How bullying evolved online

In the social media age, adolescent bullying can have profound but less visible effects

Yazan Zamel, a young student from Abu Dhabi International School, set up an anti-bullying campaign after he was the victim of bullying himself. Ravindranath K / The National

Bullying among children is an old problem. Just a short time ago, when children weren’t consumed by smartphones and social media platforms such as Facebook, bullying usually took a physical form. Bullying victims were often physically beaten up in the school playground. For parents and educators, identifying such incidents as bullying and taking steps to end the abuse were arguably easier than today. Now, bullying has moved away from the schoolyard and into the social media environment and it changes the way we must deal with the problem.

For one, social media bullying in which children are mocked online or tagged in unsavoury photos is much more difficult for parents to detect. Social media networks operate with lightning speed, and for adults it can be very difficult to understand the terminology and nature of bullying attacks. Given that social media never stops and children can be online at all times of the day or night, online bullying is arguably more pervasive in a victim’s life. Unlike the schoolyard, there is no escaping the social media environment and so the victim of online bullying can be suffering in silence around the clock.

Yazan Zamel is trying to put an end to this new manifestation of bullying by raising awareness of how online bullies operate. The 16-year-old Jordanian student at the Abu Dhabi International School started a campaign called Bullying Is Not OK. What began as a small awareness campaign has garnered global attention after his content about bullying spread on social media.

Parents and educators would do well to pay close attention to Yazan and his personal tale of bullying. Once we better understand how bullies operate and the way that social media can amplify their attacks, then we can come up with solutions. Our emphasis on moral education and attempts to teach empathy to our young people can also be bolstered if we understand better the intersection between bullying and social media. The culprit remains the same, but the vehicle is different. We have a duty to our children to understand the nature of this new form of abuse.