Social Media Cyberbullying Linked To Teen Depression

As a new era of technology and abundance dawns on most of the human population, new threats arrive capable of destroying countless families. The use of communication through social media has risen dramatically in the last decade, and dominated by society’s youth. This mixture of irrational unhappy teens and a sense of protection behind a screen has spawned Cyberbullying, harassing and embarrassing other kids on the internet. Stephanie Pappas, author of around three dozen articles of varied genres for the Scientific American, has researched the negative effects of cyberbullying to adolescents and presents her findings in Social Media Cyber Bullying Linked to Teen Depression, using Ethos and showing the findings of a diligent researcher, pathos

Pappas presented Michele Hamm, a pediatrics researcher of the University of Alberta, and her research of 10 different studies regarding cyberbullying and their links to depression. The studies suggested that “it's possible that depressed teens are more likely to become targets of bullying than their healthier peers” as well as “the more cyberbullying a teen experienced, the more severe his or her symptoms of depression” (Pappas n.d.). Pappas had used the credibility of Hamm and her findings to convince the public that this information is valid, because according to the results of Hamm’s research, kids are really suffering because of cyberbullying and it’s not healthy for them in the long run. Hamm adds that unfortunately, most parents are oblivious to these new threats to their growing children because they don’t believe their child is being harassed and the children doesn’t tell them because they are afraid of losing their privileges (Pappas n.d). Pappas is making it very clear that this issue will not resolve itself because unfortunately, kids care more about technology than their self-esteem and overall health. It will save themselves and their parents much

However, when the effects are pushed to its extremes, the “victimization of young people online has received an increasing level of scrutiny, particularly after a series of high-profile suicides of teenagers who were reportedly bullied on various social networks” (Pappas n.d.). Setting all the variable factors to their maximum, Pappas cautions the public that this could happen to a teen and should be aware. Pappas stresses again that death is the ultimate effect of cyberbullying and pushes that parents should be aware of their child lest they lose them. And for the children, nothing good will come listening to their harsh words because not only will the cyberbullies break their heart, but also the hearts of the victim’s parents. And all parents should check in with their children, because studies show that there are plenty