During this age it’s getting harder and harder to define what bullying is anymore, and with the rise of the internet, bullying has become a much larger problem than ever before. Social media is used to share activities and information with other friends or followers on a certain website or application on a device, and though this idea of social media may seem to be harmless, in some ways it does as much harm as it is helpful. Although it is being mentioned countless times and seems just about nonexistent these days- bullying among teens is still happening, literally and figuratively, right underneath our noses.

      Let’s take a situation where you have a group of friends that hang out with each other, as normal friends would do. Now, have you ever had an inside joke with those group of friends? Has it been a joke about someone else within that friend group? Yes, even if the person is still aware that it is a joke and has said that it is okay- is this this first time it’s happened? Have they shown any sign that they may be uncomfortable with something the friends may have said? These are some of the many questions you should ask yourself to see if this situation is bullying- even if you are just with your friends. But sometimes, online can be even worse.

     Cyberbullying is the use of electronic communication to bully a person, typically by sending messages of an intimidating or threatening nature; it is a growing problem as technology advances, giving people more ways to access a victim of bullying. On social media sites there have been pages made that are dedicated to specific individuals to expose their insecurities, while it is being posted anonymously by the cyberbully, which makes it extremely hard to identify and possibly reason with this person to stop the bullying and prevent it from happening again.

     Like a plague, bullying is spreading and becoming a larger problem that we need to be more aware of. With all this negativity going on in the world today, we don’t need to add anymore by picking on an innocent individual. Before saying something rude that you may or may not regret, think before you speak, because what you say could hurt them more than you know. All in all, we just need to spread vibes that will make someone’s day better, not worse!