Words Can Hurt | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Student Life

Words Can Hurt

Cyberbullying is a serious issue for teens

391
Words Can Hurt
www.chicagonow.com

"Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words will never hurt me." We are taught this rhyme at a young age, but is it outdated? What about tweets, texts, or pictures? Can they hurt us? As a millennial, I've watched technology evolve from a very young age. What stands out the most to me, though, is cyberbullying in high school.

It's sad that my generation has lost the ability to confront one another face to face.

We ridicule each other from the safety of our bedrooms, hiding behind iPhones and computer screens. Bullying used to take place in school where adults usually witnessed the problem. Today bullying happens behind each other's backs and all over the internet. Teachers are not able to reprimand students for bullying if it doesn't take place at school though, so where does that put us?

The subtweet is the most cowardly creation ever invented.

Subtweeting is tweeting about a person in a negative way without including their name, making it extremely passive aggressive and hurtful to their target. For the bully, the subtweet seems genius, you can say whatever nasty thing you want about a person behind their back and never have to own up to it.

The funny thing about the internet is that once it is out there, it doesn't go away.

You can delete a tweet or photo, but someone has probably taken a screenshot. You can delete a text message you sent, but the recipient will still receive it. The pain caused from mean words posted on the internet can be much more painful than the pain caused from a mean girl calling you a dork in the hallway to your face.

Cyberbullying can hurt multiple people at once.

Another problem with cyber bullying is that people are bound to take sides. When a feud is visible to everyone, plastered all over Twitter or Facebook, the damage only grows. I remember one time when one of my friends was being cyber bullied, I decided to tweet something really nice about her to try to make her feel better, but that only sent her bullies after me as well. I became collateral damage in their war. Suddenly, I didn't feel like a good friend anymore because the cyber bullies made me feel small and stupid.

Why do we allow cyber bullying to exist? Why can't we just delete cyberbullying like we delete old pictures of ourselves from middle school off of our Facebooks? Why is it that cyberbullying is a trend that doesn't seem to go out of style? We need to take a stand and call out cyber bullies. The old saying is wrong, words can hurt, even more than sticks and stones -- especially if they're all over the internet.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
Student Life

28 Daily Thoughts of College Students

"I want to thank Google, Wikipedia, and whoever else invented copy and paste. Thank you."

135
group of people sitting on bench near trees duting daytime

I know every college student has daily thoughts throughout their day. Whether you're walking on campus or attending class, we always have thoughts running a mile a minute through our heads. We may be wondering why we even showed up to class because we'd rather be sleeping, or when the professor announces that we have a test and you have an immediate panic attack.

Keep Reading...Show less
Lifestyle

The Great Christmas Movie Debate

"A Christmas Story" is the star on top of the tree.

1442
The Great Christmas Movie Debate
Mental Floss

One staple of the Christmas season is sitting around the television watching a Christmas movie with family and friends. But of the seemingly hundreds of movies, which one is the star on the tree? Some share stories of Santa to children ("Santa Claus Is Coming to Town"), others want to spread the Christmas joy to adults ("It's a Wonderful Life"), and a select few are made to get laughs ("Elf"). All good movies, but merely ornaments on the Christmas tree of the best movies. What tops the tree is a movie that bridges the gap between these three movies, and makes it a great watch for anyone who chooses to watch it. Enter the timeless Christmas classic, "A Christmas Story." Created in 1983, this movie holds the tradition of capturing both young and old eyes for 24 straight hours on its Christmas Day marathon. It gets the most coverage out of all holiday movies, but the sheer amount of times it's on television does not make it the greatest. Why is it,
then? A Christmas Story does not try to tell the tale of a Christmas miracle or use Christmas magic to move the story. What it does do though is tell the real story of Christmas. It is relatable and brings out the unmatched excitement of children on Christmas in everyone who watches. Every one becomes a child again when they watch "A Christmas Story."

Keep Reading...Show less
student thinking about finals in library
StableDiffusion

As this semester wraps up, students can’t help but be stressed about finals. After all, our GPAs depends on these grades! What student isn’t worrying about their finals right now? It’s “goodbye social life, hello library” time from now until the end of finals week.

1. Finals are weeks away, I’m sure I’ll be ready for them when they come.

Keep Reading...Show less
Christmas tree
Librarian Lavender

It's the most wonderful time of the year! Christmas is one of my personal favorite holidays because of the Christmas traditions my family upholds generation after generation. After talking to a few of my friends at college, I realized that a lot of them don't really have "Christmas traditions" in their family, and I want to help change that. Here's a list of Christmas traditions that my family does, and anyone can incorporate into their family as well!

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

The 5 Phases Of Finals

May the odds be ever in your favor.

2318
Does anybody know how to study
Gurl.com

It’s here; that time of year when college students turn into preschoolers again. We cry for our mothers, eat everything in sight, and whine when we don’t get our way. It’s finals, the dreaded time of the semester when we all realize we should have been paying attention in class instead of literally doing anything else but that. Everyone has to take them, and yes, unfortunately, they are inevitable. But just because they are here and inevitable does not mean they’re peaches and cream and full of rainbows. Surviving them is a must, and the following five phases are a reality for all majors from business to art, nursing to history.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments