In February this year, headlines that a girl of 13 had committed suicide shook the nation. The reason behind her tragic decision to take her own life? A picture of her was circulating among her classmates on WhatsApp and, after a week of ruthless bullying, she couldn’t take it any more and saw no other way out.
Bullying is unfortunately nothing new, but with the advent of the Internet, harassment moved online and cyberbullying was born. So what was once something that would take place face-to-face (or behind backs) is now following us wherever we go via our phones and computers, which is proving to be one of the biggest downsides of living in the Digital Age. Recent studies have had differing results, but what is clear is that South Africa has one of the highest rates of cyberbullying in the world. Even the Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga, has said that pupils in SA are ‘the most bullied kids in the world’.
Cyberbullying is a problem that seems to have mushroomed overnight all around the world. But why is this type of hostility becoming so increasingly popular? ‘Social media is one of the most prominent ways young people today socialise and engage with one another,’ says Cape Town-based psychologist Fairuz Gaibie. ‘Not having to see someone in front of you and deal with their reactions in realtime enables some to almost dehumanise them and not be able to show the same level of empathy.’ And as for why this phenomenon has become such a problem in SA, Gaibie has thoughts. ‘South Africa has gone through a lot and we have not really dealt with our collective wounded psyche as a nation. This is likely just one reason as to why there is so much anger, which is presenting itself in more aggressive ways, such as cyberbullying.’
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