Question

the first step toward preventing cyberbullying is recognizing what is and what is not cyberbullying. lets begin by meeting riley and learning about a potential cyberbullying situation that hes dealing with right now.

meet riley
riley is a student at andersonville high school (ahs). he transferred to ahs in the middle of his freshman year and doesnt know too many of his classmates yet. riley likes snowboarding and also plays the clarinet and is hoping to join the orchestra.

this week, one of riley’s classmates, taylor, took a screenshot of riley’s photo from social media. taylor then used an app to make riley look like a cat in the photo. he also added some insulting words to the photo and shared it in a group text. some classmates replied to the text with mean comments about riley and some shared the photo with others.

riley is embarrassed by the photo and hurt by the comments of his classmates, but he’s not sure what to do about it. he wonders if it was just meant as a joke and it isn’t a big deal, but it feels like a big deal to him. he wonders if he should just ignore the photo and comments or if should he try to do something about them. he’s just not sure.

reflect
is what riley is experiencing cyberbullying, or are taylor’s actions just a harmless joke?

type your thoughts in the space provided.

Explanation:

Cyberbullying involves using digital tools to harass, embarrass, or harm others. Taylor altered Riley’s photo (making him look like a cat), added insulting words, shared it in a group text, and others made mean comments/shares. This caused Riley embarrassment and hurt, going beyond a harmless joke as it’s intentional, demeaning, and spread to others, violating Riley’s dignity and causing emotional distress.

Answer:

What Riley is experiencing is cyberbullying, not a harmless joke. Taylor’s actions (altering the photo, adding insults, sharing it, leading to mean comments/shares) were intentional, demeaning, and caused Riley emotional harm (embarrassment, hurt), fitting the definition of cyberbullying (using digital means to harass/harm others). A harmless joke would not aim to embarrass or hurt, nor would it involve spreading insulting content to a group.