Because of the increased use of social media amongst
Singaporean teenagers, there is also an increase in cyberbullying cases since
explicit and detailed information can be retrieved easily by anyone in cyber
space. The definition of cyberbullying is the use of electronic communication
to bully a person, typically by sending messages of an intimidating nature (Goh 2013).
These cases are especially prominent in Singapore, where internet access is
readily available island wide. 87% of the total households in Singapore have
internet access, not counting wireless hotspots in public spaces (IDA n.d.).
The Ministry of Education (MOE) should play a part in educating teenagers
through schools regarding the dangers of social media and the importance of
cyberbullying.
During the recent years, there has been a large influx of
cyberbullying cases amongst teenagers. As of 2014, a survey was conducted on
the state of cyberbullying in Asia Pacific covering around 12,500 kids aged
between 8 to 17 years. 58% of youths in Singapore reported that they had been
bullied online, which is the second highest in the world with China ranking
first (Mak 2014). Many of these bullying cases take place on online through social
media such as Facebook, Twitter and ask.fm. Many of the cyber bullies assume
that they can get away with cyberbullying as it is done over the internet.
They feel that when they are committing the act of bullying in cyber space,
they are not under the jurisdiction of Singapore's law. Since Singapore is a
first world country, internet connections are readily accessible by teenagers.
That, along with the increasing use of social media platform amongst teenagers
over the recent years, has contributed to the high statistics in cyberbullying
for Singapore. Cyberbullying is a serious matter as it can eventually turn
into something physical if left alone. There are negative effects for both the
bully and the victim. The bully may become more violent in real life if he is
allowed to continue his tyrannic acts while the victim may develop depression
and anxiety problems such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In the most
extreme cases, the victims may even commit suicide (Stopbullying.gov n.d.).
To counteract this problem, the government has passed a the
Harassment Act as of 2014 that states that cyber harassment and cyberbullying arer now chargeable offenses and that legal lawful actions can be instituted against
the cyber bullies (Shanmugam 2014). Victims of cyberbullying can now sue for
damage compensation and file to the court for personal protection against the
cyber bully. This is only effective to a limited extent as shown by the
statistics as of 2014. The number of cyberbullying cases have not decreased to
a favorable range. This is likely due to the victims being threatened by the
cyber bully to keep quiet about the matter. Another reason could be that the
cyber bullies themselves are ignorant about the consequences that they will
face due to the fact that they are still teenagers. Even though legal actions
can be taken against them, most of the teenagers will not be intimidated by the
law as they are still too young to realize the severity of the consequences
that they will face.
At the micro-level, the MOE has been organizing cyber
wellness talks island-wide across all primary and secondary schools. Police
officers and agents from various cyber protection organizations have been
invited to host the talks at various schools. One possible reason why this
solution did not lower the statistics on cyberbullying is that the students
who are attending these talks are not taking them seriously. The attendees for
the talk are still young and ignorant. Many of them see the talk as a break
from school work. The students do not really pay any attention to the speaker;
some may even choose to take a short nap while some spend the time talking to
their friends. The problem of the students not paying attention during such
assemblies can be alleviated by adding elements that will catch the attention
of the students during the cyber wellness talks. Famous cyber space celebrities
such as "WAH BANANA", Naomi Neo, Jian Hao and Tosh Zhang can be
invited to give the talks to the school instead. Most of the teenagers would
know, or at least heard of these online celebrities.
As another means to increase the effectiveness of the existing solutions, the
Internet itself can be used against the bullies. The Ministry of Education
should enforce the law on cyber bullying and take a more active approach to
sieve out the cyber bullies instead of attempting to deter them from the act of
cyberbullying itself. Volunteers from the cyber wellness organization can take
on the names of victims that are being bullied on cyber space. After verifying
and catching the cyber bully, his or her details can be handed over to the
respective school for actions to be taken against the cyber bully.
Repeated offenders who show no remorse can be called up to the stage in front
of the entire school during cyber wellness talks or school assembly to share
with the school, why cyberbullying is not acceptable. This would instil fear
onto the cyber bullies and even those who are not caught would think twice
before they commit the act of cyberbullying. This solution would solve the
problem as the punishment delivered is more psychological than physical. The
bullies would be made infamous in the school and most teenagers would likely
wish to avoid that. The victim would also not be pressured to keep quiet about
the situation as most of the operations is done behind the scenes.
The main reason for the existing solutions being least
effective is that the main target group are teenagers. The punishment that is
delivered to them should be a psychological one rather than physical because
teenagers are usually in the rebellious stage of their growth, where physical
punishment would only make matters worse. The psychological impact will
amplified several more times if they are being reprimanded on stage in front of
the whole school rather than receiving a counseling session in private. In
conclusion, the MOE should change the method of approach if they truly wish to
reduce the cases of cyberbullying in Singapore.
References:
Goh, J. (2013, May 22). Cyberbullying among children in
Singapore - What can we do about it? The Asian Parent. Retrieved March
2, 2015, from
http://sg.theasianparent.com/our-expert-talks-about-cyberbullying-among-children-in-singapore/
Mak, W. (2014, January 22). A teen's-eye view of
cyber-bullying. AWARE. Retrieved March 3, 2015, from
http://www.aware.org.sg/2014/01/a-teens-eye-view-of-cyber-bullying/
Shanmugam, K. (2014, July 8). Cyber bullying in
Singapore: Guide to new online laws -Expat Living Singapore. Expat Living.
Retrieved March 2, 2015, from
http://www.expatliving.sg/kids/growing_up/Cyber-bullying-in-Singapore-Guide-to-new-online-laws-53840.ece
Stopbullying.gov (n.d.). Effects of Bullying. Retrieved
March 13, 2015, from http://www.stopbullying.gov/at-risk/effects/
IDA (n.d.). Infocomm Usage. Retrieved April 2, 2015 from
http://www.ida.gov.sg/Infocomm-Landscape/Facts-and-Figures
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