Cyberbullying is a widespread occurrence and can have incredibly serious consequences. According to Goebert and colleagues (2010), “Recent studies have shown that cyberbullying can result in emotional distress, depression, anxiety, and suicidality” (p. 1282). These adolescents do not have the necessary skills to cope with the abuse on their own, potentially causing them to turn to other activities for escape, such as self-injurious behaviors or drug use. Although these young victims feel as though they have no way out of their situation, only one in three victims told their parents about the attacks (Goebert et al, 2010, p. 1285). During a cyberbullying attack, victims may exhibit distinctive psychological symptoms. These symptoms can include, but are not limited to, distancing oneself from electronic devices, difficulty sleeping, irritability or extreme moodiness, or appearing anxious when using personal communication devices. Some victims and aggressors may express desire to harm others or themselves. In order to prevent potential mental health issues, parents and educators must work to identify the symptoms of cyberbullying abuse (Goebert et al, 2010, p. 1285).
Suicide
“Cyberbullying when directly or indirectly related to suicide is called cyberbullicide” (Luxton et al, 2012, p. 195). A recent study conducted by Goebert and colleagues (2010) determined that adolescents who are victimized by cyberbullying attacks are 3.2 times more likely to attempt suicide (p. 1283). Victims of cyberbullying often feel that they are unable to control the situation at hand. However, they become embarrassed of the bullying and fail to notify an official. Adolescents who are cyberbullied feel that they have no escape from technology in the w...
... middle of paper ...
... substance abuse. Although many states have enacted laws that cover cyberbullying, the wording used is incredibly vague and many argue that these statutes disregard a person’s constitutional right to free speech. The policies within schools are not much better, and many school workers have admitted that they are not equipped to handle cyberbullying cases. Although cyberbullying can have very severe consequences when not handled correctly, there are prevention and intervention strategies that can be utilized by schools, parents, and even bystanders. Cyberbullying can lead to traumatic losses through suicide, and it is vital that students, parents, and school officials understand the severity of this problem. Cyberbullying is a mounting problem within the United States, and requires the attention of school officials, lawmakers, and psychologists immediately.
The article “Girl’s Suicide Points to Rise in Apps Used by Cyber Bullies,” by Lizette Alvarez discusses the seriousness of cyber bulling and its effects on teenagers, specifically Rebecca Ann Sedwick. For starters, people are trying to raise awareness about teenagers driven to suicide since a 12 year old girl, Rebecca Ann Sedwick, committed suicide because she was terrorized on social media. As many people knew, Rebecca was brutally bullied online to the point where she had to leave school and go get help, but sadly the bulling started again once she returned, and this time she put on a “brave face” and didn’t tell anyone; untimely, she should have gotten adults to help her because she couldn’t handle the bulling on her own. In addition, social
.... Victims of direct, indirect, and cyber-bullying have an entirely new gamut of bullying to cope with, and are forced to manage their emotions in this same public arena as well. Teenagers are finding it difficult to escape or remove themselves from such public harassment, and in response, suicide is increasingly the outcome with many adolescents gravitating toward suicide pacts as well. Unfortunately, technology is not always a beautiful advance, ultimate luxury or everyday convenience. Technology has indeed aided and contributed to the demise of many. It will be of no miraculous wonder should this next decade see a dramatic swing in the cause of teenage suicide from depression and drugs to bullying. The author of the age-old proverb of “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me” obviously never had such words plastered on Facebook.
Young children along with adults use the Internet as a doorway to push around or intimidate someone else of a different race, gender, sexual orientation, and religion or even sometimes for an unknown reason. According to DoSomething.org, approximately 43% of kids have been bullied online and nearly 75% of students admit they have used the Internet as a way to bash another student. One of the most horrific ways children deal with cyber bullying is by taking their own life. Hundreds of families each year loses their younger son, daughter, brother, sister, cousin, niece, nephew or dear friend because of the malicious, yet often disingenuous regretted words typed by
“Over the course of three months, Prince was verbally abused — publicly and in Facebook posts. She was threatened with physical abuse and received hostile text messages. On the last day of her life, Jan. 14, 2010, some of her tormentors drove by in a car, called her an Irish slut, and suggested that she go kill herself. She did.” (Huus). Phoebe Prince was an ordinary High School teenager who wanted nothing more than to fit in and live a normal teenage life, but because of harassment and embarrassment her life was cut short. Instead of focusing on how to prevent this type of bullying, people are focusing on how to punish the bully and deal with the incident after it happens. The internet is a fairly new thing, and it is not going away anytime soon; therefore, students need to be educated on cyberbullying and somehow shown how it can impact their life or someone else’s. Also students should be monitored when using computers and other technology that allows them access to the internet, and students need to take responsibility while facing the consequences for their actions online.
Since Teen suicide is the second leading cause of teenage death in the United States, there is a need for legislation that promotes awareness and education about Cyber-Bullying. Due to the growth of technology in the American society, the younger generations of adolescents are adapting to the excessive use of computers, cell phones, and social-networking sites. According to a study done by Amanda Lenhart, 87% of adolescents who are between the ages of 12 and 17 are using the internet on a daily basis (Trolley, Shields, and Hanel, “Demystifying and Deescalating Cyber Bullying in the Schools”).With these numbers increasing across the nation, the numbers of adolescents being harassed through technology means is growing as well. The relationship between cyber bullying and teenage suicide has been named “cyber bullycide”. Studies show that 1/3 of teenagers who have used the internet have stated that they have received threatening or offensive messages either through text, e-mail, IM, and other technology related programs. In 2007 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officially labeled “electronic aggression” being cyber bullying as an “emerging public health problem” (Billitteri 387).
Source 2: Hinduja, S.& Patchin, J. W. Bullying, Cyberbullying, and Suicide. Archives of Suicide Research (14), 2010:206-221.
This sort of phenomenon makes major headlines regularly in recent times and effects a clear majority of today’s youth. State and local lawmakers have taken steps to prevent this type of bullying by making illegal under several criminal law codes. Michele Hamm, a researcher in pediatrics explained, “There were consistent associations between exposure to cyberbullying and increased likelihood of depression.” Cyberbullying became widespread among students with the rapid growth in use of cellular devices and the Internet. With this kind of technology bullies have the ability to send harmful messages to their recipients at any given time. This type of bullying is the hardest to control because it involves students but often happens off school grounds. However, because the evidence is material, students and parents could bring this evidence to the school and local police departments if a situation were to happen. Parents should be mindful of their child’s use of the internet and electronic messaging, cyberbullying usually takes place in a medium in which adults are seldom present (Mason, 2008). Also, instead of sending direct messages to other students, bullies use platforms such as social media and anonymous blogs to post harmful things for others to see. Educators must understand the significance of social media use to their students, especially
Because cyberbullying is a relatively new phenomenon, there is some degree of variance in its definition. In its early inception, cyberbullying was thought to be limited to the internet. However, the rapid creation of new technology tolls has expanded the boundaries to include cell phones, instant messaging, chat rooms, and email (Campfield, 2006). Campfield (2006) conducted a study of middle school students to determine the incidence rates of cyberbullying. She found that nearly 70% of students were involved in cyberbullying in some capacity, as a bully or victim. In a similar study, Li (2007) found that 39% of students have been involved in cyberbullying, while 52% were aware of a peer being harassed through electronic m...
Internet usage in children and adolescents has been increasing in a steadily fashion in the past number of years and with the increase in internet usage, a new form of bullying has developed – Cyber bullying. Cyber bullying can be defined as “the electronic posting of mean-spirited messages about a person,” (Merriam-Webster, 2012). This form of bullying can come through various mediums including but not limited to text messages, emails, videos, and social networking sites. There is an overwhelming amount of information that defines cyber bullying, identifies the demographics of bullies and victims of cyber bullying, and identifies the outcomes of cyber bullying on victims. More focus needs to be placed on who the perpetrators of this form of violence are and how this form of violence is linked to traditional bullying. This will allow researchers and practitioners to move forward with research and implementation preventative methods and intervention once the problem has already occurred.
Cyberbullying is one of the main causes of suicide and teens dropping out of school. Cyberbullying is a life threatening or even a harmful thing
Cyberbullying has become a serious dilemma because of the harm and pain it can leave. It affects so many teens and can potentially change their future. Cyberbullying can change a person’s mood, character, and even destroy someone’s motivation. This is an important issue that will hopefully be stopped in the near future.
Before students only had to worry about being bullied at school, but due to technology advances and the use of social media, teenagers can be bullied twenty four- seven. Cyberbullying causes a huge impact on students and when they are too busy with the anxiety of being bullied their grades can suffer or they can even drop out. According to HealthDay News, 9,590 students were surveyed from 580 U.S. schools. Compared to kids who were not bullied, students that were cyberbullied experienced a 0.049 drop in their GPA between grades 9 and 12. This number is too big when you think about the potential students have but the constant bullying by their peers on social media effects that. For some, dropping out or taking the bad grades feels like their only option. Some teenagers that get cyberbullied on social media can’t take the constant criticism, which can lead to suicide. An example is Hannah Smith, a 14-year old student from England. Smith had been on ask.fm, a social networking site that allows people to ask questions anonymously. Cyberbullies urged her to drink bleach and cut herself. Eventually she couldn’t take the bullying any longer and committed suicide. Social media has a huge impact on these suicides because it’s through these websites that these teens are being bullied by other students. If teens don’t stop soon the side effects of cyberbullying
The cons of social media can be very risky, especially when the youth of this society is partaking in it. Children and adolescents are now known for inappropriate content on social media sites or just simply not understanding the concepts of privacy. A nationwide issue that has been addressed is the action of cyberbullying. This action often leads to harmful circumstances such as suicide attempts, with some being successful. In just one state in the U.S., 1,491 high school students that were the “cyber bullies” were related to suicide attempts and about 4,693 students were rel...
“First, many targets report feeling depressed, sad, angry, and frustrated.” (Hinduja and Patchin). These are just some of the bad effects that cyber bullying is causing for today’s teens. One of the worse effects of cyber bullying is the link between cyber bullying and suicide. “Finally, cyberbullied youth also report having suicidal thoughts, and there have been a number of examples in the United States and abroad where youth who were victimized ended up taking their own lives.” (Hinduja and Patchin). This alarming fact should be the wakeup call to the U.S. that we need to do something about this problem and fast. Cyber bullying simply does not just hurt someone’s feelings, but it is taking lives of our youth. The first step to help prevent this issue can be to have our schools inform the students of the dangers of cyber bullying. “Furthermore, school district personnel should review their harassment and bullying policies to ensure that it allows for the discipline of students who engage in cyberbullying.” (Hinduja and
Stutzky suggests that cyber bullying is the use of modern communication technologies to embarrass, humiliate, threaten, or intimidate an individual in the attempt to gain power and control over them. Bullying has been around since the beginning of time. These days however, bullying isn’t just happening on the playground, it’s happening on the internet and mobile phones, making it possible to bully a child 24 hours a day. Cyber bullying follows children around the clock and into the safety of their own bedrooms. A recent survey by MindOh!, an educational company that follows youth trends, reported that nearly 80% of the 5,500 teens that were surveyed said that they had been exposed to cyber bullying. Cyber bullying affects the mental health of so many young adolescents around the world, and the issue is steadily increasing as more and more ways to bully are created.In extreme incidents, cyber bullying has led teenagers to suicide. Most victims, however, suffer shame, embarrassment, anger, depression and withdrawal. While technology continues to evolve, new means of communication enable today’s bullies to become more effective in terrorizing and tormenting their victims. The aim was to increase awareness and decrease the prevalence of cyber bullying- Year 9 at Meridan State College being the stakeholders (people involved).