Sean Sharp’s ITRT Blog

apophenia

I find myself increasingly uncomfortable with conversations about cyberbullying. I fear that by emphasizing cyber the term clouds whats really going on. Dont get me wrong – the internet, like all technologies before it, has altered the dynamics of bullying, but why didnt my generation of telebullying? Three-way calling allowed people to bully from home with others virtually present for the attacks. Of course, i know the answer to that… bullying over the internet is not just a technological advance of bullying, but an advance that makes the attacks visible to adults.

This is where our energies should really be going–not on Dateline sexual predator issues. Cyberbullying is a larger problem but the emphasis seems to be on how “bad” the Internet is for teens.

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