In the world today with all of the new technology being used everywhere you look, there’s a lot of ways for people to stay in touch. Using websites and apps like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, there is no limit to when and where people can communicate. Though, this sounds like a great way to stay in touch, it can also be used in another, more hurtful way called cyber-bullying.

Though cyber-bullying doesn’t sound all that bad, it can be in many ways worse than bullying in person. For example, if you regularly use social media like Facebook, you could be targeted at home, while not even in contact with people. It would follow you from when you go to school in the morning until you go to bed at night. As Ms. Davis [IHS  Psychology teacher] said, “It will just always be with you. It’s much worse than bullying, say, thirty years ago.” Yes, you can turn off your device, but to be honest, who wants to be disconnected in a world that depends on keeping that connection almost all the time? The answer is, not many kids, especially at IHS. This makes the problem harder to deal with.

The real question is, is there even a problem at all in the Ipswich High School? From observations in the three years I have walked these halls and from an interview with Ipswich High School junior, Sam Stone, I can confidently say that I don’t think it is a problem. I hear every now and then of the occasional harassment via Twitter, but nothing to the extreme of people getting hurt for the long term. As Sam Stone stated, “I don’t even think there is anyone you could consider a bully in our school.”  I agree, there is nobody to fear physical or verbal harassment from regularly.

Another reason that bullying is not an issue at IHS is all of the anti-bullying awareness gatherings and presentations we have. Everybody knows what bullying can lead to if it goes on for too long, so people simply just don’t do it. And in this day and age, people are more accepting than they ever have been. I know that many students don’t follow the anti-bullying message, but if there was someone who bullied another student, the sheer strength in numbers in our school against bullying would make it a bad situation for them.

Even though bullying isn’t a big problem at IHS, it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. As long as there are kids and a school, there will be conflict. It is human nature for that to happen. There are cases at IHS where we can say someone was bullying, but I can confidently say that it is not a problem. Ms. Davis told me that “Bullying in IHS is not an issue to worry about, but bullying in general should be at least looked into.” Ms. Davis is a veteran IHS teacher who is trusted by most, if not all, of her students, and I agree with her. Luckily, it simply is just not an issue with the kids in Ipswich.