Mobbing on the Internet

Posted by The Bridge

Cyber harassment, Cyber-bullying and Cyber-Stalking

Cyber harassment, or also Cyber-Bullying and Cyber-Stalking means the harassment of other people with the help of electronic communicative devices by single people or by groups on the Internet, in Chat rooms, with the Instant Messaging and/or also by mobile phones.

Development:

  • Chat room Bullying,
  • E-Mail Bullying and
  • SMS-Bullying.

Besides, the victims become permanent nuisance by exposure on the Internet, or mobbed by spreading of wrong assertions. The culprits are called in this connection Bullies. The motives are very multi-layered: Outsiders are also harassed in the Chat room, they tried to hold competition small or to impress friends; finally, victims of harassment can become culprits, resist them or take revenge.

First the phenomenon won in meaning above all in connection with pupils, who worked on the videos or pictures of teachers and afterwards have put on the Internet. Meanwhile the Cyber mobbing is also widespread among the pupils who are bothered virtually on mobile phone, chat, to social networks like SchülerVZ or videomain entrances like YouTube or specially provided Internet sites.

Besides, the borders are fluent: The inhibition threshold to laugh at, or to mock others on the Internet, is low. In the anonymity of the World Wide Web a culprit must not look in the eyes of his victim, an immediate feedback for own behaviour is missing (first) and subsequently also the consciousness and feeling for the injury of the affected persons. It is easy and is worth a fun to express untruthfulness or to rant and rave. This effect is also called on-line Disinhibition Effect (on-line – Enthemmungseffekt): It is more difficult for a person in particular youngsters, to rein her or his impulses if social control is lost or is not perceptible.

Cyber Grooming:

Specific sexual bothering of children and youngsters on the Internet is also called Cyber Grooming. On the Internet the guileless trust with the target is used first to commit the child-pornographic admissions or sexual abuse in the later criminal offences to persons under age.

In the book that appeared in 2008 „Generation Internet“ from John Palfrey and Urs Gasser, two legal professors from the USA and Switzerland, the subject Cyber bullying is classified as one as of the big risks that threaten the Digitally Native, the born youngster on the Internet world. In this, particularly girls are affected persons.

Between youngsters:

In the Cyberspace children and youngsters are mobbing differently, for example, they put a rumour anonymously on mobile phone behind the back of their school-mate, affected persons are filmed by mobile phone cameras, probably in degrading, compromising or violent situations. Meanwhile there are the first scientific investigations.

Causes:

  • Boredom: e.g., if for fun a photo is valued negatively;
  • Intercultural conflicts: Differences because of different nationality, languages, too divergent appearance;
  • Power demonstration: they need to show strength;
  • Fear: not to become the harassment victim, one rather wants to belong to the group;
  • Recognition: be cool, they need to get validity, influence as well as prestige;
  • Breaking love, friendship, respect: The culprit often knows intimate details.

Consequences:

Affected persons suffer from psychological problems up to the suicide. Often they find no adequate help with parents or teachers, because the problems are unknown to these up to now. The results are not only virtual, but real.

Personal behaviour:

In general it is recommended not to leave personal data and representations in written and/or graphic form on the Internet frivolously, not to make attacks around oneself in a special way and  so become vulnerable. (Source: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyber-Mobbing)

We have specialised in the subject Sexual harassment with children and youngsters on the Internet, because to us the subject is very interesting. About the subject there mostly is not a lot to read, because most of them do not trust this to admit that they became sexually bothered, they are afraid of it.

Cyber Grooming means literally translated: Care in the digital space. However, the expression stands for an insidious play with unsuspecting young girls. Cyber Grooming describes the specific turning on of children and youngsters on the Internet. The culprits are mostly older men, who wnt to gain the confidence of their young victims in the virtual world. Not seldom with the aim to meet them also in real life and to abuse them. Repeatedly such cases have become public during the past months. Psychologists call such men “experience culprit’s types”. These are often no Paedophiles. “They simply want to know many women in a short time. And if possible also substantially younger”. (Source: http://www.stern.de/panorama/cyber-grooming-im-chat-gefaehrliche-anmache-im-internet-648531.html)

Examples:

From the 15th of December a 53-year-old man was taken to court in Baden-Wuerttemberg. His 14-year-old chat acquaintance Sonja K. was kidnapped and should have been violated. (Source: http://www.stern.de/panorama/cyber-grooming-im-chat-gefaehrliche-anmache-im-internet-648531.html)

“A soft hare”, “habmichlieb_21″ or “sweetness mouse” was his chat name. In real life Rainer is 54 years old and jobless. In the chat he has introduced himself as a 21-year-old trainee. When he noted that women of the same age are not interested, he has announced himself in several Chat rooms to get anonymously in contact with young girls. After Rainer had succeeded in appealing to a girl in the chat, he arranged to meet the 13-year-old Sandra in the park. However, it did not come to this. Instead, he forced her to carry out sexual actions. In December of the last year he was convicted because of child abuse and is in prison since then. (Source: http://www.netzdurchblick.de/cyber-grooming.html)

You can find help at the police or on the Internet on the following pages:

Back to

http://digitalspace.blog.com

http://english-for-runaways.blog.com

Permalink | July 2nd, 2010

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