Happy Thursday lovelies!

I wasn’t planning on posting today, and I almost did not publish this post. I kept thinking, this is not my battle to fight nor is this an extremely upbeat post….but thinking that this is not something that everyone should be working to end is half the battle.

Over the past month I have been noticing something more and more that I know isn’t brand new, or only happening to one person. I just thought we should be past this awful stage in our society. 

This morning I was flipping through Instagram stories and once again was hit with how malicious our society can and still is. A fellow blogger posted a screenshot of an email she received last night, an email that read “Go kill yourself” in the body of a three-sentence email.

Go kill yourself.

 

Three little words that contain so much hate and aggression. When I read this screenshot my stomach turned, what if this woman took these words to heart and let them eat at her? What if she did not have the confidence to call this individual out for their bullying and instead internalized it all. This is the third cyber bullying situation I have seen publicized in less than 14 hours. 

Before we go any deeper into this post I would like to clarify something. I’m the first person to say that people are way too sensitive and become offend in the blink of an eye. That being said, there is a huge difference between someone saying “you’re weird” and “go kill yourself.” 

 

Would you like to know why this person sent her this email? She must have posted something awful right? Probably a picture of her kicking a puppy or stealing food from a child. No, she posted a poll on Facebook asking people what they would like to see next on her blog. And the response she received, “How about Option D, go kill yourself.”

 

My heart hurts for her and all the other individuals who receive messages or comments like this daily. Cyber bullying is not anything new, people have been doing it for years now. Netflix has released multiple documentaries and movies about real life cyber bullying.  And yet, it continues every single day. The scariest part of it all is that it’s happening to teenagers and young adults who are too afraid to speak out.

 

I have a few questions for all the cyber bullies out there. Why as a human being do you feel it is okay to tear down another human being? Why do you, the bully hiding behind their computer screen think it’s okay to send nasty and demoralizing emails? Or leave comments on social media posts that are hurtful and sickening? Are you just unhappy with your own life? Were you bullied first and this is your way of coping?

 

We live in a world where everyone is constantly pushing for people to be politically correct, yet somehow bullying still exists? Please explain that to me. Please explain why an account whether social media or email is not automatically banned from the internet the moment a harassing or threatening statement goes out into the cyber world from their account. But a mother who posts a picture of her semi naked baby is banned from Instagram and Facebook.

And I know what some of you might be thinking,” well it’s freedom of speech.” That’s fine, but please explain to me when we became such a broken and numb society where justifying someone’s hateful words became normal. Where individuals forget that there is a real person behind the Instagram feed, a real person who is not immune to your harsh and hateful words.

 

Whatever the reason cyber bully happens, this cycle needs to end. I’m not naïve enough to think one simple blog post will forever end bullying. If only the world was that simple, but if Netflix can’t put an end to it then neither can I. I will say, with confidence that the next time I experience cyber bullying I will make it public, and I hope you will as well.

 

XOXO

Emily