Cyberbullying among Adolescent Boys and Girls in Victoria

This policy brief discusses the negative impacts of cyberbullying on adolescent boys and girls in Victoria, including undesirable emotions and low self-esteem. It also covers the causes of cyberbullying and ways to prevent it, such as monitoring online activity and engaging parents and youth. The brief concludes with recommendations for addressing cyberbullying, including maintaining federal data collections on bullying and supporting evidence-based approaches through dedicated funding for research.

State of Victoria
ISSUE COVER SHEET
Issue: This policy brief basically illustrates the cyberbullying among the adolescent boys and
girls. It also elaborates on how to mitigate such cyberbullying and their negative effects.
Background: Cyberbullying results in different negative impacts like sad, anger, lower self-
esteem as well as undesirable emotions. These criminal acts basically affect the adolescent
boys and girls at the early teenager. Such an individual takes more time, sleep late posting
their feelings in social media and reads the comments which other people posts in their posts.
Comment: There are basic causes of the cyberbullying as well as how to prevent them. Some
of the causes of the cyberbullying include; some adolescents bully others due to peer
pressure, some bully because they know they cannot be identified, some do it to alleviate
boredom. Some of the ways to prevent include monitoring the adolescent online activities,
engage the youth and parent and many others.
Recommendations: Some of the recommendation which should put in practice to reduce the
cases of cyberbullying. Such Maintaining federal data collections on bullying and align them
to the uniform definition of bullying, Discourage approaches that lack evidentiary support,
criminalize youth, or remove youth from school, Support the progress of evidence-based
approaches via steadfast funding for research.
Name: [write here]
Date: [write here]
Readers: The Hon. Jill Hennessy MP, Minister for Health, Victorian Government
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State of Victoria
Purpose
This policy brief basically illustrates the cyberbullying among the adolescent boys
and girls in Victoria. This policy brief is required to help take actions against cyberbullying
against cyber bullies. This help to reduce the negative impacts of the cyberbullying. This
information will be used to address the public about the negative impact of cyberbullying and
how can it be avoided in the society (Rensburg, 2015).
Background
There are several developmental outcomes of cyberbullying among the adolescent in
Victoria and other states in Australia which may in some cases seriously affects their normal
wellbeing in the society (Blair, 2015). Cyberbullying occurs when one is being underrated or
even seriously abused in the social media like Facebook, WhatsApp among others. There are
several development impacts of the cyberbullying on the adolescent, some of these include
the following;
i. Undesirable Emotions
From the researchers, the report indicates that the emotional response to cyberbullying is
difficult in the sense that they could participate more serious behaviour outcomes (Baldry,
2018). The consequence of the same research indicates that more percentages of the female
were affected by the cyberbullying as compared to male adolescent. The report indicates that
victims of the cyberbullying were reported to feel angry, sad, helpless and frustrated
(Strasburger, 2016).
ii. Low self-esteem.
Several reports indicate that the relationship between the low self-esteem and cyberbullying
and suicidal ideation. The results from a research conducted in the US of about 2000
adolescent students indicates that the victims of the cyberbullying and offenders are both had
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a meaningfully lower self-esteem as compared to the those who not been affected by the
cyberbullying (Navarro, 2015). The same results showed that there are so many adolescents
who committed suicide after the cyberbullying but this was more common among girls than
boys. This results in a reduction in the population in the society.
Cyberbullying results to the outcomes of the impact of the aforementioned negative
impacts in most cases in Victoria. When the adolescents get harassed through texts, online
WhatsApp messages, they become stressed (Dehue, 2015). When an individual is highly
stressed they lose concentration in their daily activities as well as getting a better education.
This will result in undesirable emotion which makes the adolescent not to concentrate on his
or her education. Undesirable emotions in some case even make the adolescent have stunted
growth due to extensive stress which makes them not to have enough and a good diet
(Bauman, 2013).
Cyberbullying like in a case where adolescent boys and girls get insulted or
underrated online. In some cases, these adolescents can be underrated through the languages
and words other people say about them (Sutton, 2013). After reading the insults and the bad
comments the adolescent read from the social platforms as well as the insults they get from
the texts messages. These results lower self-esteem in the adolescents. (Raúl, 2015).
Cyberbullying makes the adolescents feel so much inferior as compared to the other mates
who are not cyberbullied. Felling inferior among the adolescent make them less confident in
themselves hence they won’t have that confident in whatever they are doing.
Cyberbullying is more viable in the adolescents who basically spend more of their
time on the internet (especially social media) (Olweus, 2013). Such an individual takes more
time, sleep late posting their feelings in social media and reads the comments which other
people posts in their posts. So when these adolescents receive some demoralizing comments
makes them highly underrated and lower self-esteem. These are more serious in girls more
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State of Victoria
than the boys because ladies are emotional as compared to their counterpart boys (Sciences,
2015). And cyberbullying is more common in the youths (adolescents) because they are idle
hence spends more of their time online, therefore, get cyberbullied.
Roughly 1 in four Year 4 to Year 9 Victorian adolescent (27%) stated being cyberbullied
weekly or more regularly in a countrywide ponder in 2009. Regular school bullying was most
elevated among Year 5 (32%) and Year 8 (29%) students. 83% of understudies who bully others
online moreover bully others in person. 84% of adolescent who were bullied online were also bullied
in person. Peers are show as spectators in 87% of cyberbullying intelligent, and play a central part
within the process of bullying. Hurtful prodding was the foremost predominant of all bullying
practices experienced by understudies, taken after by having pernicious lies told approximately
them. Cyberbullying shows up to be related to age with auxiliary understudies more likely to lock in
in cyberbullying than essential Victorian adolescent individuals over the age of 15 are less likely than
understudies between 10 and 15 a long time of age to be included in online bullying.
Key Issues
Cyberbullying is actually a very dangerous type of bullying and can affect the child as he/she
grows, some of the cause of the cyberbullying are discussed as below.
Causes of cyberbullying
i. Cyberbullies are motivated by revenge
When adolescents are cyberbullied, instead of coping with the situation they always seek to
revenge by doing the same thing to other children or even to those who bullied them some
time back. This is motivated by the victims to retaliate for the pain which they underwent
during the bullying (Völlink, 2015). They feel justified in what they have done and they
want other adolescents to feel what they felt when they were bullied.
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ii. Cyberbullies want to alleviate boredom
Adolescents may sometimes feel bored and are looking for the source of
entertainment which in most cases they resort to cyberbullying to enable them to add some
drama and excitement to their lives. In some cases, they can bully others since they lack that
strict supervision from their parents (Hinduja, 2011). Instead of looking for a positive way to
spend their time and look for a positive thing to engage them they entertain themselves by
creating a digital drama.
iii. Cyberbullies give in to peer pressure
In some cases adolescents in Victoria will cyberbully just to fit in with a group of comrades,
this results to this adolescent succumb to peer pressure in order to be accepted in the group
even if it goes against their good judgement. In such cases, these children are more concerned
with fitting in the group as opposed to worrying about the outcome.
iv. Cyberbullies believe they won’t get caught.
Most adolescent boys and girls bully their friend online thinking that they can do this
by hiding their identifications so there is no one who will notice that they are the individuals
who did such a thing. This will make most adolescent boys and girls to cyberbully their mates
at a higher rate. Since this criminal act is a very bad thing, the following measures should be
employed to help curb the situation.
Ways to prevent cyberbullying
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State of Victoria
i. Monitor online activity
When the adolescent boys and girls spend most of their time online it is very important to
check on what they do online, this will help to prevent them from bullying anyone online.
Fortunately, cyberbullying has one main benefit: one can notice it and save the evidence. This
will permit monitoring these adolescents’ activities online.
ii. Engage parents and youth
Develop a community for grown-ups and students to send a bound together message against
cyberbullying. Build up a school security committee that will control and talk about the
issues of online bullying. You'll be able to make approaches and rules, counting
cyberbullying reporting system. It is vital to form the most destinations known to guardians,
school and children.
iii. Restore self-respect
Keep in mind that the extreme objective is to ensure and re-establish the victim’s self-regard.
Act altogether; quick choices can as it made things more regrettable. Conversation to
somebody around the issue sometime recently reacting (Campbell, 2018). Collect the proof
and connect with guardians or instructors to figure out the conceivable best choice to halt
cyberbullying among adolescent boys and girls.
iv. Talk
Each clinician will tell you that perfect way to assist your child or understudy is to have a
discussion, to begin with. Be quiet and inquire a child around the issue in common: what is
cyberbullying, does he/she know somebody who is being bullied, what children ought to do
in case take note acts of bullying (Sameer, 2012). This way you'll see how much your child is
included in the circumstance and which side he/she is on.
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State of Victoria
Recommendations
The following are some of the recommendations which should addressed to avoid the
cyberbullying. Some of these include the following;
i. Include cyberbullying as part of a bigger approach to bullying avoidance
Methodologies focusing on cyberbullying alone minus tending to the bigger issue of bullying
are improbable to be compelling (Steffgen, 2013). Additionally, checking students’ social
media accounts is probably to be an ineffectual utilize of assets without extra endeavours to
energize more respectful behaviour online and personally.
ii. Support the development of evidence-based approaches through dedicated funding
for research.
Inquire about speculations to back both program usage and evaluation— counting proceeded
to subsidize for the National Founded of Justice’s Comprehensive School Security Initiative
—are fundamental to grow the constrained menu of evidence-based bullying anticipation
approaches. Such speculations ought to too look at mediations, such as coordinates
understudy underpins, for understudies who are focused on by bullying or witness it.
iii. Discourage approaches that lack evidentiary support, criminalize youth, or remove
youth from school
Inquire about clearly appears that anti-bullying gatherings, speakers, and campaigns are not
successful at anticipating bullying, nor are zero-tolerance approaches that evacuate
understudies from school and don't address the basic causes of bullying behaviour (Spivet,
2013). Reliable with the Each Understudy Succeeds Act (ESSA) order to diminish
disciplinary expulsions from the classroom, schools and communities ought to be empowered
to address bullying behaviours without criminalizing, suspending, or expelling youth.
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iv. Maintain federal data collections on bullying and align them to the uniform
definition of bullying
The School Wrongdoing Supplement to the National Wrongdoing Victimization Study and
the Youth Hazard Behaviour Reconnaissance Framework give the as it were broadly agent
information on bullying and cyberbullying (Hanel, 2010). Guaranteeing these measures
utilize a steady definition to screening rates of bullying will grant policymakers a more exact
sign of whether (and where) activities are fruitful. Schools ought to moreover be given with
direction to reliably track episodes of bullying.
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References
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Interventions. Bacchus Marsh: Springer. doi:100.10010/202
Bauman, S. (2013). Principles of Cyberbullying Research: Definitions, Measures, and Methodology.
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Blair, S. L. (2015). Technology and Youth: Growing Up in a Digital World. Albury-Wodonga: Emerald
Group Publishing. doi:100.10/192
Campbell, M. (2018). Reducing Cyberbullying in Schools: International Evidence-Based Best Practices.
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Dehue, F. (2015). Cyberbullying: From Theory to Intervention. Melbourne: Routledge. doi:100.10/121
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Sameer, H. (2012). School Climate 2.0: Preventing Cyberbullying and Sexting One Classroom at a
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Sciences, N. A. (2015). Preventing Bullying Through Science, Policy, and Practice. Portland: National
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