Facing Cyberbullying18.05.2024

Facing Cyberbullying

When she was in the 7th grade, Hessa met a stranger in an online chat room. At first, she was getting along with this person and thought the cyber stranger could be her friend. However, this person tricked her into sharing some personal information and then released it online for anyone to read! Hessa’s personal information went viral and there was nothing she could do to remove it. Other kids at her school saw it online and started to bully and tease her. She became really upset, and unfortunately had to change schools to get away from the fallout.

A year later, Hessa had settled in at her new school and found a new group of friends, all seemed well. However, her online bully had not forgotten her. The cyber bully used her information to create a fake Facebook page and posted rude comments on other kids’ pages! Most of her new friends started ignoring her, talking about her, and bullying her. She revealed her feelings in a video she posted to YouTube, describing how she cried every night and lost all but one friend because of what happened.

That one friend, Reem, realised what was going on and did her best to comfort Hessa, but when Hessa started missing school, Reem decided to take action. She could not go on seeing her friend being treated this way, so Reem decided to confide in her teacher. She explained what had happened to Hessa and how she was the victim of cyberbullying. The teacher acted immediately and spoke with Hessa’s parents who, in turn, contacted the police. Cyberbullying is a crime in the UAE. The police tracked down and arrested the original cyberbully that Hessa met in the online chatroom. Hessa is slowly returning to the happy, carefree person she once was thanks to Reem!

What do you think Hessa should have considered when chatting to people online?
What do you think about Hessa’s original schoolmates’ actions after they saw her personal information online?
What do you think about the actions of Hessa’s friends at her new school (excluding Reem)?

What do you think Reem was thinking when she noticed Hessa was beginning to miss school due to the situation?

Take some time to think about what you would have done if you were in Hessa’s position. Do you think you would handle these situations better now that you have learned Hessa’s story and help stop cyberbullying if you encounter it?