Cyber-bullying has been on the rise and is an issue that is increasingly emerging as an evil that social media propagates.

The climax of the issue came in the wake of a suicide by a Rutgers University Student, Tyler Clementi. The reason for the suicide was his roommate secretly filming a sex video of him and posting it on You Tube.

This precipitated Tyler to write a suicide note on Facebook and then proceeding to take his life.

Cyber bullying is infinitely worse than school-yard bullying in that it is not limited in its scope. While school-yard bullying may occur within the confines of a school, cyber bullying takes place in the presence of the whole world. This impact is much more devastating to a young person as social media intensifies and multiplies the effects of bullying.

To beat this worrying trend, several organizations are stepping forward with several initiatives. An example is MTV’s launch of Draw Your Line, a tool that encourages young cyber users to defend themselves from cyber abuse.

Another program is Reach Out which uses social media tools such as blogs, online communities and an interactive website to increase general well-being among young people. It addresses a wide variety of issues such as mental illness, drug abuse and cyber-bullying. Reach Out is an initiative of the Inspire Foundation in Australia.

Ultimately, social media is not ‘good’ or ‘bad’ but is a tool by which these qualities can be propagated. It is therefore important to counter social media ills with such innovative ways.

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