Cyberbullying

Title of Article: Terror on the Web
Author: Sujith Kumar
Publisher: The Strait Times
Date the article was written: 15/08/2008

Bullies terrorizing on the Internet

Gone are the days when school bullies could only confront their victims after school or during lunch break and coerce them into bidding their orders through sheer intimidation. Instead, with the rapid improvements in technology and Internet applications, almost every possible way of doing things are reinvented, and bullying is part of them. This means that school bullies no longer resort to only physical means to intimidate and strike fear in their victims, which may in turn lead to less beatings and fights. But on the other hand, it might also lead to more psychological problems for the problems, although psychological problems has also been a problem resulting from physical bullying.

So, does cyber-bullying imply any less harm to the victims?

In today’s world, I can safely say that most youths spend at least half of their time in cyberspace, some even more than in reality. This phenomenon by itself is one major worry, but I shall focus on just one aspect of the effects of this trend, which is cyber-bullying. Cyber-bullying in general refers to the usage of the Internet applications such as forums, multi-player games and social networking websites to direct malice towards their victims. This can mean personal insults in the form of vulgarities or sarcastic remarks, picking on the victims’ game characters, or relational bullying, which tend to occur more amongst girl, and includes backstabbing and gossiping. This, in contrast to conventional bullying, causes no physical damage, as there is hardly contact between the bullies and the victims during the bullying. However, it potentially causes much more psychological harm to the victims as they will suffer from continual harassment during the period of bullying.

Methods of cyber-bullying such as slander and personal insults might result in extreme behavior such as withdrawal, self-mockery and rage, as they tend to cause the victims to take the comments seriously, even to the extent of doubting themselves over the negative comments. This when taken to the extreme will result in severe psychological problems. In contrast, conventional bully will probably result in physical damage such as bruises, but will have fewer tendencies to result in psychological problems other then thoughts of revenge, due to its physical nature. Psychological problems from bullying are mainly solved through counseling and medication, while physical problems are, of course, treated normally as injuries.

On the surface, it may seem that cyber-bullying is no more than a little harmless teasing and fun between friends, but in actual fact, cyber-bullying in extreme cases have consequences probably even worst than physical bullying. The psychological effects of cyber-bullying are much harder to spot than obvious physical effects. Also, the potential effect of withdrawal will cause the treatment to be difficult, as the victims will isolate themselves from the society, rejecting any form of treatment. These will eventually lead to more problems such as mental illness or depression, in very severe cases, if left untreated. Thus, cyber-bullying is definitely not something to be overlooked, as it has potentially dangerous consequences.

I feel that mild cases of cyber-bullying is inevitable anywhere, as it only reflects what schoolmates will do to each other, without really meaning to harm anyone deeply. This does not mean that it is an acceptable form of behavior, but it definitely should not be a cause of major concern. However, just as all form of bullying, things tend to go out of hand. These extreme cases of cyber-bullying are real calls for concern, as they can cause the victims a lot of distress. In these cases, the victims are usually given counseling should they encounter any psychological problems, and the extreme bullies may even be charged by the law and given a fine or a jail term for criminal anonymous abusers. This, in my opinion, is not sufficient to deter the cyber-bullies from terrorizing their victims. The fines and jail term can effectively make potential bullies think twice before terrorizing victims, but that does not cure the problem of the mentality that bullies have in the first place.

In order to prevent the bullies from inhibiting such thoughts of malice towards victims, talks should be held regularly at school regarding cyber-bullying. This will instill more awareness about potential effects of cyber-bullying. Also, counseling should be given immediately when someone is reported of cyber-bullying, no matter to what extent of cyber-bullying, to prevent cases from worsening. Friends and schoolmates should co-operate with the school regarding such matters.

“Democracy creates about stability in a society”

“Democracy creates about stability in a society”

A textbook definition of democracy would be a government system whereby the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representations and has political beliefs of liberalism and equality. However, a more relevant and simpler explanation of democracy would be through what we experience frequently in our lives. If you put democracy into the context of a classroom, you will get class chairman candidates, voting, campaign speeches to gather votes and an eventual chairman who has won the most votes. Of course, this is not all that is to democracy, but the key ideas are represented perfectly.

A stable society is one where the three aspects of social stability, political stability and economic stability are achieved and that there is generally healthy people development. Social stability ensures the well being of the people and having minimal violent conflicts. Political stability is the people’s contentment with the government and having minimal violent political struggles or objections. Economic stability refers to having a strong economy free from poverty. Without any one of these aspects, a society cannot be stable. Would you consider a rich and developed country but with riots and fighting frequently a stable society?

Firstly, democracy decreases the percentage of discontented people through the process of voting, which satisfies the majority, as the result will be what the majority had desired. Secondly, democracy empowers the people to make the decisions and makes the people responsible for their choices, which in turn ensures that the government are not able suppress issues. Thirdly, the process of election and the multi party system ensures that the people have the power of choice, and it will maintain competition and competency of the leaders through selection. These aspects contribute to creating political stability in the society. All these components are unique to democracy, and are not present in other political system such as authoritarianism. This is because democracy is based on freedom and choice, while systems such as authoritarianism does not have such political values, and the power falls on the elite leaders solely. Democracy thus creates contentment of the majority amongst the people and political choice, which creates political stability, while authoritarianism might fail to do so when in comparison.

However, people might abuse the freedom they get. They might take the freedom for granted and not as a privilege, and demonstrate their rights to freedom by demanding what they want through means of riots. The parties running for the elections may also use means such as empty promises and the media to influence the people’s choice, but fail to lead the country competently as promised, after winning the elections. Therefore, the two political values of choice and freedom may backfire in a democratic society and cause political instability instead. When we compare this with authoritarianism again, we realise that the problem is absent as the people do not have the freedom and choice to do either of the two actions, which eliminates any chances of this problem.

A political system also affects the economic and social stability of society. In today’s world, most highly developed countries are democratic while most of the poorer countries are authoritarian, but democracy is not necessary for development. In collapsed states such as Yugoslavia, the common cause of their downfall is the inability of the leader to build a consensus for political and economic liberalization, while in democracy; the government has to be transparent and accountable for their policies. Also, the political choices offered by democracy complements the economic choices of development. These means that while political systems may not be the sole factor to a society's economic stability, it can play an important part as seen in democracy in promoting economic stability in the society.

The political choice in democracy complements the social choice of development and stability too. The political stability also directly leads to social stability by satisfying the majority, which reduces reason for trouble making. Also, freedom of choice and speech in democracy encourages people to solve things peacefully instead of organizing riots. In the case of an authoritarian system, probably the most effective way of trying to implement a change in the government by the people is through a revolt if the government refuses to listen to the people. On the other hand, democracy allows the people to have a say in decision making, which reduces any need for violent protests or revolts in other to impose a change in the government, but uses a referendum for any suggestions of change that the people want. Trading violence for simply a referendum, would that not create social stability?

In conclusion, democracy creates stability as its ideals cater to the people’s desire, which, in turn, makes the people allow stability to set in. However, like all political systems, democracy is a double-edged sword. Democratic values cater to the people desires of freedom and choice, but they might backfire and cause more protests and riots instead, through the wrong image of the values. Also, it is impossible for true democracy as the minority is always on the losing end in the case of voting. True democracy should take the minority into account, but voting creates a kind of “majority rule” tyranny. As an extreme example of this, if all the people in a society votes to take all your possession without reason, you will have no choice but to follow them as it would be millions against one, regardless of the morality concerned here. Even when limited democracy is introduced to limit the issues where democracy can be applied, it might solve this problem but then, true democracy will not be achieved. Therefore, my conclusion is that democracy can create stability in a society, but is not a flawless political system. However, it is still a relatively effective political system in creating stability as compared to the other systems.

The "Emo" Kids

Title of Article: Parents, beware of the emo kids
Author: Sandra Davie
Publisher: The Straits Times
Date the article was written: 19/03/2007

What's Up With "Emo"?

There has been a growing fad filled with angst that has teens cut themselves and write about suicide. This latest teen fad is being coined "emo" short for emotional and is best represented by the emo fashion, listening to angst-filled music such as bands like My Chemical Romance, and the increase of self-mutilation by teens and the writing about suicide, in which all four have a heavy death related theme.

This gives rise to concerns about how the fad will bring about negative thinking in the minds of the teens, with ideas such as suicide and self-mutilation as a form of pain relief. I feel that following fads is part and parcel of maturing from a teenager to an adult, and they are apparent in any place and any period, mostly in the form of fashion. However, when these fads tend promote extreme thoughts, teens should not follow them blindly. With emo rock band music easily available, it is not uncommon to see the teens grow interest and curiosity for the ideas that the bands promote in their music, such as suicidal thoughts and such, and it will subsequently lead to the fads that we see today.

I feel that it is not wrong to follow such a fad, which the teens feel as what best represents their inner feelings. However, a clear line should always be drawn between following the fad to keep up with times, and obsession with the fad. Personally, I find that it is fine to adopt the emo fashion, but that is the limit.

If one explores further into the emo culture, the morbid idea of death will be a recurrent theme. From there, it expands to supposed forms of relieve, such self-mutilation. That, is being too obsessed with the fad, as it allows the fad to control oneself, even to the extent of life and death. Those extreme emo teens may argue that they are not blindly following the fad, but instead, treat those actions as a form of expressing themselves, as there are not any other better outlets for their thoughts to be expressed in. However, I would like to question the effect of the actions that it is supposed to bring.

According to the teens, it eases them from pain and helps them express their thoughts, albeit in a morbid way.

Does it really ease their pain?

How can someone find ease from mental pain by inflicting physical pain to himself?

How does it express their thoughts in an effective way too, instead of having a lending ear from someone?

From these leading questions, my opinion is that there are alternatives to the morbid actions that the teen might take, and what seems effective to them in easing their pain might not be what really is best for them. Thus, I think that the emo teens that are conscious of such actions should seek help from their parents, peers or counsellors which may provide better ideas and help that the teens need.