01 April 2021 Thursday
"Cyber bullying" also increased with the pandemic
During the epidemic process, it was determined that the rate of exposure to cyberbullying increased in parallel with the increase in the time people spend on the internet, especially on social media, by closing to their homes. It was observed that children and women aged 8-12 were the most exposed to cyberbullying and survived these traumas very hard.
Psychiatrist Dr. Onur Okan Demirci, a faculty member of Istanbul Gelisim University, pointed out that due to the inability of people to come together during the pandemic period, he shifted to the digital environment in his bullying such as many positive and negative behaviors, and said that the increase in the rate of “cyber bullying” that most people are exposed to in the society is directly proportional to the closure of people to their homes.
Mentioning that children are the most exposed to cyberbullying, Demirci said:
“Organizations conducting research on the negativities experienced in the digital environment determined that cyberbullying increased by 81 percent with the pandemic. It was determined that children in the 8-12 age group were exposed to this negativity the most. In addition, 50 percent of the cyberbullies were found to be classmates of the victim children.”
Psychiatrist Demirci said that the children of families who were incomplete in communication during the pandemic period created a new world for themselves in a virtual environment and said: “Many children were exposed to bullying in the school environment. However, this situation has been transferred to the digital environment with the pandemic. Cyberbullying has become commonplace in front of families. Families can interfere with this situation. The most important condition of the intervention is to strengthen communication with children.”
Explaining that children who are bullied start to see themselves inadequate, worthless and wrong, Onur Okan Demirci said: “Parents should be with their children in every situation and not lacking their love. Otherwise, the child will perish in the digital environment. Most of the young people who are bullied appear as a future bully candidate. Because most of the bullies have a history of being bullied. Families of children who are bullied need to be supportive. Parents of bullying teenagers should also be more interested in their children.”
Emphasizing that there is bullying not only in the world of children but also in the world of adults, Dr. Demirci said: “Women are exposed to cyberbullying at a serious rate. Sexual harassment on social media has increased enormously. They need to report this situation to the necessary places. Bullies are fed by the breakdown of the victims' psychology. The more they see that the other party is being negatively affected, the more the violence of the bullying increases. On the other hand, a child who has a conflictual family structure naturally reflects his inner world to others. A child who cannot punish his family will harm a weak person, animal or plant outside. There can be many reasons why people are bullies. Young people who grow up at points where divorce, conflictual marriage, violence and security cannot be established tend to be bullied.”
“CONTROL ON CHILDREN IS FULLY IN THE HAND OF DIGITAL AMBIAS”
Cyber Security Specialist Osman Demircan stated that the effort of a person to bring down the psychology of the other person by using force is bullying, and added: “We left our children alone with many technological devices during the pandemic period. Control over our children has completely taken over by digital channels. We do not control the time our children spend with technological devices. With the digitalization of their education, children spend more time in digital media than necessary. In this case, it caused a serious increase in cyberbullying. Evidence of cyberbullying is frequently encountered in the games played, messaging made in social media or other form media.”
Empasizing that children should also be seen as individuals, Demircan said: “If we do not respect the thoughts and ideas of children, they will pursue other pursuits about proving themselves. Cyberbullying comes into play with social media. In video conversation applications, the child can have many tendencies such as abusive or heavy speech heard from his elders in order to show himself as an individual. Bullying by peers against each other or adults against children can also be seen on the Internet.”
Stating that the ClubHouse application, which has been very popular recently, threatens children seriously, Osman Demircan said: “This application is designed for adults. If children enter this practice without parental consent, they can find themselves in adult conversations and experience many things that can negatively affect their psychological development.”
Noting that the time spent by children in front of technological devices should be controlled and parental monitoring systems should be used, Cyber Security Expert Demircan said:
“Families need to improve themselves in terms of technology. The parent should not show that they are afraid of anything on the internet. Children should know that they have a family where they can take shelter when they are exposed to cyberbullying. Common tablet information should be used at home. It is necessary to position the computer screen so that everyone can see it. These small behaviors will prevent cyberbullying. Children talking to each other with insulting content can often end up in court with their families involved in the matter. Parents need to set an example for children. Children do whatever they see from their families. Ads in applications can take children to different media. You can be with the child while playing or having a technological device.”
