You’re in the hall, on your way to second period, laughing with your friends about a pointless joke that was made when you start to notice people flicking their eyes up to you for a brief moment before turning to whisper to someone, or look down at their phones then back at you as if checking for confirmation. At first you disregard it, blaming it on paranoia, but once you reach the cafeteria someone calls out, “You’re a tramp!” it’s meant as a joke but something in their faces makes your smile waver, your laugh falter. You feel your heart stop, stomach dropping to the floor as your blood runs cold and the color drains from your face in response to the question, “So, have you seen the video?”

Cyber-bullying is something every single person is susceptible to in this day and age. There’s a camera in every phone, laptop, building hallway, and even on the streets. One wrong move captured on camera and someone gets a hold of it, you could be the next viral hilarity being laughed at on every laptop, phone or even television in the modern world.

We’ve all done it, laughed at an embarrassing video that your friend sends to you or that you find on YouTube.  After it’s over, all you can think of is the funniest parts of it and what to tell your friends about it- the thought of who the person is or how they feel never crosses your mind, and if it does, it’s not like you dwell on it.

“It wasn’t even that bad,” or, “No one is going to remember it by next week.”  But is that really the issue? No. The issue is that people think it is okay to take an image or a video of someone and exploit them without any sense of thought.

Let’s say a video of someone from your school is doing something that wasn’t meant to be seen by everyone and shouldn’t have been made into a video in the first place is sent around to basically everyone. I mean, it’s not that bad, nothing too serious to damage a reputation happened, so it’s okay right?

That’s my favorite part of the whole thing, when people try to justify it. Well, how would you like it if a video not meant for the whole school went around? Everyone knew it was you and talked about it, and there was nothing you can do to stop it.

When someone is cyber-bullied, the feeling of paranoia and helplessness doesn’t go away because if it’s on the internet, it can be easily brought back into the limelight by a simple search. So how does a victim of cyberbullying ever find peace? How do they know that the person laughing at their phone and showing their friend isn’t that video of themselves?

That’s the problem- they don’t.

But just because you’re a victim of this doesn’t mean you’re alone; everyday, people are coming together to be a support system against cyber-bullying. It may not ever completely go away because some people thrive off of others’ pain, but we can do our best to try.

The reality of the situation is that some people will always just be mean and thoughtless, and that’s life, but eventually they will be the ones feeling totally isolated. Everyone who’s been a victim of it or choose to stand against the cowards hiding behind screens will have the power.

If you or someone you know has been affected by cyber-bullying, don’t feel alone or defenseless, because that simply isn’t the case. If you have ever been a cyber-bully, try to imagine yourself in their shoes; understand what they’re going through, realize that you’ve been wrong, and don’t make the same mistake again because what goes around comes around. It needs to stop; we need to think before we post or before we hit that send button. Always ask yourself first, “How would I feel if it were me?”