Bullying : The Causes And Effects Of Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying is a relatively new threat, and it is very similar to traditional bullying. Despite the fact that cyberbullying and traditional bullying both share the common goal of harassment, cyberbullying differs from traditional bullying in that it does not stop at the schoolyard, and can continue when the victim is far away from the aggressor. It is just as devastating as common bullying, and sometimes is even more damaging. Professors Sameer Hinduja and Justin W. Patchin note in their journal, “Cyberbullying Creates Dangerous Stress and Anxiety”, that cyberbullying affects anywhere between 10-40% of students (contingent on their age group) (par. 1). J.D. Kelly A. Albin, in her article “Bullies in a Wired World”, defines cyberbullying as “…the ‘willful and repeated harm inflicted through use of computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices’” (157). It is caused by the fact that children feel their actions are mitigated when they use social media, as it creates the illusion of indirectness, and its effects range anywhere from mild depression to suicide.

Cyberbullying is the use of electronic communication to bully a person, typically by sending messages in an threatening nature or tearing down an individuals character based on religion, gender, ethnicity, or disability. In terms of effects overall, cyberbullying has increased the use of communication via technology and has become more common among teenagers (Cabral 3). Technology has made it easy for bullies to find individuals via social media in the privacy of their on own homes., which has allowed them to express how they feel anonomously. This has become an issue that is occurring more and more in High Schools and Middle Schools across America. One of the biggest discussions when dealing with bullying and cyber-bullying would be how do we stop this epidemic to save the soul of our youth? Education is key, we have to educate one another on the effects of bullying to know that this is real and affects so many people to this day. Much of cyberbullying is the

Bullying is all over the world. Each year there is over 3.2 million victims being bullied. Approximately 160,000 teens skip school every day because of bullying.17% of American students report being bullied 2 to 3 times a month in a year. To many within a school semester. Since 2002, fighting behaviour has increased, especially in grades six to eight. Boys are more likely to start bullying because of being bullied in their past. Girls are most likely to cyberbully. Nearly 43% of kids have been bullied online. According to Gale, cyberbullying is the use of the Internet, smartphones, or other electronic communication devices to spread harmful or embarrassing information about another person, such as talking about people, telling other people’s

Bullying can be found almost everywhere; in homes, on the internet, and especially in schools. Students of lesser abilities or non-conformists can essentially be main targets; however, anyone is vulnerable to a bully’s wrath. Although the common lunch thief threat has been the general association with the word bully, that term has unfortunately evolved and become apart of the violent side of our culture today. All too often students feel the need to “disappear” or escape leading to destructive decisions such as suicide, substance abuse, or depression (Kowalski 6). Today the causes of bullying are involved with social differences such as sexual orientation, physical appearance, ethnicity, or insecurities. For the past few years bullying has gradually increased in the US, and of course worldwide because of the internet’s growing diverse locations and servers. Statistics show that “A total of 29.9% of the sample reported moderate or frequent involvement in bullying, as a bully (13.3%), one who was bullied (10.6%), or both (6.3%)” (NIH Public Access). Forms of bullying include through a computer screen also known as cyberbullying and through physical confrontation leading students to experience symptoms of depression which could also provoke deeper personal issues. Cyberbullying has come across society through social media sites as well as personal opinion. Children are now breaking the norm of traditional confrontation and dunking heads in toilets

Cyberbullying is defined as someone frequently harassing or mistreating someone else using a cellphone or another electronic device. Bullying online is often chosen because these bullies can be anonymous online, making them think they can’t

Bullying is of various types: first is the verbal bullying, that includes teasing, threatening, inappropriate commenting based on a person’s appearance or sexual orientation. Second is physical bullying which includes hurting or attacking someone or someone’s possessions. The third type of bullying is Social bullying which includes damaging someone’s reputation. Cyber bullying is a form of social bullying that occurs on social media, online forums and through texting or gaming. It includes the use of digital devices such as cell phones, computers etc. According to the statistics from the 2015 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 16% of high school students had experienced cyber bullying in the past 12 months. My goal in this paper is to discuss the causes and effects of cyber bullying, and to create a digital awareness among parents and teachers to prevent the cyberbullying.

Emotional distress is probably the biggest difference between cyberbullying and traditional bullying. Cyberbullying is a very serious matter. Journal of School Health Association Stassen, Berger noted, “almost every student is threatened occasionally. Consequently, most of the victims will find protective strategies who suffer from anxious, aggression, or irritation. Accordingly, this may cause teenagers to become victims” (647). The emotional effect of cyber bullies to their victims has increased the risk of depression, social isolation, and obesity. Moreover, the victims become powerless with daily harassment online with no control, they have suicidal thoughts. Although, traditional bullying have a similar serious impact of emotional distress.

Cyber bullying is the most common direct form of bullying. Bullies find the internet a easier way to be mean and hurtful because they are protected behind a screen. Cyber bullies make people face threats, taunts, and insults. Cyber bullies can post, send and share negative content about someone. This is a serious issue because people can put out private or personal information about someone and expose then to various strangers.

According to researchers, the targets of this new type of harassment are more likely to have less friends than their peers , be more isolated, and more of an outcast before and after school hours. To start off, Teens who are the targets of cyberbullying or any kind of bullying are prone to feel like they deserve the harassment they are receiving. They believe that they are not deserving of friends and becomes distrusting of anyone who wants to be their friend, wondering if it is just to learn their secrets and spread them all over the internet. Secondly, victims can experience anger, frustration, embarrassment, sadness, and severe depression, often causing a lack of focus on school work. In some cases, these adolescents have to change schools due to these jarring crimes. Finally, Cyberbullying has also been tied to delinquency, violence, drug or alcohol abuse, as well as possessing weapons on school property. “Severe, long-term, or frequent cyber bullying can leave both victims and bullies at greater risk of anxiety, depression, and other stress-related disorders. In some rare but highly publicized cases, some kids have turned to suicide. Experts say that kids who are bullied — and the bullies themselves — are at a higher risk of suicidal thoughts, attempts, and completed suicides.” (database). It is not surprising that the targets of cyberbullying would be more prone to suicidal thoughts, anxiety, and other issues because of being harassed therefore are scared to be online, or even go anywhere without feeling like everyone is teasing

Bullying is a worldwide epidemic, it happens no matter where we are, or who we are. This problem faces many women, children and men. It occurs in all different environments like school, work or even just walking down the street. Many people are often a victim of cyber-bullying “The use of electronic communication to bully a person, typically by sending messages of an intimidating or threatening nature” (Google). Cyber-bullying effects many people internally, it can cause depression, anxiety, and self-esteem issues in all people, including the individual doing the bullying. There are many studies of cyber-bullying, the main area being high schools, a lot of cyber-bullying tends to stem off of the peers of the victim and others think it stems

“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” There is no doubt that this has been said an innumerable amount of times over the past century, but just how true is it? It is true that words cannot hurt one on a physical level, but just how mentally damaging can they be? In 2014 “83 percent of girls, and 79 percent of boys report being bullied either at school or online” (“Bullying Statistics”) and in 2009 an average of “68 of teens [that were surveyed] agree[d] that cyber bullying is a serious problem” (“11 Facts About Cyber Bullying”) Bullying must be stopped; to help prevent it, states need to implement laws stating that bullying is a misdemeanor (at the very least) and require school administrators to host anti-bullying

There’s not a legitimate reason for cyber bullying. Many perpetrators bully just to get a reaction. It’s common for them to bully another just to boost their ego. It makes the tormentor feel in charge. Some may think it’s humorous to tease and make fun of others and that it’s not harmful in any way. The reality is being bullied can cause many problems for children and teenagers.

Children develop mental problems because of cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is different from traditional bullying, which happens face to face. Children struggle with mental problems because they are constantly being harassed, threatened and embarrassed online. “Cyberbullying is increasingly considered a particularly damaging form of bullying because it can happen 24/7” (Wienclaw 257). It can also be shared with a wide number of people (Wienclaw 257). Children that are cyberbullied never feel safe because it can be carried out at any time or place. Children can be very self conscious due to cyberbullying. This causes them to lack self confidence. Children that lack self confidence tend to be insecure and lack social skills (Wienclaw 123). Lacking self confidence because of cyberbullying can lead children to different acts that they believe will help take away the pain and the suffering.

Bullying can be define as an act of aggressive act that is intentional, Taking force upon someone who cannot defend themselves from an individual or group. Cyberbullying is nearly the same thing as bullying but is done online, using electronic devices such as phones, emails, and social networks. Cyberbullying can happen in many different ways , through phone calls, text messages, blogs, pictures and more. The availability of internet makes it easier for bullying to take place in the long run this can cause numerous problems. The effects of bullying can cause suicides, depression and isolation.

Even when out with friends instead of being at home on a cell phone or IPad, there is still an excessive amount of time spent on phones instead with the other individual. How often are there couples out to eat and they are both scrolling through their phones instead of talking? How often are there groups of friends hanging out together and half of them are on their phones? This practice of using the phone in public and ignoring other individuals is now known as “phubbing,” or phone snubbing (Beck.) Phubbing is becoming more and more acceptable because it is becoming so common to see.