Negative Effects Of Cyber Bullying

The bullies could encourage others to be mean like them because it is “cool.” Many cyber bullies enjoy bullying people because it is funny or entertaining for them. This is why it happens so much including that it is the easiest way possible to bully someone online. Another reason why it spreads around is because the bullying could happen on any social media site or any websites, therefore it can be easily accessed and shared to many people. Once something is posted online, it will always be stored somewhere and it can never be permanently deleted.

Many people think that a lot has been done to prevent youth suicide. 2,415 teenagers have been committing suicide per year in the last 5 years (Hunter Institute of Mental Health, 2014). Most of them have done that due to psychological issues. Furthermore, bullying is also one of the causes that we should be focused on. In addition, technological developments make it easier for teenager to get bullied through the Internet and social media. I think people should be concerned about youth suicide rather than physical health only because it could be a silent killer to this generation. I don’t think that people have done enough to prevent youth suicide.

Children tend to be less involved in school activities and tend to withdraw themselves from any communication with others. School aged children who endure bullying tend to become shy and very timid making it difficult to interact among their peers. This makes them less likely to have friends and leaves them feeling worthless. Research has shown that girls are more likely to be bystanders of bullying acts to maintain social support and friends (Waldrip, 2008). Most girls try to maintain a status which creates issues among each other and they tend to bully the one’s that effect this status. As the bullying continues the victim’s turn to harmful acts or even commit suicide. Recently in a nearby local community a student that was being bullied bullied committed suicide. The bullying she endured had her depressed to the point where she felt there was no other way out of the vicious acts but to end her life.

A lot of teens commit suicide due to bullying because it makes them feel unwanted and lonely. When everyone is picking on them they feel like they have no friends, and no one to turn to or talk to. Also kids and high school tend not think long term and don’t look at the bigger picture. An example of this in Hamlet is when Ophelia drowns herself in the river because she thinks Hamlet doesn’t want her and that he doesn’t love her. Another example although its not in hamlet a transgender teen in Texas committed suicide because she was bullied every day at school and hated going to school as a result of that. Eventually she committed suicide because it had gotten so bad. Also, now with social media being as popular as it is almost everyone has a twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. so that could allow people to harass them on there or commit

Michael M. Honda states that “everyone in America likely has a bullying story, whether as a victim, bully, or as a witness.” Cyberbullying has become a major epidemic in the modern day world because everyone has access to the internet in some way. By taking an in depth look at cyberbullying, one can see just how urgent it is to stop it, because not only can it strike anywhere at any time, cyberbullying can also lead to suicide and cause serious mental health issues.

Suicide is the second leading cause of death for ages 10-24. Each day in our nation, there are an average of over 5,240 attempts by young people grades 7-12. Bully victims are between 2 to 9 times more likely to consider suicide than non-victims, according to studies by Yale University. A study in Britain found that at least half of suicides among young people are related to bullying. According to statistics reported by ABC News, nearly 30 percent of students are either bullies or victims of bullying, and 160,000 kids stay home from school every day because of fear of bullying. More teenagers and young adults die from suicide than from cancer, heart disease, AIDS, birth defects, stroke, pneumonia, influenza, and chronic lung disease, combined. According to the CDC, suicide rates are reaching epidemic levels. It is safe to say, suicide is an epidemic that we must solve.

Did you know that more than 5,000,000 kids commit suicide due to bullying every year. Most kids commit suicide due to physical and/or cyber bullying. Children feel abused and they think there is no point to living, so they kill themselves. For example, a person in high school blew his head off with a shotgun because he was being bullied. Here are some reasons why people bully others.

“Amanda Todd, a young and beautiful girl, was 15 years old when she committed suicide. This happened because she was blackmailed, bullied, and physically assaulted on social media” (NoBullying). Suicide is a very serious issue that seems to happen frequently. “Suicide is responsible for nearly 4,500 deaths of kids every year” (Cyberbullyhotline). It is also ranked 3rd for what causes the most deaths in the U.S. About 20% of teens will have the thought of suicide, but 1 in 10 usually attempt it” (Cyberbullyhotline). The kids get put down so much on the internet that they feel like there is just no possible way for them to be helped. They think that there isn’t a single solution to their problem because it is drilled into their head that they can’t be helped or that help isn’t even an option. But in reality, there are lots of ways for kids in this situation to be helped. Kids getting bullied happens because people decide that making someone else’s life miserable to the point that they don’t even want to live is fun. Social media has an influence that can cause bad mental health.

The study done at Yale University written by Gills, “explains that bullied victims are 2 to

To prevent cyberbullying, we need to go beyond responding to harm once an incident has occurred and practice healthy mindsets and relationships. In her article, Cyberbullying, Jennifer Holladay defines the form of bullying as an act of repeated harassment and humiliation with the use of technology. Also, unlike traditional bullying, it comes with a much wider audience. Bullies generally bully because of issues at home and their lack of coping skills. According to Stomp Out Bullying, bullies might be detached, have poor self-esteem, need an outlet, or just don’t understand how to socialize. This leads to the display of name calling, put downs, physical abuse, and manipulation. In terms of Cyberbullying it could be because they feel more in control when being anonymous. Bullies might have adult role models who themselves are bullies causing them to learn from those behaviors. This defines the lack of healthy relationship skills, empathy, compassion and the lack of a healthy mindset.

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.

The Internet is another media outlet that is abundant with violent content. Studies show that 90% of American teenagers use the Internet which is vastly unregulated (Lenhart).

We have all heard the phrase “sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me” on the playground or school bus ride home. The phrase was normally thrown out to bullies during a fight in the schoolyard, pushes in the hall, food thrown in the cafeteria, or during the endless teasing and taunting on bus rides to/from school.

There are also other areas in the field of cyber bullying research that require further examination. An important question to focus on is whether these effects can generalize to other types of victimization, and if these effects persist years after being victimized. The main independent variables that will be examined are face to face bullying, also known as direct bullying, and indirect bullying, which is bullying through spreading rumours and information to others who then continue the cycle. These variables were chosen as alternative types of victimization to determine if the effects of cyber bullying generalize to these types of victimization. The outcome variables are the follow up psychosocial consequences of bullying such as suicide, helplessness, academic problems, delinquency and depression.

“Children in a study in the Netherlands who had been bullied were twice as likely to have suicidal thoughts, and more than twice as likely to attempt suicide as kids who weren’t bullied”. (Blaszczak, 2014) “Notably, cyberbullying was even more strongly correlated with suicidal thoughts than traditional (in person) bullying.” (Blaszczak, 2014) “Suicide is one of the most important causes of adolescent mortality” said study author Mitch van Geel, of Leiden University in the Netherlands.” (Blaszczak, 2014) “Between five and eight percent of United States teens attempt suicide yearly, van Geel said.” (Blaszczak, 2014) The number may not be that big, but it is a huge deal to the government and the people surrounding them. “The children and young adults ages nine to twenty-one who were victimized were 2.2 times as likely to have suicidal thought as those who were not victimized, and bullying victims were 2.5 times more likely to attempt suicide, compared to nonvictims.” (Blaszczak, 2014) According to the numbers, it is likely that a person that is being bullied will think about committing