By Ghadeer Ghloum
KUWAIT: Cyberbullying is a widespread bullying technique that bullies use to harm others. Bullies of different ages, genders and backgrounds can easily target any person due to the easy access different applications provide through messages and comments. They tend to pick on certain aspects about their target's personality and try to mock them, which lowers their victim's self-esteem.
Cyberbullying stems from different motives, such as a lack of education, previous trauma and personal insecurities and problems. On the other hand, bullies head towards cyberbullying specifically because the bully believes that hiding behind a screen would protect them from direct reaction and from revealing their real identity.
To further elaborate on the factors that produce bullies, Dr Ali Al-Baghlani, a specialist in psychiatry, told Kuwait Times: "The environment that gives birth to a bully is deprived of care and attention. Hence, compensating the emptiness within comes through seeking attention by bullying others." Bullying is an unnatural result that grows due to one's upbringing in an unhealthy environment that lacks affection, compassion and other emotions that human beings need to develop maturity and inner peace. Baghlani relates bullies' usage of cyberbullying technique to inner chaos and fear. He sees that such issues need to be monitored by a specialist in order to help the bully overcome these issues.
"Using fake usernames and anonymous accounts reflects character and psychological damage, which can be fixed gradually by attending therapy sessions that help the bully get over whatever troubles they have had in the past or still have in the present, which is leading them to such unlawful actions," Baghlani said. Thus, it is necessary for bullies to attend therapy sessions that provide assistance and teaches them a healthy way to cope with their problems, rather than taking them out on innocent victims.
In addition to psychological factors, education plays an essential role in teaching people the necessity of adhering to human ethics, good behavior and respect of oneself and others despite their differences. Such values represent the core of humanity that improve one's mentality and behavior. In this regard, Mohammad Al-Ansari, a boys' high school teacher said: "It is our obligation as teachers to identify and address bullying whenever we encounter it in order to ensure that our children feel secured and supported in their learning environment."
Amid competition and comparison between students, the risk of bullying can rise. Therefore, teachers focus on putting effort into teaching students human values. Another high school teacher, Ghadeer Ghafour, added on the major role that education plays in preventing people from becoming bullies. "Poor education can result in unethical and immature actions such as bullying and insulting other people. Education is not only about solving math problems and memorizing facts, but also allowing people to understand how to respect others," she said.
Ghafour added bullying is most likely to occur from people who were bullied before. "It goes in circles from one person to another. A significant outcome of being bullied is not wanting to attend school, which badly affects that person's educational experience. Hence, this takes an essential part in creating a bully," she pointed out.
According to Ghafour, despite the fact that schools prepare people to become civilized and well-mannered, reckless students are more likely to bully other students because they do not give themselves the chance to learn enough from their teachers. "Such incidents mostly happen in schools with students who do not take education seriously," she said.
Samia Ibrahim, vice principal at an American private school in Kuwait, said students who experience cyberbullying struggle with socializing with their friends at school, especially since the bully can use fake accounts and usernames. The anonymity of cyberbullies keeps the targeted student in doubt and unable to be comfortable around other students at school. This keeps the cycle going. Therefore, whoever finds themselves facing problems with their life must seek help from a specialist to help reduce the effects of all types of bullying, whether anonymous through cyberbullying or face to face.