Sorry Doesn’t Fix Everything
Cyber-bullying and how words last forever on the internet.
The average human says about 7,000 words a day that can either affect someone positively or negatively. Lately, however, it seems more negative impacts are made by words than positive. By the looks of it, the idea of thinking before speaking isn’t utilized very often anymore, and that leads to a lot of hatred and regret in the world.
Something that is more serious than it seems is social media and the cyberbullying that ensues on several different platforms.
It’s not very often where there is a truly kind, pure interaction between people on social media. It’s easy to find small things to argue about and it normally results in the type of bullying that is overlooked: Cyberbullying. This is the method of bullying that people tend to choose because it’s easy to be rude behind a screen. Yet, the reality of it is that everytime someone makes fun of another person on Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Tik Tok, etc., that is still a type of bullying. It doesn’t matter if it was a “harmless” joke that wasn’t supposed to be taken seriously, it will be taken seriously. Someone may have the mindset of, “that wouldn’t hurt my feelings, so I can say this,” but everyone has different views on different topics. This is seen on Tik Tok a lot, and with such a large user-base, cyberbullying is bound to happen. A good example of this is Charli D’amelio, who gets criticized for a lot of things that she does, but something that is really disappointing to witnessis people making comments about her body. It doesn’t matter if someone looks healthy or “skinny”, seeing degrading comments about one’s appearance always hits a soft spot. This happens to celebrities and everyone alike on a daily basis, and it truly is sad to see. Now, imagine if Charli D’amelio or any other celebrity was calling people out for their body and appearance, they would be shunned and “canceled.” Words can and will hurt, and that’s why it’s so important to use the Golden Rule: Treat people how you want to be treated.
The next point that needs to be made is why cyberbullying should never occur, or any other type of bullying involving verbal insults that even a sincere apology can’t make up for.
It should be known as to what the effects of cyberbullying does, but if it isn’t, here are the outcomes: Low self-esteem, anxiety, fear, depression, and even physical symptoms. Bullying is a serious issue, and it’s tiring to see people not taking it as seriously as it should be. When someone gets cyberbullied it can cause stress and humiliation that causes a domino effect in their everyday life. All of these stresses build up and they drive people over an edge that they can’t come back from. It’s sickening to see people openly bullying others in online spaces for hundreds of people to see. Unfortunately, bullying victims of any sort find it difficult to come forward, so they deal with it on their own until it becomes too much to handle. Rather than being the bully, be the person that is there for the victim and stands up to the bully, because it still happens and it’s still serious. The world needs good people now more than ever.
It is so important to spread kindness in this time where it’s easy to spread hate through social media. Words can’t be taken back, and they do have an effect, so think before speaking and understand the consequences of cyberbullying.