Cyberbullying Epidemic

Bullying is one of the leading causes in teen suicide today. People bullied in the past or present have been studied and it has shown that they have a lower quality of life. Though they have a lower quality of life, the have better physical and mental health. (“Seaman” 1). Studies have shown that most bullying happens in middle school and high school. There is bullying in elementary school but it is minimal and less serious (“Bullying Statistics” 1). Most kids refuse to speak up while being bullied in fear that the bully will just taunt them more (“Cyber-Safety Act” 2). Bullying has become a very serious issue regarding our society today.

Similar to other forms of bullying, cyberbullying can cause a victim to loss of focus on activities, school, family and friends,and can even lead to suicide. According to statistics reported by ABC News “nearly 30 percent of students are either bullies or victims of bullying in some way, and 160,000 kids stay home from school every day because of fear of bullying”(Webster). Due to the fear of going to school, teenagers lose focus on activities important to them and can even lose focus on their future, such as college. According to statistics about bullying in general, “Suicide is the third leading cause of death among young people, resulting in about 4,400 deaths per year, according to the CDC. For every suicide among young people, there are at least 100 suicide attempts. Over 14 percent of high school students have considered suicide, and almost 7 percent have attempted it”(Webster). Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem; however, being bullied in any way can lead to the feeling of loneliness and hopelessness and the laws set in place does not help victims hurt feelings go away. Cyberbullying is not a victimless crime and with these statistics multiple laws have been set into place to prevent bullying; however, there are minimal laws to protect victims of

In 2014, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) did a study on bullying and the found that 19.4% of all the students interviewed had been bullied at school. This may not seem very surprising, bullying has been going on for decades. Generations of men and women have come to fear the people who walk the halls, stealing lunch money from those weaker than them. However, it is interesting to note that 14.8% of that 19.4% had reported being cyber bullied. Unlike the standard physical bullying, cyberbullying is a slightly more recent development, but it has evolved to become much more deadly. It gives bullies a better tool for creating more widespread pain. The awareness for cyber bullying needs to increase and ultimately, cyberbullying needs to be abolished completely due to its destructive capabilities.

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.

A large sum of suicides are indirectly or directly influenced by experiences with online aggression. Suicide is not an uncommon result of tormenting through social media. “The psychological impact [of cyberbullying] can be devastating, and suicide is not unknown among young victims. For some victims, the damage to their sense of dignity and emotional well-being could persist for years." (“Jessica Mendoza”) The effects of online bullying are extremely harmful to children. Any child that is having suicidal thoughts from online bullying is a deeply harmed child. Suicide in teens is not uncommon either. Jennifer Holladay states, “Our study of upwards of 2,000 middle school students revealed that cyberbullying victims were nearly twice as likely to attempt suicide compared to students not targeted with online abuse.” Online abuse it a growing problem with the modernizing society. More and more people at younger and younger ages have more access online, and to social media. This increases the online abuse, and will lead to more and more suicides in teens

“Nationwide, one out of four students from the ages twelve to eighteen have been bullied. That is twenty five percent to the teenage/young adult population and these numbers are continuously to rise every day” (Wassdorp, Bradshaw, and Leaf 116, 149-156). Bullying is the action of repeated harmful acts or harassing another in various forms. Many situations fall under one or even multiple of these categories: physical, verbal, indirect, and cyber. What this does is strips the victim down from their identity and leaves them to pity themselves for being the way they are. Bullying is an issue in this nation because it tears apart the teenage/young adult population, and it is causing an increase in risk of suicide among these groups. Bullying is

In 2014-2015 over 21% of teenagers have been cyberbullied. The effects of being cyberbullied include, usage of alcohol and/or drugs, skipping school, poor grades, have low self-esteem, have more health problems, and depression (What is Cyberbullying). Victims of cyberbullying are twice as likely to attempt suicide than those who haven’t experienced cyberbullying. Each year, approximately 4,500 teenagers commit suicide due cyberbullying and bullying. Self-harm is also common to victims of cyberbullying; the amount of teenagers who commit suicide and self-harm due to bullying rise along with the usage of social media.

The current study shows the extent of a nontraditional form of peer aggression—cyberbullying which can also be related to suicidal ideation among children and teenagers. A random sample was done in 2007 1,963 middle-school students were chosen from one of the largest school districts in the United States to complete a survey of Internet use and experiences. Children who experienced traditional bullying or cyberbullying, was an offender or either a victim that had more suicidal thoughts; and more likely to attempt suicide than those who had not experienced forms of bullying. The bullied victims was more strongly related to suicidal thoughts and behaviors than the offenders.

In the article, “If Suicide Happens… Questions Raised on Bullying as Cause” Gail states, “The bullying may reinforce negative images the person already has of him or herself, and plays into their sense of reality.”(Gail). Being mistreated by others can change your perspective of yourself. When other individuals say appalling things about another, those comments by others build up and become too much to deal with. When it becomes to much, the teenager can only see one way out and that is suicide. In the article “Should schools punish cyberbullies?” Kaitlin Menza states, “Yes. Being bullied online makes school unbreakable.”(Menza). Being bullied online makes going to school an even more difficult to get through than it already is. showing up at school after being bullied online can make matters worse. People that were being bullied online are now being bullied at school and this can mess up one's focus in class and extracurricular activities. Although bullying is tough at school, the Government can resolve this issue with a law that will help many

In order to understand the importance and consequences of cyberbullying, the main idea of cyberbullying must be expressed. Suzanne Phillips states that “cyberbullying like any form of bullying is relational aggression. It is intended to make the victim feel frightened, humiliated, helpless and too often—hopeless. What makes cyber bullying particularly harmful and in the case of too many young people who have committed suicide, so deadly, is the nature and virulent reach of electronic medium” (Phillips 1). Students are put in danger everyday due to the relevance of cyberbullying that surrounds them. The effects are detrimental to their health and have major impacts on the society. Justin Patchin explains that teens have unhealthy ideas when he states that “cyberbullied youth also report having suicidal thoughts, and there have been a number of examples in the United States and abroad where youth who were victimized ended up taking their own lives” (Patchin 1). Average teenagers express everyday that the effects of cyberbullying are harmful to their well being and self esteem. This causes most teens to feel worthless and makes them believe that their lives are not meaningful. Justin W. Patchin also shows the many outcomes of cyberbullying and displays that at “first, many targets report feeling depressed, sad, angry, and frustrated.

    Each year 34,000 people commit suicide a year - about 1 death every 15 minutes. Suzanne Phillips, professor of clinical psychology in the doctoral program of Long Island University and on the faculty of the postdoctoral programs of the Derner Institute of Adelphi University, wrote an article titled “Cyber bullying is Dangerous”. In her article she discusses Cyberbullying - what causes it and how it affects people. Suzanne Phillips states,

There is a lot of bullying that goes on in this world, a majority of it being cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is a constant problem with young kids on social media. Cyberbullying is a risk for anyone, “Cyberbullying is deliberately using digital media to communicate false, embarrassing, or hostile information about another person. It is the most common online risk for all teens and is a peer-to-peer risk” (AAP). Nonetheless, bullying is always going to happen and cyberbullying allows it to happen

While cyberbullying affects each child differently, there has been a clear correlation between victims and non-victims and their self-esteem. In one study, bullied victims had less self-esteem than those who were not bullied online. Additionally, it was reported that victims of cyberbullying were thirty percent more likely to think about committing suicide (Cyberbullying Research Center, 2012). With the lack of parent supervision, it was found that those who spent more than three hours per school day on social networks were 110% more at risk to be a cyberbully victim as compared those who do not spend as much time online (Gilkerson, 2012). What may be worse is the fact that majority of those bullied online do not tell their parents or an adult about what occurred. Despite the fact that most adolescents state that bullying occurs more offline then online, cyberbullying is still a real and large threat to the youth of America (Lenhart, 2007).

I am writing this essay as I have been extremely moved by the recent suicide of a teenage girl in Ireland. Erin Gallagher a 13 year old girl from Donegal took her own life because of vicious online bullying. Her recent suicide adds to the growing number of teenage suicides not just in Ireland but worldwide that have been caused by bullying and cyber bullying or a combination of both. The issue of cyber bullying is something that needs to be addressed immediately both in the home and in schools. UNICEF carried out a study on bullying in Ireland and the results were staggering to say the least. 55% of children questioned admitted to being bullied in one form or another (Changing the Future, 2010). This

The following literature review is all about how cyber bullying affects the life of the ones who got bullied, the chances of committing suicide among the victims and the laws in several states regarding cyber bullying.