Cyber Bullying – Problems and Solutions
Abstract
This report has been designed to essentially discuss the various consequences that victims suffer while being exposed to cyber bullying. The text also sheds light on the coping strategies and protective measures that individuals tend to adapt in order to protect themselves from cyber bullying. This report is based on secondary research that is gathered via multiple academic, scholarly and peer-reviewed journal articles that are available on the internet.
The findings from the report reflect that cyber bullying is common amongst a broader age demographic who may suffer from emotional and psychological trauma after being exposed to humiliation and embarrassment via an electronic medium. Cyber victimization enables the individuals to suffer from multiple issues ranging from depression and anxiety to substance abuse and even suicide. Hence, it is recommended that academic institutions, social groups and health care providers should develop strategies that may enable victims to recover from their trauma. Furthermore, these authorities should also devise preventive measures for other individuals so that they are able to protect themselves from Cyber Bullying.
Introduction
In this contemporary world where rapid digitalization has revolutionized the societal paradigm, certain issues have started to emerge that has caused un-repairable harm to the individuals who are a part of the global societal dynamics. Cyber Bullying is one such issue that has enabled certain individuals to use digital media and other communication forums as a medium to humiliate, threaten and offend people. This humiliation may take various forms ranging from harassment and denigration to cyber stalking and masquerading and hence, may enable the victims to suffer from mental and emotional trauma (Cowie, 2013). This report is essentially designed to highlight the consequences that victims face while being exposed to cyber-bullying and subsequently the text suggests curative measures that can be taken to prevent the occurrence of the problem.
Findings
Cyber Bullying is an obnoxious practice that has been largely prevalent in this modern digitalized arena and has impacted people from a broader age demographic ranging from college students and older adolescents to young and old office workers (Chisholm, 2014). The act of cyber bullying enables bullies to use social media forums such as Snapchat, Instagram, twitter and other online mobile phone applications to attack the most vulnerable and innocent individuals in an attempt to humiliate and embarrass them. Due to this ruthless practice, victims may suffer from depression, anxiety, loneliness, negative affective disorders and insomnia. Cyber victimization also tends to disrupt the adolescents relationships with their parents and peers, which enables them to encounter feelings of helplessness and loneliness, thereby encouraging them to commit suicide (Nixon, 2014). For instance, an unfortunate incident of Cyber Bullying occurred with the 15-year Amanda who was harassed by a 35 year old Dutch who distributed naked photos of Amanda to her classmates, which enabled her to attempt suicide due to sheer embarrassment (Vaillancourt, Faris and Mishna, 2016).
Cyber Bullying may also enable victims to engage in problem behaviors for instance property damage, reactive aggression, illegal acts, substance abuse and delinquency. In addition, victims may also encounter truancy and school aggression, which may hinder their academic performance and enable them to feel insecure within their school premises (Nixon, 2014). A 2012 research in Canada showed that around 2186 victims of cyber bullying suffered from school aggression, thereby reiterating the severity of this problem (Mishna, Khoury-Kassabri, Gadalla and Daciuk, 2012). These individuals also tend to suffer from lower self-esteem and increased feelings of stress and anger. Perpetrators of Cyber Bullying also tend to experience feelings of negativity, frustration and sadness as the try to rationalize their destructive behavior (Foody, Samara and Carlbring, 2015). This finding can be validated via a research in United States which found out that around 799 Bullies of ages 18-24 suffered from severe depression, phobic anxiety and Paranoia due to the practice of cyber bullying (Schenk, Fremouw and Keelan, 2013).
Discussions
The above findings indicate that Cyber Bullying tends to have a devastating impact on both the Victim and the bullies. The impact may span from damaged physical health to poor academic performance and other psychological traumas. However, the psychological and emotional damage that is caused may highly vary depending on the form of cyber bullying pursued by the perpetuator. Hence, bullying done online may exhibit a different stream of emotional reactions, as opposed to bullying via cellphone (Machimbarrena et al., 2018). Furthermore, the perpetuators in the cyber-bullying attempt tends to be exhibit more externalizing issues like substance abuse, than the victims who tend to encounter more internalizing issues such as depression and anxiety. Overall, both the parties involved in the act of cyber bullying tend to encounter subsequent mental and physical disruptions that may hinder their normal life style (Wright, 2015).
Hence, after evaluating the intensity of the issue, it can be asserted that it is essential for certain authorities to take measures that may mitigate the occurrence of cyber bullying. Health care professionals, educators and adults should devise strategies that may increase the awareness of cyber-bullying among kids and adults(Drew and Farrell, 2018). These strategies would also enable the victims to quickly cope from their psychological trauma and would give them the confidence to revert to their normal life styles (Espelage and Hong, 2017).
Recommendations
Given the widespread prevalence of Cyber-bullying, it is integral for individuals to devise solutions to prevent the occurrence of this obnoxious problem. Firstly, educational institutions should derive e-safety policies and should give self-safety trainings to the students where they are taught techniques to secure themselves from the bullying behavior. For instance, the US-based I-SAFE curriculum is an exemplary self-safety program that gives students awareness about Cyber security, Cyber community, internet safety, intellectual property and personal safety (Chisholm, 2014). Schools can also initiate routine screening techniques that can uncover the harm endured during Cyber Bullying and can enable affected individuals to quickly recover from the trauma. Furthermore, health-care authorities should also devise web-based online support programs that enable individuals to fight cyber-victimization. For instance, Online Pestkoppenstoppen is an online forum that teaches the cyber bullying victims on how to deal with depression and anxiety (Foody, Samara and Carlbring, 2015).
Apart from the educational institutions, social support in terms of parental involvement and peer help is integral in preventing the outburst of cyber bullying victims. Parents should strictly ban the usage of websites that may have a possible occurrence of a cyber-bullying instance. A web-based survey of 12-17 year olds showed that 90 % of the kids who suffered from cyber-bullying were not closely monitored by their parents (Cowie, 2013). Parents should also learn about cyber bullying, it’s causes and consequences via useful websites, that may further guide the parents on how to save their children from cyber-bullying. Furthermore, peer leaders within academic institutions tend to offer enormous support to kids by creating awareness about cyber bullying and establishing bullying interventions. In order to effectively operate an anti-bullying program, schools, communities and parents should partner and collectively devise strategies that can eradicate the cyber-bullying issue (Espelage and Hong, 2017).
Conclusion
Research on Cyber Bullying has showed that this horrendous practice can devastate the lives of the victims and the bullies. They may suffer from internalizing issues such as depression, anxiety, loneliness and insomnia and may also encounter externalizing issues such as aggression, substance abuse, delinquency and suicide. Hence, it is integral for academic institutions, parents, health care providers and community to take cooperative measures that may enable the victims to recover and prevent the occurrence of cyber Bullying.
References
Chisholm, J., 2020. Review of the Status of Cyber bullying and Cyberbullying Prevention. Journal of Information Systems Education, 25(1), pp.77-87.
Cowie, H., 2013. Cyberbullying and its impact on young people’s emotional health and well-being. The Psychiatrist, 37(5), pp.167-170.
Espelage, D. and Hong, J., 2016. Cyberbullying Prevention and Intervention Efforts: Current Knowledge and Future Directions. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 62(6), pp.374-380.
Foody, M., Samara, M. and Carlbring, P., 2015. A review of cyberbullying and suggestions for online psychological therapy. Internet Interventions, 2(3), pp.235-242.
Marzano, G. and Lubnika, V., 2014. Preventing cyberbullying. PI-PWP Threats of cyberspace – new qualification of a social worker.
Nixon, C., 2014. Current perspectives: the impact of cyberbullying on adolescent health. Adolescent Health, Medicine and Therapeutics, p.143.
Vaillancourt, T., Faris, R. and Mishna, F., 2016. Cyberbullying in Children and Youth: Implications for Health and Clinical Practice. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 62(6), pp.368-373.
Mishna, F., Khoury-Kassabri, M., Gadalla, T. and Daciuk, J., 2012. Risk factors for involvement in cyber bullying: Victims, bullies and bully–victims. Children and Youth Services Review, 34(1), pp.63-70.
Schenk, A., Fremouw, W. and Keelan, C., 2013. Characteristics of college cyberbullies. Computers in Human Behavior, 29(6), pp.2320-2327.
Wright, M., 2015. Cyber victimization and adjustment difficulties: The mediation of Chinese and American adolescents’ digital technology usage. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 9(1).
Drew, J. and Farrell, L., 2018. Online victimization risk and self-protective strategies: developing police-led cyber fraud prevention programs. Police Practice and Research, 19(6), pp.537-549.
Machimbarrena, J., Calvete, E., Fernández-González, L., Álvarez-Bardón, A., Álvarez-Fernández, L. and González-Cabrera, J., 2018. Internet Risks: An Overview of Victimization in Cyberbullying, Cyber Dating Abuse, Sexting, Online Grooming and Problematic Internet Use. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15(11), p.2471.
