Cyberbullying: A Silent Threat to Mental Health

1054 Words3 Pages

Being cyberbullied is a reality that mostly teens and young adults of today have to face but it can happen to anyone at any age, with many suffering from it but not speaking up about it. If not dealt with properly it can lead to numerous mental health problems and in extreme cases even suicide of the victim or others being injured. Thus becoming a serious problem that needs more attention by adults, media, and schools alike. With the advancement in technology and social media becoming a bigger part of these teens lives everyone needs to be educated on a subject like this from young to old. In a quote by Chris McComas, father of Grace McComas, a teen who had committed suicide, posted “No longer does a bully say something nasty in the schoolyard …show more content…

What is worse the negative effects of cyberbullying may go unnoticed by loved ones or peers as the person who is being targeted does not want to tell anyone of their problems. As the teen is afraid of the repercussion of them taking action and reaching out to someone, but instead the issues just get steadily get worse. When teens get cyber bullied it mainly for the reason that they are somehow different from everyone else or something specific has happened to them that theses bullies can use against them. It could be that the teen has learning problems, a bit awkward, frail, gay, loner, or overall an easy target to pick on. But then for other things such as rape, nude photos, having to do something with a boyfriend or a girlfriend, being a “slut”, or knowing any embarrassing truth that can used as blackmail or a touchy subject for this …show more content…

She was a 15 year old freshman attending Howard County Glenelg High School who had been cyber bullied by her bully for months before she had killed herself. McComas’s bully had supposedly lived next door to her and this boy family had been friends of theirs for years. She had been raped by her bully and he then started the harassment by tweeting things such as "I hatehatehatehatehatehatehate you. Next time my name rolls off your tongue, choke on it.. and DIE," who was unidentified and never confirmed who the person was. She had been neglected by the authorities and the school for they had done nothing to help the family and to put simply the McComas had been betrayed by their community. She had been told various times to make bullying reports but she had never done so because she was afraid of the retaliation. After Grace’s death her fellow students started to band together and started a anti-bullying campaign on twitter known as the #blue4grace which had brought a strong community together to support Grace’s family and anyone in need. The students at Howard High School had also done some work at the schools to create a community based on respect to speak up about bullying and shutting it down. Then the state of Maryland had passed Grace’s Law which took effect on all 24 of its districts, stating that using an media device to bully. impose death

Show More
Related

  • Destroying Avalon Research Paper

    656 Words  | 2 Pages

    Cyber bullying affects people from any’ age, including children, teens, and adults who all feel very stressed and alone when being bullied online. Such as bullying can cause a long term damage to self-esteem. For example, Cyberbullying can make you feel totally overwhelmed which can result in feeling embarrassed as they are going through such a devastating time, and not knowing what support is available for them. Many children feel unable to confide in an adult because they feel ashamed and wonder whether they will be judged.

    Read More

  • The Dangers Of Cyberbullying

    627 Words  | 2 Pages

    Cyberbullying is a very controversial matter. People are starting to say that cyberbullies should be prosecuted for their actions. First of all, there are more important crimes to focus on like murder and theft than just prosecuting a kid who said something “offensive” to another kid. Also, the First Amendment protects cyberbullies to have freedom of speech and say stuff to other kids. To add on, just because someone “excludes” another kid form not joining a group, does not mean that they should be criminally prosecuted. If people are being cyberbullied, they should not use social media much.

    Read More

  • Cyber Bullying Negative Effects

    1065 Words  | 3 Pages

    The act of bullying has been present in children’s life throughout time. It has been seen in movies, books, and even real life situations. In recent years there has been in increase in the use of technology and the Internet. As a result a new type of bullying has been introduced to today’s generation of teenagers. This new type of bullying is known as cyberbullying. Cyberbullying has a negative impact on the lives of the teenagers that experience it.

    Read More

  • The Dangers Of Bullying: The Definition Of Cyberbullying

    707 Words  | 2 Pages

    Cyberbullying affects victims in various aspects of their lives, including school, home, friends, and emotional well-being. According to Source 3: The Fact Sheet, "80% of targets reported that their online experiences as a target of cyberbullying affected them at school, home, and with their friends, and they reported experiencing feelings of frustration, anger, and sadness. " This quote demonstrates the profound impact of cyberbullying on victims. Additionally, everyone deserves to be treated with respect and dignity, regardless of their differences. If victims confront the problem and seek help from a parent or teacher, they may not have to suffer in silence.

    Read More

  • The Effects of Bullying and Cyber Bullying

    1917 Words  | 4 Pages

    The biggest problem our society faces is bullying. According to Webster's dictionary bullying is defined as "one habitually cruel to others who are weaker" Bullying is the leading driver of low self esteem, suicides, low academic achievement and depression. I believe it is a problem because, there are too many teens that are abused by bullies. In 2010 at least 3 million students reported being bully, now think of all the students that are not reporting out of fear. The world would be a lot better if there weren't any bullies on it. The underlying issues with bullying is the student no longer feels safe. The Columbine High school shooting is almost a perfect example of what can happen in the world when bullied victims have had enough . There are countless forms of bullying, but the most common are cyber bullying and school bullying. Another type of bullying called covert Bullying isn't as popular but can cause the same amount of torment. Most people acknowledge that we have a problem, but the punishment the aggressor gets for bullying is really light. When a kid has to resort to taking his own life because the pain is unbearable something has to change. I came up with a radical solution, it is a 2 strike system similar to California's three strike law.

    Read More

  • The Dangers And Effects Of Cyberbullying

    801 Words  | 2 Pages

    Bullies have been around a long time, but the advancement in technology gives these bullies a whole new platform. Cyberbullying is the act of harming or harassing via information technology networks in a repeated and deliberate manner. Sometimes cyberbullying is easy to spot, for instance if a child shows their parent a direct tweet or message which is viewed as harsh, rude or even threatening (Kids Health From Nemours, 2016). In other cases, it is not as easy to spot, like impersonating a victim online or posting personal or embarrassing information. Cyberbullying causes psychological, emotional and physical stress. Each person’s response to bullying is different and unique, but more often than not, youth who are bullied have a higher risk of depression and anxiety (Kids Health From Nemours,

    Read More

  • Links Between Cyberbullying And Psychological Illnesses

    716 Words  | 2 Pages

    The i-SAFE foundation found that, cyberbullying victims are more likely to have low self esteem and to consider suicide (Bullying Statistics). Victimization of young people online has received an increasing level of scrutiny, especially after a series of high rate suicide of teens who were reportedly cyberbullied (Pappas). Cyberbullying causes numerous psychological illnesses among young teens. There is emotional distress, isolation and depression. Victims of cyberbullying commonly have an urgent response to anger, frustration, sadness, and stress.

    Read More

  • Why Is Digital Presence So Important?

    985 Words  | 2 Pages

    Normally, after being cyberbullied for a while and receiving all those malicious words that are written by others, those teens starts to the lose the courage to live and are generally scared to stand up for themselves. It’s unachievable to completely stop cyberbullying, but we can take actions such as saying positive words to the victims and try to make them not feel excluded from the world on the

    Read More

  • Cyberbullying In Schools

    598 Words  | 2 Pages

    Cyberbullying is a nationwide problem among school aged children often leaving the victim with significant mental scares. School personnel have adopted protocols for both prevention, intervention, and counseling those students who become a statistic of cyberbullying. According to the national statistics published on StopBullying.gov, 9% of students in grades sixth through eighth experienced cyberbullying at some point during their middle school years. 15% of ninth through twelfths grade students reported being cyberbullied in the past year. There were however 55.2% of LGBT students who experienced cyberbullying during their school years. Cyberbullying seems to be more predominant in students who are in grades sixth through twelfth.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Cyberbullying

    748 Words  | 2 Pages

    Have you ever been cyberbullied or humiliated over the internet? The internet was built to expand the knowledge of life everywhere, for communication, and much more. There are also cons; the internet is not perfect, that’s pretty clear, but as humans we all should have seen this coming. Cyber bullying is a growing problem, It destroys families, lives, the way people see things, and how they act. Monica Lewinsky was a victim of this harmful treatment and I have to agree with her that no one should have to go through this. Cyber bullying is leading to suicidal ideations more significantly than offline bullying. Mostly teens and young adults are so abused and ashamed by shaming and humiliation that some can 't imagine living the next day, and some unfortunately don 't. A helpline called ChildLine helps teens with certain issues recorded from the year of 2012 to 2013 a 87 percent increase in calls and emails related to cyberbullying and bullying. Consequently, cyberbullying is a growing problem and somethings needs to be done.

    Read More

  • Traditional Bullying and Cyberbullying

    1273 Words  | 3 Pages

    Generations after generations teens have used the actions of bullying to hurt others they felt as a threat or to be in the “in crowd” of popularity. Traditional bullying was physical and thus confined to face-to-face contexts. However, with the development of widespread social interaction via social media websites, email, and text-messaging, teens have additional avenues of expression and, as a result, other means of bullying. Over time the bullying taking place using digital means has come to be known as cyberbullying. Cyberbullying has brought the evilness out of teen’s actions, words, and thoughts whether they were the bully or the victim. Equally important, the ending results of these actions, words and thoughts have brought death, limited yet undefined punishable consequences if pursued, and slowly progressing methods to control cyberbullying as a whole.

    Read More

  • We Need Harsh Punishments for Cyberbullying

    2253 Words  | 5 Pages

    The playground bully is a classic figure in the life of children. Shoving, pushing, pinching, name-calling, and dirt-throwing are some of his favorite pastimes. In the modern world, however, bullying is moving to another arena, one much more sophisticated and secretive than the jungle gym. Bullying that takes place online, or cyberbullying, is a growing area of concern among the younger generations. Recent events have thrown cyberbullying, rather unceremoniously, into the spotlight.

    Read More

  • Cyberbullying Among Teens

    939 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Bullying: The Causes And Effects Of Cyberbullying

    1456 Words  | 3 Pages

    In 2006, national law enforcement leaders estimated that more than 13 million children and adolescents ages 6-17 were victims of cyberbullying (Feinburg and Robey 11). Unfortunately, by the time males and females become adults, most have admitted to being bullied physically, emotionally or mentally. Bullies usually don’t understand the effects which they are fully creating and just think of themselves and the joy or revenge which they receive by bullying another person. Cyberbullying involves sending or posting harmful or cruel text or images using the internet, such as instant messaging, e-mails, chat rooms, and social networking sites, along with other digital communication devices like cell phones. Bullying usually comes with stalking, threats, harassment, impersonation, humiliation, trickery, and exclusion (Feinburg and Robey 11).

    Read More

  • The Effects Of Cyber Bullying

    1159 Words  | 3 Pages

    Nowadays bullying has gone much farther than just physical violence. Most teens today have either been cyber bullied or have been witnesses to it. Cyber bullying is a form of bullying that is done over electronic messaging or over social media. This is very new to many people of the older generation, but is very relevant to the new generation. Cyber bullying is becoming an increasingly big problem in the U.S. every year. Being a kid who has grown up with technology and social media I have witnessed cyber bullying many times in my life. I have had many friends that have fell victim to cyber bullying and this is why I chose to talk about this topic. Since this topic of bullying is overlooked in our society as not being an issue I decided to choose

    Read More

More about Cyberbullying: A Silent Threat to Mental Health

Open Document