Cyber Bullying Part II

[Darkmoon]

Allow me to make this eminently clear, kids. If you think we're going to sit back and allow personal vendettas then you are both sadly and sorely mistaken. I'm not your parental unit and I very rarely care if someone's insulting you off the forum, because for the most part I neither know nor like people. YamiYumes had every right to post that little attempt, Medic to explain why she did it, and then that should have gone private. Or not. So long as it didn't result in a pair of threads arguing about your dirty laundry where the world can see it.

Now, I'm not closing this thread. I think topics like this, without all the crapfest, can be pretty cool and help develop a certain understanding. I will be deleting all the off topic comments in a few moments. But if I see any of the teen drama here then the person who posts it will regret it. Equally, I do not expect any insults via PM or the private walls.

I hope we have an understanding here, kiddies. Because I will throw infraction points at the next problem post.

Now, on topic. People have bullied me, in real life and on the net. Not the same people and, in the end, neither successfully. Too big and too nasty myself. I know a lot of folk go, 'it's just the net, no reason to get upset' but there are times when the net and real life collide and it's people from your real life giving you grief online. That can be especially hard to deal with, I'm told.

A lot of people who do the bullying think it's all good fun and games. I've talked to several of them, because my folks ran an organization called Parents against Bullying when I was a kid due to the shit I dealt with when I was young. For some, it's just a nasty phase or pressure from another muppet. A lot of them feel terrible about these things in later life, when they think back about deliberately trying to hurt someone, emotionally or physically. Sometimes, it ruins there life. An assault charge. Or the victim of there fun and games goes and hangs themselves. I knew a bunch of girls who put another in a coma, in my school, because they constantly yelled at her for how fat she was. She stopped eating. The next time we saw her she was a human skeleton in a wheel chair. You have never seen a bunch of people more horrified about what they had nearly done.

Cyber bullying is the same thing. Sometimes better, because it doesn't include the physical abuse. Sometimes worse because hiding behind a screen name lets people be truly vile. A lot of people here know I get a lot of shit e-mailed to me because I ban people or give them infractions. Nothing, to date, illegal. But the more pleasant images drudged from /b/, such as the joyous Baby Fuck manga images (recently with my daughters heads photo shopped in, which I felt was an especially nice touch) or the kitten image. All good, wholesome fun right?

Yes, a lot of people on the net have a thick skin. Does that really make it acceptable to basically have a go at someone for little to no reason? Because most of the people you know think it's funny then there isn't a problem? Again, people need to think of there actions. People have killed themselves over this sorta thing. Yes, they were likely not the most stable individuals in the world. That makes it alright? Great, you managed to make a person with a mental illness kill them self. You're no a big man/woman. Congratulations. Now live with it.

[Ray]

On the topic of cyber-bullying (too many arguments, I'm scared): My friend once got all this shit comments about her breaking up with this one guy (don't know why people would shit over her like that, they were amicably breaking up), and she got all depressed over it. She's over it now, but I was surprised at all the comments (via MySpace, and that's why I care not for MySpace), like "OH YOU STOOPID BITCH Y DID YA BRAKE HIS HART!?!?" or "fat whore", or "FUCKING BIIITCH WHY DID YOU BREAK UP WITH HIM!!!". Then, after getting over her internet-bullied-depression (about a day later) she told 'em off, both on the internet and in their face. "SAY IT TO MY FACE, BITCH! IMMA FUCK YOU UP!" And even her ex laughed at that (at least they're friends). Well, at least something good happened out of cyber-bullying: getting over the fact internet isn't always serious business.

[Ray]

Yeah, I thought the topic (at least at first) was really interesting, something that could've been talked about if not for some... arguments.

I think it's sad that cyber-bullying has hurt so many people. Yes, it's the internet, and you should never take it as serious business (at least when it comes to social crap). But, it's so sad (and, imo, slightly disturbing) that somebody would say such things to somebody who (usually) hasn't done anything. Like said before in the locked-topic-of-cyber-bullying-part-I, I fell victim to it. I didn't let it take over me, but it still hurt me pretty much. And it really sucks if that person actually knows you (maybe not personally, but maybe they know you a little from school), and decides to be all tough and shit and call you names.

[ClaireBear]

Let us all, calmly and like rational adults, talk about cyber bullying.