Dubai
Dr Andrea Tosatto, a clinical psychologist based in Dubai, highlighted some effects of cyberbullying, which include anxiety, difficulty in focusing or sleeping and in extreme cases, depression and suicidal thoughts.
He said: “Cyberbullying can get out of hand and even a light episode can carry a lot of consequences. Then the victim starts feeling ashamed. Children can become silent.”
So, what should the victim do in such a situation? Dr Tosatto advises them to report it to someone immediately, either their parents or the authorities. If they fail to do so, they can feel completey isolated.
He said: “Covering it up is also not useful. When we have a problem, we should share it. This isn’t limited to cyberbullying, but any form of abuse.”
Despite that, parents should not become over protective or controlling. They need to give their child some space. Additionally, if a child is unable to see anything, a present parent should be able to detect signs or a change in personality and realise that something is wrong.
Dr Tosatto said: “People can become bullies for many reasons. They could have been bullied by someone else or be in a dysfunctional relationship. So, they do the same to someone weaker. Even if they’re unable to manage difficult situations and get frustrated or aggressive, that needs to be discharged.”
Nicolai Solling, a cyber security expert based in Dubai, believes that social media and the internet have amplified the age-old practice of bullying. He highlighted a case in Denmark wherein over 1,000 Facebook users are facing charges of redistributing child pornography. A video of a girl in a compromising situation was shared on the social media platform, Facebook found the video and alerted Denmark’s National Cyber Crime Centre.
He said: “This tells you something. Before social media, there would be a specific amount of people that the police would have to deal with. Now, they are spending time in prosecuting thousands of individuals who had access to and shared this one video. This shows how big a problem it has become.”
If you look at cyberbullying, it is very similar to bullying in the real world, in Solling’s opinion. However, social media allows people some form of anonymity.
He said: “Everyone has a camera on their smartphone. This means that the implications of any incident are higher. Additionally, whatever you post online stays there forever. All of these things add to the problem.”
He also urges people to ensure that their privacy settings are restricted and updated. Many young people, in his opinion, do not use privacy settings because then they “wouldn’t have any friends anymore”. To obtain a high number of followers, they are putting themselves at a risk of cyberbullying.
He said: “Some social media platforms, like Snapchat, addressed this issue by enabling a function wherein a picture or video can only be viewed once. But, you cannot stop people from taking a screengrab. People have a perceived idea of privacy. They don’t always understand the impact of what they are doing.”
