways. These bullies are no longer limited to verbal orphysical bullying, but instead can carry on in virtual ways where individuals continue to read themessages over and over, having a greater (more negative) psychological impact.

Given the pervasiveness of mobile phones and ubiquity of SMS text messages, mobile phoneshave unfortunately become the new weapon of choice for bullies and young people.

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