Cyberbullying, School Bullying, And Psychological Distress

The word 'bullying' has developed a very traditional definition amongst society: a face-to-face interaction involving either verbal abuse and/or physical abuse. With the technological advances that have occurred within the past 15 years, bullying has become anything but traditional. Children and teens have more access to the Internet and to social media platforms more than ever before, thus allowing them to avoid face-to-face interaction. Within the past 15 years, there has been a significant rise of cyberbullying in the youth demographic (ages 12-18) (Slonje, Smith, & Frisén, 2013). In order to understand what the difference between traditional bullying and cyberbullying is, one must familiarize themselves with the definition of cyberbullying.

After reviewing sixteen peer reviewed research articles devised on research completed with adolescents around the world, I gained a better understanding of how adolescents respond to cyberbullying in comparison to traditional forms of bullying (i.e. verbal, physical, emotional). Although it is not as prevalent as traditional bullying, cyberbullying has been on the rise with recent technological advancements. Starting at the bottom of page 7 and ending at the top of page 9, a literature review critique was completed to identify disparities and gaps in the peer-reviewed research articles studied. Moreover, to better address concerns within the school environment and the effect bullying has on students, it is critical to review current research while noting successful and ineffective interventions. Additional research conducted can utilize previous data to elect how to proceed in order to formulate interventions that effectively address the impacts of

1. This article was written based on a study of cyber bullying behaviors in a large group of middle and high school students. Increases in technology, and access to that technology have increased student ability to bully using an online forum. Not a lot of research had been done into this subject at the time of this article. Taking this into consideration there had been a few large scale studies done that corroborated the belief that cyber bullying is a significant problem. Researchers believed that due to the potential for exposure to this type of bullying, more studies needed to be done. With increased research there was the hope of diminishing the number of incidents of cyber bullying and the effects of those incidents. The research that had been completed also pointed to additional issues, including behavior problems, suspensions, substance abuse and depression among students who had experienced cyber bullying. The other side of previous research showed that the students who used cyber bullying as a weapon were more aggressive in their behaviors.

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.

“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

Jose, P. E., Kljakovic, M., Scheib, E., & Notter, O. (2011). The Joint Development of Traditional Bullying and Victimization With Cyber Bullying and Victimization in Adolescence. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 22(2), 301-309. doi:10.1111/j.1532-7795.2011.00764.x

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.

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

The article, “Cyber Bullying and Internalizing Difficulties: Above and Beyond the Impact of Traditional Forms of Bullying” acknowledges, “34 % of students reported that they had been victimized by their peers during the current school year, and 38 % reported that they had bullied others.” Low self-structure goes hand in hand with being the victim of cyber and traditional bullying. Bullying prevention programs should be mandatory in school curriculums. Execution of programs to address low self-structure should also be incorporated into school curriculums to help address the impacts of traditional and cyber bullying. Parents and educators need to intervene in bullying incidents, a failure to do so may impact students’ abilities to be happy and

According to Acting Executive Director (strategic Operations and Engagement) At Mental Health Commission of NSW Julie Robotham the raise of smartphone has taken over the traditional experience with teenager’s use of technology and created a powerful new place for cyber-bullying. According to Professor Sheryl Hemphill, the Australian Catholic University, she followed 700 Victorian student from year 7 to year 9 and asking them anonymously whether they had teased or threatened via smartphone. The result should that 15percent of them had been involved in cyber bullying. . Cyberbullying can be determined to a person’s mental and physical health. Victim may experience various social isolation and unsafe. It can lead to emotional and physical harm,

and age influence cyberbullying. The study described asked students in fifth and ninth grade to questions regarding bullying, neighborhood violence, family

In this newspaper article, the author helps the reader understand and how to treat cyber bullying. The author explains what bullying is and how it is modernized to become cyber bullying. The article informs the reader of main point, in a brief but effective description about recognizing and treating cyber bullying. The author show great statistical research on her topic but not enough the emotional appeal. It provides good use to my research because of the extensive use on how it should be treated.

Previous studies on cyber bullying have been conducted at the middle school and high school levels. Bullying has always been a problem in this age range, so its natural for many researchers to target children as their survey participants, studying their activities and communication through technology. However, very few studies have been conducted on cyber bullying at the college-age. This is the age group that not only grew up when the computer found its way into almost every home, but when the cell phone became a

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).

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.