“The Vengeful Angel”
In this type of cyberbullying, the cyberbully doesn’t see
themselves as a bully at all. They see themselves as righting wrongs, or
protecting themselves or others from the “bad guy” they are now
victimizing. This includes situations when the victim of cyberbullying
or offline bullying retaliates and becomes a cyberbully themselves They
may be angry at something the victim did and feel they are taking
warranted revenge or teaching the other a lesson.
The “Vengeful Angel”
cyberbully often gets involved trying to protect a friend who is being
bullied or cyberbullied. They generally work alone, but may share their
activities and motives with their close friends and others they perceive
as being victimized by the person they are cyberbullying.
Vengeful Angels need to know that no one should try and take
justice into their own hands. They need to understand that few things
are clear enough to understand, and that fighting bullying with more
bullying only makes things worse. They need to see themselves as
bullies, not the do-gooder they think they are. It also helps to address
the reasons they lashed out in the first place. If they sense
injustices, maybe there really are injustices. Instead of just blaming
the Vengeful Angel, solutions here also require that the situation be
reviewed to see what can be done to address the underlying problem. S
there a place to report bullying or cyberbullying? Can that be done
anonymously? Is there a peer counseling group that handles these
matters? What about parents and school administrators. Do they ignore
bullying when it occurs, or do they take it seriously? The more methods
we can give these kinds of cyberbullies to use official channels to
right wrongs, the less often they will try to take justice into their
own hands.
The “Power-Hungry” and “Revenge of the Nerds”
Just as their schoolyard counterparts, some cyberbullies want
to exert their authority, show that they are powerful enough to make
others do what they want and some want to control others with fear.
Sometimes the kids want to hurt another kid. Sometimes they just don’t
like the other kid. These are no different than the offline tough
schoolyard bullies, except for their method. Power-Hungry” cyberbullies
usually need an audience. It may be a small audience of their friends or
those within their circle at school. Often the power they feel when
only cyberbullying someone is not enough to feed their need to be seen
as powerful and intimidating. They often brag about their actions. They
want a reaction, and without one may escalate their activities to get
one.
Interestingly enough, though, the “Power-Hungry” cyberbully is
often the victim of typical offline bullying. They may be female, or
physically smaller, the ones picked on for not being popular enough, or
cool enough. They may have greater technical skills. Some people call
this the “Revenge of the Nerds” cyberbullying. It is their intention to
frighten or embarrass their victims. And they are empowered by the
anonymity of the Internet and digital communications and the fact that
they never have to confront their victim. They may act tough online, but
are not tough in real life. They are often not a bullying but “just
playing one on TV.”
Revenge of the Nerds cyberbullies usually target their victims
one-on-one and the cyberbully often keeps their activities secret from
their friends. If they share their actions, they are doing it only with
others they feel would be sympathetic. The rarely appreciate the
seriousness of their actions. They also often resort to
cyberbullying-by-proxy. Because of this and their tech skills, they can
be the most dangerous of all cyberbullies.
“Mean Girls”
The last type of cyberbullying occurs when the cyberbully is
bored or looking for entertainment. It is largely ego-based and the most
immature of all cyberbullying types. Typically, in the “Mean Girls”
bullying situations, the cyberbullies are female. They may be bullying
other girls (most frequently) or boys (less frequently).
“Mean Girls” cyberbullying is usually done, or at least
planned, in a group, either virtually or together in one room. This kind
of cyberbullying is done for entertainment. It may occur from a school
library or a slumber party, or from the family room of someone after
school. This kind of cyberbullying requires an audience. The
cyberbullies in a “mean girls” situation want others to know who they
are and that they have the power to cyberbully others. This kind of
cyberbullying grows when fed by group admiration, cliques or by the
silence of others who stand by and let it happen. It quickly dies if
they don’t get the entertainment value they are seeking.
The Inadvertent Cyberbully
Inadvertent cyberbullies usually don’t think they are
cyberbullies at all. They may be pretending to be tough online, or role
playing, or they may be reacting to hateful or provocative messages they
have received. Unlike the Revenge of the Nerds cyberbullies, they don’t
lash out intentionally. They just respond without thinking about the
consequences of their actions.
They may feel hurt, or angry because of a communication sent to
them, or something they have seen online. And they tend to respond in
anger or frustration. They don’t think before clicking “send.”
Sometimes, while experimenting in role-playing online, they may
send cyberbullying communications or target someone without
understanding how serious this could be. They do it for the heck of it
“Because I Can.” They do it for the fun of it. They may also do it to
one of their friends, joking around. But their friend may not recognize
that it is another friend or make take it seriously. They tend to do
this when alone, and are mostly surprised when someone accuses them of
cyberabuse.
