Causes and Effects of Teen Cyberbullying

1276 Words3 Pages

More and more teenagers are often using the internet to communicate with their family and friends, however, as much as parents wish the internet could always be a happy, positive place for our children to communicate it is not always the case. In 2011, Youth Risk Behavior surveillance found that 16% of high school students (grades 9-12) were electronically bullied. There are many causes that push a teenager to attack through cyber bullying, and the causes behind the teenage attacker are just as important as the effects cyberbullying can have on the teenage victim. Cyberbullying has become a highly discussed issue in society, and people who study cyberbullyingfind it hard to study the statistics because technology trends change often. The two issues I found a lot of studies on are what can cause a teenager to attack through cyber bullying, and how cyber bullying affects the victim.
First, cyberbullying is a way for a person to attack another person through the use of electronic technology. The attacker can use their computer, cellphone, tablet or any electronic device that can connect to the internet to continuously harass their victims, and most often they attack through social networking or text messages. Similar to bullying, cyberbullying takes place when the attacker feels that they can gain power and control over the victim who is weaker or more vulnerable. This type of situation can make it difficult for the victims to defend themselves. Some examples of how they might attack their victims are by spreading rumors, placing pictures or videos on the internet, sending mean text messages, or even creating fake profiles to harass the victim. Cyberbullying is different from face-to-face bullying because it creates a situation ...

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...acker and the victim because the causes behind the attacker and effects on the victim are both heartbreaking, as the attacker may lack certain skills needed to socialize correctly, while the victim could be questioning going to school to get an education, or even ending their own life. Parents and teachers need to keep a close eye on teenagers electronic use at all times because a teenager can make one wrong turn that can danger the life of another teenager and there is no turning back. If we teach our children about the effects cyberbullying and that it can cause to another person, as well as the consequences of cyberbullying, we could save a lot of children from being the attacker or the victim, and we would have more children focused on getting a good education and going to college instead of having to fend for themselves in dangerous or embarrassing situations.

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