Positive And Negative Effects Of Cyber Bullying

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The use of technology has become an integral part of everyday life and has had a huge impact, both positive and negative, on the development of adolescents. Research studies have found that 90-95% of adolescents are able to easily connect to the internet and that they spend on average one third of their day connected to electronic devices (Rose and Tynes, 2015; Londoll, Greca, Lai, Chan, and Herge, 2015). Access to the internet has provided this age group with additional avenues for increasing their intellectual capacity and connectedness with others (Rose & Tynes, 2015). However, the internet has created a new platform that unfortunately is being used as a forum to bully others. This is known as “cyberbullying,” which is defined as, “the willful and repeated harm inflected on another …show more content…

This is cause for great concern due to the negative correlation between cybervicitimization and mental health outcomes, for adolescents, who are at a sensitive developmental period in their lives. Adolescents are more susceptible to peer pressure, are less capable of self-regulation, and lack effective coping skills. This developmental immaturity exacerbates the impact of cyberbullying, leading to depression, anxiety, and even suicidal ideation (Rice et al., 2015). Furthermore, cyberbullying has been found to have an even greater effect on its victims than traditional school based bullying. This is due to many factors including the internet’s ability to reach a wider audience, the anonymity that it provides perpetrators, and the instant and sometimes permanent effect it has on cybervictims (Hamm, Newton, Chisholm, Shulhan, Milne, Sundar, Ennis, Scott, and Hartling, 2015). Therefore, this is an area that social workers must research and learn more about in order to create evidence based interventions that social work practitioners can access in the

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