One hundred percent of children are touched by bullying whether they are victims, perpetrators, or bystanders. Attitudes about bullying can change; however, being informed does not aid the victims that just want the bullying and trauma to stop. Cyberbullying is on the rise, but for now traditional bullying remains a more prevalent issue because cyberbullying is not practiced as often and is commonly over exaggerated.

Cyberbullying is not practiced as often as traditional bullying, and the severity is not on the same level. A common assumption now made is that most bullying happens online, when in fact that is a myth. In a high school, 40,000 students were surveyed, and forty seven percent admitted to having been bullied while only ten percent of the victims were cyberbullied. Another common misconception is that bullying ends when one grows up. Bullying is repetitive behavior that occurs when there is an imbalance of power. Carman Boalis, a Republican in the Iowa House of Representatives, claims that cyberbullying policies are not needed because they already have anti-harassment policies. Even if this law was passed, it would only affect private schools. Bullying starts at home, and it has been proven if a child is bullied or abused at home in a hostile environment, they will believe it is acceptable to bully others. Cyberbullying is a problem although it does seem to get blown out of proportion.
The cyberbullying “epidemic” has been over exaggerated. Stories of cyberbullying are tragic, but they fuel the already raging cyberbullying fire.  Young people are actually more tolerant of diversity than they were twenty years ago. Overall bullying is on the decline. A study showed that it decreased from twenty-two percent in 2013 to fifteen percent in 2015. Eighty percent of teens say they have not been cyberbullied. Only a minority of people consider bullying of any kind to be normal. Specialists who study bullying advise making the bully feel like the outcast, not the victim, by turning the situation around, the bully will have no support. They want adults and children to cast bullying as abnormal behavior, not an everyday thing. Sixty-seven percent of teens agree that most bullying happens offline in the form of harassment. Bullying is a tricky subject. Some students confuse joking around with bullying, depending on the students’ demeanor and their overall tolerance. But opinions do differ, especially about a controversial topic, like bullying.     

   “Although cyberbullying is less physical than traditional bullying, it can have more devastating and longer lasting effects” (Meech 1). Many see the situation through Meech’s eyes of cyberbullying being the greater problem on the table. They claim cyberbullying is on the rise and if ignored will go beyond the control of putting an end to this new hate-filled type of bullying. Cyberbullying is defined as “electronically mediated behaviors among peers such as making fun of, telling lies, spreading rumors, threats and sharing private information or pictures without permission to do so” (Uhls 1). Victims of traditional bullying may feel safe at home while cyberbullying victims can be attacked from anywhere anytime. It has been proven time and time again that the internet has no limits. Traditional bullying does not involve the same large audience that cyberbullying attracts online. The human mind is an intricate system that works in strange ways. The cyberbully does not fully comprehend what they are doing to the victim while staring at a white screen. The boundaries are extended while children are on the internet. Another feature that adds a sense of comfort for the bully is the option of being anonymous if so desired. Schools do not permit students with unstructured computer time so most online bullying happens at home. As a solution, some teachers offer taking technology away all together. Although others argue that children have grown up with technology therefore taking it away is not an option. The technology is not the problem; it is the manner in which it is used. The statistics on cyberbullying continue to rise, but society’s attitudes on stopping these harmful attacks are not keeping pace.

  Cyberbullying is on the incline, but for now traditional bullying is a larger problem because traditional bullying happens most frequently. The cyberbullying epidemic seems to be exaggerated. Although traditional bullying has a broader effect and targets a larger audience, any kind of bullying is an issue and should be taken seriously. The ideal situation would be to put an end to both traditional bullying and cyberbullying. The power is handed down to the younger generations who have the potential to end bullying.