Following technology progression, innovations like the internet have completely changed how people interact. It has accelerated different forms of transgression which has become more rampant. This is evident in traditional bullying which has evolved into cyberbullying for the last decade. Though the traditional and cyberbullying use similar techniques and forms, there are however several differences among them. Cyberbullying has emerged as public health concern worldwide especially among the teens. It was easier to control and stop bullying in the past as it was limited to face-to-face interaction. Today technological evolution has made bullying more disastrous and even harder to contain. The error of cell phones chat rooms social media sites has expanded bullying into cyberspace
Cyberbullying enables the bullies to mask their identity behind the computer, unlike traditional bullying. Such obscurity adds confidence to the bully to strike blows against the victim even without the victim’s physical response. Unlike the old face-to-face bullying, today teens are able to do and say crueler things. Before, bullying usually ended once the victim withdrew from his previous environment. This is however different from today where the bullying dynamic is harder to ignore or contain. For instance, if one happens to be harassed in Facebook everyone in his/her social circle is likely to know as long as they have access to the network.
Several correlation studies review that cyberbullying poses a threat to the health and well-being of adolescents through cyberbullying. Girls are more likely to cyber bullied where their looks are criticized while on the other hand the boys often receive mocking comments relating to their physical abilities or even homophobic messages. Unlike past where bullying used to happen in the playground, today the abuse is rampant in the online environment with a permanent effect and the offender is able to attack the victim 24 hours. This is because the bully is able to maintain anonymity than during face to face interaction.