Bullying is still Rampant

At some point or another, we've all come across an incident of bullying. Whether we've experienced it first hand, seen it happen to someone else or read the numerous reports in newspapers.

Over the years, Bullying has become a cause of concern and several campaigns have been launched against it.

                                                              SAY NO TO BULLYING!

Schools and colleges have often taken a rigorous stand against bullying and punished offenders severely. Unfortunately cases of bullying still exist with many victims resorting to taking their own lives.

This is saddening. But what is shocking is that despite all these reports, bullying is still a stigma in society that refuses to go away. Since bullies now know that they could be punished, they have taken to the Internet where they can hide behind the anonymity of usernames.

Discussion boards were once a medium to exchange ideas, have a healthy debate and voice our (otherwise sometimes suppressed in real life) opinions.

But now these boards are plagued by trolls and flamers eager to take down anyone who negates with their opinions. The once mode of enlightenment has become toxic with verbal abuses to the point that the topic of discussion is lost in waves of offensive comments.

This is more or less controlled by moderators who can ban users from posting derogatory comments. However, this is the Internet and banned users can easily create fake or "sock" accounts.

Bullies cannot be simply put down.

In one such board- a popular movie site message board- a user was incessantly bullied for having a disability. Instead of coming to her aid, many users stood against her and constantly harassed her just because  she happened to be a fan of a TV character whom the others didn't care for.

Despite several complaints, the bully was still not banned since the moderators can only do so much, I suppose, considering the thousands of boards on that site.

The bullies are relentless people and they are not rare. Without even realizing it, anyone can become a bully. This is because we have the freedom to voice our opinion and therefore the freedom to choose to have an opinion that the other person is wrong. When we lose the ability to control our passion for something, the result is that we push other people with aggressive comments until they relinquish their own opinions and side with you.

This can turn anyone into a bully.

For example, in a forum for a popular Indian reality show, many members (if not all) have been divided into two groups- one that sides with a novice actor and another with a well-established star.

Instead of explaining why the actor did or didn't react appropriately to a task, the members have resorted to using curse words and derogatory comments against these actors as well as the other participants. Chances are that this reality show is scripted and the actors are only playing their part. Keeping that in mind, do people realize that they are using profanities against them for the work they are doing?

Another point that has come to light is women's rights.

It doesn't matter  that at one point we all stood for women's rights and cared how they were treated- when it comes to reality shows, no one is exempted.

Many of the women participants are insulted, have their pictures posted in such a way so that they appear in a promiscuous position and then these are posted and open for cheap and vulgar comments just so that they are not voted for.

And it isn't only one member who does that.

In a sea of filthy comments and threads, there may be only one or two members who actually want to discuss the show in a neutral manner. But their voices are subdued and lost in this toxic swamp of profanities and disparagement of celebrities.

We may all stand against bullying, but the truth is that it doesn't take much to forget what we are turning into- not people but bulls getting ready to gore anyone who doesn't agree with us.