Aitan Virrey
Ms. Kamal
English 12 Period 2
December 4
Findings Paper
Essential Question: What Impact does cyberbullying have to a person’s mental well-being? Also, how can the education system help the victims.
In a generation where many people have various ways to connect with others such as twitter, facebook, and so on, it is becoming more and more convenient to bully others with less to no confrontation at all and repercussions. Veronika Slegova and Aelena Cerna explains in their article “Cyberbullying in Adolescent Victims: Perception and Coping” cyberbullying is the act of threatening and humiliating someone with the use of gadgets, its attributes are intentionality, repetition and imbalance of power which is differences in power levels of the victim and perpetrator, specifically it is measured by online popularity such as followers and online friends, also the bullies technological knowledge. It is a health issue, that impacts children and adults. It works in two ways, direct cyberbullying e.g, sending threatening messages, posting videos and photos that humiliates the victims and etc. Also indirect cyberbullying or cyberbullying by proxy, which is when the bully has other people to target the victim examples are when the bully poses as the victim, hacking victims account and making up lies to destroy the victims image and etc.
Cyberbullying has been a controversial and ongoing problem. It can start small but if we don’t do something about it over time the problem will get bigger and bigger and it can cause critical impacts that victims of so, may bring until they grow up or in severe cases may cause them to be suicidal. Yet, the situation is different depending on the person’s usage of gadgets it’s cyberbullying has a negative impact on a person’s mental well-being . Although, it can happen to anyone of any age it is more common among students (Chong Gua). The issue of cyberbullying is most prevalent middle and high school students between the ages of 12 to 17 (Patchin).
Cyberbullying has been a problem in the early 2000s with the modernization electronic communication tools, such as cellphones and computers, instant messaging and social media applications such as facebook and twitter have become important for adolescents to maintain their social network. However, some people use it to hurt others online. (Carter and Wilson). As Carter and Wilson cited in their scholarly journal “Cyberbullying: a 21st century health care phenomenon”, cyberbullying can be a counterpart of traditional bullying. Also, because of the convenience of cyberbullying they state it can be more dangerous compared to traditional bullying. Cyberbullying escalates with the advancement of technology and computer networks used by us to connect with others. Anonymity and convenience of cyber bullying through the use of gadgets anywhere and anytime, makes victims more vulnerable ands keeps them defenseless even in their homes. In Raskauskas and Stoltz, scholarly journal they further explain how during adolescence, relationship with peers play a vital role in their social and emotional development. Also, even though bullying has been part of teenagers experience for a long time, they face a new form of bullying . Researchers, Carter & Wilson and Raskauskas & Stoltz both agree that convenience of cyberbullying and the anonymity it offers are major causes of this type of bullying. Cited by Raskauskas and Stoltz, scholarly journal “Involvement in Traditional and Electronic Bullying Among Adolescents” adolescents today are the generation’s first to grow up in a society where technology plays a part in their daily lives. Which has widen the sources of information and has created a new form of learning for students. However has risen new opportunities of bullying.
The convenience of online bullying, which can be done anywhere and anytime is a factor that led to a rise in cyberbullying. In the online article “Enough is enough: Say no to bullying by Anderson Cooper, he talks about how internet access and social media makes it convenient to be bullied even in your homes at anytime of the day. He also compares how “a strike of a button on a keyboard can hurt just as much as any punch or push in a playground” in the same way how physical bullying can hurt just just as much as cyberbullying. Also, Raskaukas & Stoltz explains how the convenient access of internet and electronic modes of communication provide alternate ways for people to bully others, which he states can have an affect to the social and emotional development of an adolescent, which can impact negatively on the well-being of a person. To sum it up, the 24/7 availability makes it unsafe for people even in the comfort of their homes. Both authors agree that cyberbullying is an important issue that can impact a person’s life. However, for Anderson Cooper’s article he states traditional bullying has the same impact as cyberbullying, on the other hand Raskaukas & Stoltz believe that cyberbullying has a more severe impact rather than traditional bullying, especially to a person’s social and mental well being.
Another, factor that has cause cyberbullying to rise is the anonymity online bullying has to offer. In the online article made by Jonathan Ng “Cyberbullying: The Elephant in the Room” he talks about how the internet has a lot to offer information wise and how mostly everyone is glued to their electronics and social media, that we don’t see the “elephant in the room” which is cyberbullying. He also talks about how cyberbullying overlaps with traditional bullying. How bullying face to face became leaving mean comments anonymously online, like ask.fm which was a social networking site used to ask others questions anonymously. Also, he explained how in the past few years cyberbullying was a result of many suicides by victims who are secluded in their insecurities. To add on, an article by Erin Peebles “Cyberbullying: Hiding behind the screen” talks about how since the bully is anonymous, hiding behind a screen. With this the bully wouldn’t see the victims reaction which he said makes bullies feel less remorse. Even more how it’s opportunistic because it can hurt others without any physical interaction and little to know chance of getting caught. Both authors agree, that anonymity is a reason of the rise of cyberbullying and it has more impact compared to traditional bullying.
The short term consequences from the causes of cyberbullying explained in an article by Rebecca Thill it has caused psychological problems such as the development of eating disorders and physical pains from mental factors such as internal conflict or stress. Second, is problems with sleep because they experience nightmares connected to bullying issues. Thirdly, they have problems with socializing with peers, she explains how victims feel lonely and abandoned and suffer from low self-esteem. Lastly, is issues at school she further explains that victims of so, have problem with academic achievements which occurs because of frequent absences and also when victims attend school they avoid some parts of school where they could be targeted by the bullies such as restrooms. From her study she also says 20% of students report they feel unsafe in school which has an impact on their learning abilities. In an article made by Katie Hurley she starts of with statics, saying that cyberbullying affects about 27% of teenagers. How students only seek help after a long period of time or not at all and how victims of cyberbullying performed significantly worse compared to other teens because they feel scared in school which has distracted them from their studies. With this it has also affected the victim’s social development also self esteem negatively and it can cause symptoms of depression. They both articles agree that cyberbullying has an effect on the school performance of victims they also have similar viewpoints that cyberbullying has a number of psychological effects on victims.
In addition to the immediate consequences cyberbullying has, it can have long term consequences to victims. In an article by Katie Hurley she explains that chronic depression is a possible impact of cyberbullying, with this it can affect the general health of victims. The victims may show self destructive behavior and might do self harm. In addition to this, victims might be alcoholics and/or drug addicts. In severe cases it can lead to increased risk of suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts, however though with immediate and proper help from professionals and help from a support system like friends and family it can help them. Also, in the study of Dieter Wolke and Suzet Lereya “Long-term effects of cyberbullying” outcomes of cyberbullying are that they have higher risks of somatic problems such as headaches and colds and psychosomatic problems like suicidal thoughts. They also state that victims have a higher risk of anxiety disorder and depression, with poor social development with friends and partners. Furthermore, it has an impact in the victim's health, wealth and social state. For health issue, they are serious mental illness, drug and alcohol abuse, suicide thoughts and anxiety. For wealth, they are poor school performance which has led to unemployment and or dead end jobs. For social, it has affected their relationships with parents, poor social development which means less friends and low self confidence. Both sources agree that cyberbullying can lead to a number of psychological illnesses, second can affect poorly on their social development and lastly can lead to suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts. However while Katie Hurley thinks that it has a negative impact on the victim’s school performance, Dieter Wolke and Suzet Lereya doesn’t think it has a much of an impact to it.
Cyberbullying continous to worsen especially in today’s society with the advancement of technology and ways of connecting with people online. It has led to a number of psychological problems that can impact a person’s mental health and social development. With the convenience cyberbullying has to offer that it can happen anywhere and anytime that you don’t feel safe even in your homes. Unfortunately, it isn’t an issue you can fix overnight. Since this is a people problem, it needs a people solution. This will require help from the school and parents of both victims and bullies.