The Loss of Direct Human Contact on the Internet Makes the Target Seem Less Human and More like a Video Game Character Target to a Bully
…. Continued from Part I
Once you start on the irrational (bully) end you do not have the capability to rebalance until you leave that environment and get yourself rebalanced which most people do not do. Over time the imbalance becomes deeper and deeper and can only be reversed by shock treatment.
It becomes a high much like one gets from alcohol and the bully begins to crave the fix of control, anonymity, and deception unable to fully grasp the reality of their actions much like someone drunk from alcohol. Nerve messaging biochemicals called neurotransmitters such as dopamine are heavily depleted by computer use just as with alcohol and psychedelic drug use. Connection with reality recedes and getting high is the only consideration.
On the victim’s side, because of the depleting effect of the artificial light on the biochemicals like GABA and Serotonin (neurotransmitters that help to calm us down), emails and comments received from computer-related sources are more devastating on our emotions.
Because the computer-related world is not real, the victim is unable to point to a human person to complain about and it usually takes a parent’s vigilance to know something is wrong.
In a normal visual relationship, you can read a person’s body language and inaudible words can be spoken to convey feelings. The medium of computer-connected conversation does not allow this form of expression. We are visual creatures and we hear audibly and inaudibly every time we are with others and consequently hear from them many things they do not say audibly and are able to reach a more accurate conclusion about what they are saying.
Without this form of communication, our understanding of others is incomplete and our understanding of what they are saying is also incomplete and so we reach conclusions about their intentions that may be way off from reality.
This is the problem with computer-based conversations. It is not complete.
My advice to parents is that they educate their kids about the fact that when they are on the computer they should try to remember that human beings are different from video game characters
If your child is on the receiving end help them realize that the relationship is not real because it is not directly human-to-human but via a lifeless environment that cannot convey emotions. Consequently what they think they perceive may not be real but a figment of the imagination.
Help your children to stay grounded and not get carried away by what they think is the emotion being directed at them as emotions cannot be passed through the lifeless medium of the computer.
Help them to understand that there is an intermediary the computer that is unfortunately lifeless and cannot help them in reporting online issues to their parents or in getting them help. Parents should educate their children on all this. The medium of contact is not real and can be made to be anything a person wants it to be.
If you are a bully remember, the video game is make-belief but when humans die it is final. The real world is finite it is not unlimited like computer virtual life.
My advice to parents – monitor your child’s activity on the computer. If they make friends, encourage them to ask to talk to these friends on the phone get to talk to the kids too and their parents, and also get them to meet these friends physically under your supervision and never alone to ensure they are who they say they are. Remember the computer use environment is one of the chemical and electrical imbalances that affect the ability to make sound judgmental decisions.
Children may seem to need privacy but when someone is constantly subject to the imbalances inherent in computer use it becomes difficult to separate reality from fiction and to discern when one stops and the other begins. Parental involvement especially with a child who spends long hours in a computer-based relationship will save you future sorrow. Never let your children spend too long on the computer, the longer they are there the more their biochemical imbalance becomes and the more vulnerable or vicious they become depending on the bent of their imbalance.
It is not only children that get bullied these days. Adults get bullied too by others who sit behind the computer and write threatening tweets and posts and comments on social media. Comments they cannot repeat if standing face to face with their victims.
It is never okay o bully. It is a work of darkness with physical as well as spiritual repercussions for the bully. Think hard before you bully. Is it worth it? Is that all you want in life? What reward do you think you will receive from our maker.
No one is here to be a member of political parties or groups. We are all here to take care of the earth. Is that taking care of the earth? Do not assume you will have time to repent. You may never have the chance to do so as bullying is addictive especially if you derive some dark thrill from seeing others suffer. and you will not know when you have crossed the line of no return.
I will have to stop at this point. I hope I have helped you to gain a better understanding of cyberbullying by providing a glimpse into the inner secret working of the brain and mindset of both the bully and the victim. I hope this insight has provided you with some tips to enable you to understand your child better, Thank you for reading.
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