Dear Friend,

This urgent petition is for all those who are using social media on a daily basis for all your communications. We all have heard and witnessed many cases of harsh, violent and life-threatening cyber bullying and online harassments. But, what I am standing up against is something which is starting and spreading like a slow poison. Trust me, this time its not from people whom you have never met or known. BUT (that is really a big But !), its by people whom you least expect from - your classmates, friends, colleague and very familiar people. These kind of inappropriate behaviour or trolling or teasing happens in front of a smaller audience mainly the WhatsApp Groups wherein the person is easily able to target a specific member of the group and have a moment’s laugh at their expense with rest of them. This might not seem much serious in the beginning as making fun verbally within a group of friends had been a common thing right from our childhood and school days. But the level of mockery takes a higher level of harassment or online bullying when its combined with picking personal posts or photos from the targeted person’s Facebook/ Twitter/ other social media accounts and sharing them in their WhatsApp Group with unrelated comments or troll or captions. These ‘so-called-Friend’ gets a free access as he/she has the privilege of being in the victim’s Friend list. Such people, never post or share anything of their own life/family/friends in the social media for fear of same actions that they very shamelessly practise. To me who has witnessed and experienced them can say that, they act as sleeper-cells watching for the right time to pounce with the least thing one ever expects, which leaves the receiver in SHOCK and in SURPRISE..!!!

There may be many of you who may have already witnessed the same things that shattered your trust and pierced your heart. I kindly request you all to lend a helping hand and stop this slow poison from spreading and taking a monstrous shape. This is not just for our own safety, peace of mind and freedom of expression, but also for your Daughters/Sons, who will tomorrow sit in your same chair and would be exposed soon to the Online Community!

I request and plead for all your whole-hearted support and co-operation, to SIGN THE PETITION and support to stop such vices from growing and multiplying. Stand Up Now and Help Cut them from the Grass Roots. Stop encouraging or co-operating with those who cross their limits for no reasons. Today it may be someone else, tomorrow it can be YOU. Stop Bullying in the shelter of WhatsApp groups, if they are bold enough let them come in front and ask it directly rather than assume, misinterpret, misjudge and shame the victims. Below are the ways we can help save the victims from further heart-break.

1. Ask the person for an explanation to understand his/her intentions behind the inappropriate act, before you judge him/her.
2. Any action should be balanced with an equal reaction. Its best to choose to walk away, QUIT the group and BLOCK the concerned person from accessing your personal photos and posts with immediate effect. That includes, WhatsApp, FaceBook, Twitter etc.
3. People who are POSITIVE, in PEACE with themselves and who are your REAL friends, wouldn’t in the first place even think of trying something like bullying their own friends. So the victims will now understand, whom to befriend and whom to let go.
4. ADMINS of each group should take it as their MORAL responsibility to not just sit and watch the drama, but take immediate action to mend or hold the imposter responsible for his/her action and make the group safer and more positive for rest of the members to be IN peacefully.
5. If after repeated warnings a person doesn’t mend his ways or behaviour, the Group Admin should delete the member from the group. That is what an Admin should be for and NOT just be a people-pleaser, mediator or peacemaker which doesn’t help eradicate the problem. Instead its the other way round, that WhatsApp Group will continue with all the wrong doers and the victim has to leave the group with no choice left and not much support!

Friends, Never stop doing what is GOOD and never miss a chance to DO GOOD! Hoping for a better and enriching online existence! Thank you dear friends for making a difference!

I look upto you,
for a SIGN,
for A POSITIVE CHANGE !

with best regards,
AJITHA AMARNATH