Halo and CMC

Have you ever noticed that while you are on the internet you have more courage to say certain things than you would in person? Whether it is a personal feeling of admiration or words of anger, it seems that people have the uncanny ability to say more personalized feelings when they can not see the other person's reaction. I noticed this yesterday while a friend and I were playing Halo 3 online. If you have the microphone headset accessory, you are able to talk to the other people that are playing with you. This is usually limited to a "hey, what's up?" or very extreme, profanity-laced "trash" talking. I was playing with a friend named Dan Ross. For those of you who do not know him, he would be one of those kids that you would bet to lose in a fight. But while playing this game, even with his skinny demeanor, he has the uncanny ability to insult people into quiet submission even if he can not back it up with skill. And everything that he says would never be repeated if he saw the other person in a public or private area. This is exactly what it is like for cyber bullies. They say more hurtful things on the internet then they do in person. And no, I am not calling Dan a cyber bully. The whole concept of people being able to talk to each other while playing a game where the object is to kill the other person is, of course, going to inspire angry, violent talk towards the opponent. And do not get me wrong, I also have the ability to insult people until they cannot stand to hear the sound of my criticizing voice and will then push the mute button to stop the barrage of words aimed at them. (I only do this to kids my age that start it.)
None of the insults that Dan or I say would ever be repeated in public. So what gives us this courage? Well in my opinion it is the anonymous factor of the internet. We will never see the people we are playing against and we feel that there will be no consequence for our actions. Cyber bullies must feel the same way. Because they feel they are anonymous, they get more courage to say more hurtful words. Also, since it seems that there will be no consequence for their actions, they are willing to do and say things that they would not say or do in person for fear of getting in trouble. Kids that are victims of cyber bullies need to learn to ignore what the bully says. Just hit the exit out button while they are trying to message you on AIM or just simply block them.
So who knew that Halo could relate to CMC? I, for one, did not. The anonymous factor of the microphone feature and the internet gives players of Halo and cyber bullies the courage to say what they want to people. The slight difference between Halo and cyber bullies is that usually your opponent is trash talking you right back and it is all in good fun. But, in all seriousness, if some kid is cyber bullying you on the internet just ignore them. Bullies lose all their will to bully people once they realize it is not bothering that person. This can also be seen on Halo. When someone stops trying to come back with insults, the argument just sort of dies. The person who is doing the trash-talking realizes that it is no longer bothering his opponent and just finishes the rest of the game quietly until someone starts the argument back up.