When Airdrie’s MacKenzie Murphy was in grade 5, she experienced bullying for the first time. Starting as jokes and teasing that, at first, felt harmless, but as the internet came into fruition, things began to escalate. Murphy had an account on Tumblr, a social media platform where users share written blogs and photos of their own, or repost other users’ content to share with their followers, much like retweeting someone on Twitter. Within Tumblr, there’s a function where someone can ask another user a question and remain completely anonymous. It was through these anonymous online questions, most of Mackenzie’s bullying occurred, mainly about mental health. “I got told a lot to just ‘turn off the computer’ which, yeah, it can be a really good tool to just step away from the situation.” says Murphy, “But, to tell a kid that they’re not allowed on the internet or shouldn’t be on the internet because they’re being bullied and they’re the victims, isn’t the answer.” Murphy did end up stepping away from the internet to “shut off” the bullies because it had gotten so out of hand and so hurtful, MacKenzie had attempted to take her own life as a result. Bullying often has a domino effect where those…
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Bullying in our own backyard, an Airdronians experience and how it paved the way for change
