CYBERBULLYING

We will find a lot of incidents when it comes to cyberbullying, one of the reasons being we don’t know what is behind the screen and most times we don’t know the person. I came across one such incident recently, one of my neighbors was cyberbullied. He used to make dance reels on Instagram. He was bullied for being skinny and dancing to songs which people felt were feminine. He received hate comments and hurtful messages. I was out of words to describe how wrong it was and on so many levels. He was bullied for doing something he was good at. The mental strain people suffer with is a big deal. It could have caused him to develop a distorted image of his personality. I personally feel that people should be careful and aware about what they are doing on the internet.

We tried to make him realize that he does have a good number of viewers. We motivated him to continue doing what he was doing because as long as we know we’re doing the right thing; other opinions don’t matter. The first step was reporting the comments and messages, the second step was making him understand that he is not the one with the problem, but the bullies are. It is easy to sit behind the screen and say demeaning things to people, but it is difficult to own up to it.

Cyberbullying can be dangerous. It is not limited to famous people or influencers, anyone can be a victim. We should be more aware about it and strict actions should be taken against cyberbullies. Cyberbullying is a punishable act under the IT ACT 2000 and the INDIAN PENAL CODE. Victims can complain on government’s helpline number 122. It is an important issue, especially for the current generation and should be discussed.