The Effects of Social Media Usages on Bullying Behaviors
The internet is readily available to children all across the world; it plays a pivotal role in education, media entertainment, and often social relationships as they relate to the 21st century. It is less often thought of how technology, social media to be more specific, is influencing the behaviors of today's youth. Social Media plays such a fundamental role in today's society. How does social media use affect the behaviors of today's youth? People often use social media sites as a way to experience parts of the world and cultures that they may not be able or fortune enough to experience themselves but what happens when they are faced with negativity through the use of social media? A staggering number of individuals use various types of social media every day if we examine the usage of the popular site Facebook and the number of users accessing from personal computers alone that estimates about 152,226,000 people, this does not including the mobile app and mobile web users (Barozzi, 2012 p.5). The number of people who use social media may seem staggering but a lot of people use social media to build relationships and network with hundreds of people that they might not have been able to meet or talk with, without the use of technology. The number of users is not only increasing but the number of teens and young adults that are using social media sites has also increased in recent years. An astounding 73% of people between the ages of twelve and seventeen, in 2009, were using social media, this compared to 2007, had increased fifteen percent over the two year span. Of the young adolescents using social media 55% of them between the ages of 12-13 had created a profil...
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... Social Networking Behaviors from 2006 to 2009. Cyberbullying Research Center. Retrieved, from http://www.cyberbullying.us/changes_in_teens_online_social_networking_2006_2009.pdf
Hinduja, S. & Patchin, J. (2010). Cyberbullying research summary: Cyberbullying and strain. Cyberbullying Research Center. Retrieved], from http://www.cyberbullying.us/cyberbullying_and_strain_research_fact_sheet.pdf
National Center for Education Statistics (2011). Student Reports of Bullying and Cyber-Bullying: Results From the 2007 School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2011/2011316.pdf
National Center for Education Statistics (2011). Student Reports of Bullying and Cyber-Bullying: Results From the 2009 School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2011/2011336.pdf
Bullying has become a major problem facing the United States today. The American Psychological Association reports that roughly 40% to 80% of children are involved in bullying on some level during their time in school. (APA, 2014) The magnitude of the problem can be observed in the statistics. In the United States, a total of 4,080,879 children between the ages of five and 18 have been the victims of bullying compared to 3,892,199 who have reported that they have engaged in bullying someone else. Additionally, 851,755 said that they have been both the victim and the bully. That's a whopping 8,824,833 people in the United States that have been involved in bullying behavior on one level or another. (High, B., 2000 Census)
According to a study conducted by the American Medical Association, “ over 15,000 6th-10th graders, approximately 3.7 million youths engage in and more than 3.2 million are victims of moderate or serious bullying each year” (Cohn, A, & Canter, A, 2003). Bullying not only takes place in person but can presented in many different forms and manners. Some including online or more formally known as cyberbullying, where a person is threatened by the means of online communication or social networking. According to Statistics Canada (2009), “1 in 10 adults living in a household with children reported a child victim of cyberbullying” (StatsCan, 2009). Other types of bullying include physical bullying, where a person is at a risk of physical threats. Verbal bullying, where a person deals with a the use of words to verbally upset the victim (Cohn, A & Canter A, 2003). Also emotional bullying which can include things such as spreading rumours with the intent on hurting the victims feelings.
Banks, R. (2000). Bullying in schools. ERIC Review, 7(1),12-14. Retrieved August 15, 2010, from http: //ericcass.uncg.edu/virtuallib/bullying/1036.html
With this unfortunate circumstance, schools need to put a stop to bullying. Informing the school and the community on the issue of bullying is the first step in ending it. To continue, the next is to make rules that will prevent kids from wanting to bully other students. Also, creating an anti-bully committee and a bullying report office in schools will help reduce bullying. With cyber bullying being so difficult to detect, we inform parents and students about safe internet use and ask parents to monitor their child internet usage. Bullying is
The definition of bullying uses broad statements to define the actual meaning. Because of this, people may view the definition differently than others. Bullying can range from physical violence to verbal abuse to even cyberbullying. Most people do not realize how common cyberbullying actually is. Over half of teens and adolescents have been bullied online and almost the same number have engaged in the bullying (“Cyber Bullying Statistics”). Cyberbullying is becoming more and more prominent throughout this time period because of the technology continuing to expand around the world. Each year this statistic increasingly grows due to the technology
America has struggled with bullying for many decades. Bullying is a broad topic. Bullying can be defined many different ways as well as expressed in different ways and places. Bullying has different effects on everyone. Bullying is not only physical, but also affects the victim emotionally and socially. Cyber bullying and verbal bullying are different ways someone harms another person. Sexual harassment is a major form of bullying as well. “Bullying Laws” defines cyberbullying as online emails, text messages, or posts on social media and other websites (“Bullying Laws”). Examples of verbal bullying would be name-calling, threatening, and teasing. Bullying can be between peers, or between different ages. People are not aware of the laws that are in place. “As of October, 2010, 45 states had bullying laws” (“Bullying Laws”). Due to the fact, bullying is so common between many age groups and done in many ways, it is important to recognize the problem and make policies and laws to reduce bullying between all ages.
Traditional bullying that used to occur commonly on school-grounds has now been over shadowed by harassment through the Internet and other technology related devices. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary “cyber bullying” is defined as ...
Bullying has been a part of schooling for as long as children have been congregating. To some it seems like a natural, though uncomfortable, part of life and school experience, while to others it can mean terrifying experiences which spoiled and characterized otherwise happy years in school. Dan Olweus, a pioneer in bully behavior research documented that 2.7 million children are affected as victims, and that 2.1 children act as bullies (Fried, 1997, as cited in Aluedse, 2006). With bullying cited as the reason for violent, gun-related crime in the past few years, school districts as well as national governments have put anti-bullying policies in place. Bullying is a complicated phenomenon, involving more than one child demanding lunch money from a smaller child. It is a worldwide epidemic hitting schools everywhere. Virtually everyone has seen or experienced bullying. With technological advances, bullying is even hitting the internet. Parents, teachers, students and governments agencies alike are attempting to put a stop to bullying practices.
McQuade, III, Samuel, James Colt, and Nancy Meyer. Cyber Bullying: Protecting Kids and Adults from Online Bullies. First Edition. Road West, Westport: Praeger Publishers, 2009. 47-49. Print.
Technology has given individuals the opportunity to change the game of bullying. Cyber-bullying is one of the most common forms of bullying as of today. The Internet has no boundaries so the public has access to endless and countless number of things. Cyber-bully is the electronic posting of mean-spirited messages about a person (as a student) often done anonymously according to Merriam-Webster dictionary. While traditionally bullying and cyber-bullying are very comparable in forms of technique that also have many differences. Cyber-bullying gives the bully the benefit of hiding their identity behind a screen. This makes it easier to tear people down because they do not have to come in contact with anyone. It’s the easiest form of bullying. These can happen in text messages, chat rooms, email, websites, excluding people from certain online activities, digital photos, and social media. Cyber bullies have unlimited supplies of ways to hurt someone. It is difficult to conduct a study on cyber-bullying because the majority of people will not confess or admit to it. Instead, in the article “Cyber-bullying among adolescents: Measures in search of a construct.” Researchers sit and listen through the grapevine on what is going on inside of schools. They found out that cyber-bullying is more dealt with within adolescents than traditional interaction bullying. (Mehari, K. R., Farrell, A. D., & Le, A. H.) Cyber-bullying can cause more
Vandebosch, Heidi, and Katrien Van Cleemput. "Cyber Bullying Among oungsters." Conference Papers -- International Communication Association (2007): 1.Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 29 Nov. 2013.
Bullying is a worldwide problem and it requires immediate attention because it psychologically affects both the victims and the bullies. Victims may ultimately have suicidal thoughts and bullies will have uncontrolled behaviors that carry on through school and after school, but they can be helped. Although cyber bullying is a big obstacle due to the large-scale usage of internet and the ability to conceal identities, technological advancements and child supervision help to single out these individuals to reduce the amount of bullying that occurs.
Social media has only been easily accessible on our decade, but has boomed in popularity and user use. It has taken over our society and culture providing a new channel to connect with the world in real-time. While, social media has many advantages -- especially in providing resources and knowledge to the public, it has many downsides as well, including not providing enough protection for our youths. As such, we see the rise of addiction to social media, cyberbullying, and negative body images. We need to push our government, schools, and families to educate our youth on internet usage. With technology’s increasing growth rate and that fact that technology will be our future, it is pertinent to teach our children how to use social media in a responsible manner.
.Ockerman, Melissa S., Constance Kramer, and Michelle Bruno. "From The School Yard To Cyber Space: A Pilot Study Of Bullying Behaviors Among Middle School Students." Research In Middle Level Education Online 37.6 (2014): 1-18. Academic Search Premier. Web. 23 Apr. 2014.
With technology progressing, students are moving past face to face hectoring, and are verbally bullying other through social media. Cyberbullying can sometimes become more harmful than verbal, physical, and emotional bullying due to victims, not feeling like they have an escape route because they are threatened repeatedly through text messages, e-mails, social media, etc. The worst part about cyberbullying is that the things posted can be anonymous; therefore, there is no blame for who posts what. A victim can suspect that someone is to blame for the actions done, but there is no proof to solve a possible ongoing issue. Cyberbullying and bullying are actually considered a crime when someone: physically assaults another person, gender or racism is talked about, violent or deadly threats are made, sexually texting, inappropriate photos, stalking,