Bullying in the Digital Age: Effects on Youth Mental Health

This assignment delves into the impacts of childhood bullying and cyberbullying on adolescent suicide and mental health, drawing from renowned studies such as those by Cowie (2017), Hinduja & Patchin (2014), Kowalski et al. (2012), Mishna et al. (2010, 2012), Modecki et al. (2014), and Olweus (2012). The assignment also explores the prevalence of bullying across contexts and risk factors for involvement in cyberbullying, with practical suggestions on addressing this pressing issue, as highlighted by Waal (2017) and Wade & Beran (2011).

Nafeesa Iqbal Contemporary issue- Part 2 IQB13073649
This essay will highlight literature review of Cyber bullying within a contemporary context. It also
outline impact of it on Youth and Community. The essay will then further analyze the key themes of
Cyber bullying such as, effects of Cyber bullying on children, psychological factors, Cyber Bullying
Education and E-Literacy/Safety. Knowledge of these issues will help in reducing the cases of cyber
bullying and will make children aware about the hazards of cyber bullying. They will get to know
how they can deal with such situation and what preventive measures they can take (Kowalski and et.
al., 2012). Finally, throughout the essay appropriate policies, research and theory will be discussed.
21st Century is an era of Internet and has brought revolution in the world. There is an approx. 3 billion
internet users in the world or it could be said that almost half of the people are engaged in this. It has
made life easier because it has lots of benefits attached to it. As every coin has two sides, same in the
case of Internet For almost everything from personal work to the corporate work people are depended
on internet and this has become the best way to communicate with other people. With advantages
such as online shopping, accessing material for studying and communication it has also brought some
disadvantages also,one of them is Cyber bullying(Kowalski and et al., 2012). Internet has brought
revolution in world however it does not go without its advantages and disadvantages which shall be
further evaluated in the assignment.
Cyber Bullying is when young children are threatened, harassed, targeted by another child and
humiliated through the use of electronic technology such a computers, mobiles and tablets. This all
occurs when children have open access internet without supervision from elders, which allow them to
access social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat, (Stopbullying.gov, 2017)
However, once adults become involved, it is plain and simple Cyber-harassment or cyberstalking.
Adult Cyber-harassment is never called Cyberbullying (Hinduja and Patchin, 2014).
Graham (2017) states how children have open access online without correct adult supervision, which
continues to lead to more cases in regards to cyber bullying and is leading to mental health issues such
as depression and anxiety. In 2013 statistics have shown that children have easy access to technology
which exposes them to higher risk of using technology in a manner that has a negative impact on
them (KidsMatter, 2017). Cyber bullying has been one of the top five concerns every year since 1989.
Children that are victims of cyber bullying have been provided with counseling sessions about online
bullying last year -2016. However, it has shown 88 per cent increase in counseling about online
bullying over the past five years.
Waal (2017) states that how cyber bullying is becoming a bigger problem than ever through social
networking site. It is widely affecting the youth and communities. Bullying UK (2016) found that
43.5% of respondents aged eleven and sixteen have been bullied via social networks. 51% felt that
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Nafeesa Iqbal Contemporary issue- Part 2 IQB13073649
blocking the bully from further contact or communication was a vital tool. Majority of the population
consume internet content for school work, social use and for entertainment, however some people use
it to release their anger and frustration which is known as cyber aggression. This defines cyber
bullying as an intentional act, that is carried out electronically (Kowalski and et al, 2012).
However, it is important to look and identify an individual when classifying a bystander as a bully,
Erikson was one of the first psychologists to examine the views of identity, he defined identity as the
attitude of an individual towards different situation and conditions which a person faces in hs or her
daily life. Whatever a person faces, shapes his or her attitude towards society (Mishna and et. al.,
2012). A person facing any harassment will automatically develop the feeling of revenge, which is a
dangerous sign for a society. Bystander is a person who had already faced cyberbullying or any other
harassment. Many bystanders are victims of bullying which in many cases is unseen as who do not
intervene or report bullying often suffer. This increase pressure for them to participate in the bullying
as in many cases they do not know what to do Eyesonbullying.org, (2017). However, Tajfel and
Turner (1979) argued against Erikson (1950) views as they defined identity as people that tend to
categories themselves into groups to gain a sense of their self-worth from a digital prospective. At this
stage it is important to understand cyberbullying from an individual prospective,it helps to understand
how children are affected by cyber bullying.This will also ensure that support is available for both the
victims and bullies of the victims as both are facing high risks(Whitty and Young,2017).
According to Chadwick (2014), it has been analyzed that almost half of the population uses internet
and every day they come across different websites. Such ease of access can lead to problems such as
cyber bullying. It is reported that approximately half of the young internet users have experienced
some sort of cyber bullying (Tokunaga, 2010). People have easy access to the internet because almost
every gadget is connected to it and it has increased the potential of cyber bullying.
This is considered as harmful than the normal physical bullying because it hits the physiology of
teenagers. Normal bullying is aggressive behavior of a person towards another individual. Internet
does not have any restrictions and policies which define privacy. Internet providers will hardly put
restrictions because if they do so their business will be go down. This issue is arising in a bigger way
and if no preventive measures taken, it can cause big harm.
As stated by Hinduja and Patchin (2014), there are many ways through which children are affected by
Cyber bullying. It has been noticed that most of the damage is done by social media. This has become
the easiest way to communicate with someone, a child sitting in UK can contact other teen who is part
of USA. According to a report, youth of age group of 16 to 24 spends almost 27 hours a week on
internet. The number has been doubled from the statics which was 10 years before. . In these hours
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Nafeesa Iqbal Contemporary issue- Part 2 IQB13073649
they share photos, videos, posts on social media and this also include the messaging. It is affecting
their day to day life because now they don't like outdoor sports which can help them in developing
their mind and also make them physically strong. By continuously engaging on the internet they are
cutting themselves from other activities as they are also not spending time with their parents. Many
children use internet to release their anger and frustration and this can be considered as an intentional
act. Their daily routine gets disturb from this because most of the time they think of the activities
which has happened on the internet (Wade and Beran, 2011). Their thinking and analysing skills
reduces and they are not able to make proper decision.
Whatever they do, reflects their condition and present state. For example; a teen who has been
talking to a girl on Facebook from last 2 months. All the time he is busy in this and continuously
ignore some of his important tasks which he has to do. But after a month he came to know that one of
his classmate is operating that profile and is a boy. He has never felt this much low and depressed in
his life, so he started eating sleeping pills (Parris and et. al., 2012). It can be analysed that teenagers
are easy targets because at this stage there is variation in hormone level. Whatever they experience,
will set their mindset. It could impact their relations with parents, teachers and friends. They can
develop some sort of phobia in them. They are not able to judge what is good for them and do
whatever they want without knowing their consequences.
According to Menesini and Spiel (2012), it has been analysed that there are various psychological
factors that is affected by cyber harassment. It directly impacts their mental health and which can
bring anxiety in them. It is observed that victims of cyber bullying develops some sort of fear and
phobia. They are not able to concentrate on their studies and day to day activities. When someone is
bullied on internet, they sets a perception that it has been noticed by everyone. It increase the stress
level because all the time they think of that only and feel that the situation they are handling are much
bigger. All this directly impacts their health and can make them ill and can experience the sysmpoms
of depression and headache.
With reference to Slonje, Smith and Frisé (2013), it can be understood that with cyber bullying
education, things can be improved at great extent. It is necessary that people should understand the
importance of E-safety. Parents who gives their children permission to use internet should also make
them aware about cyber bullying terminology. E- safety should not only be followed on internet but
some emphasis should also be given on other things through which teens communicate like mobile
phones and tablets. It is the duty of their guardians that they should protect their ward from any harm
and make sure that internet is used for a good cause. Those individuals who are connected to their
life should guide them to proper path and make them acknowledge about hazards of internet.
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Although internet is drastically affecting over life but totally depending upon this would lead to severe
crisis. It is the duty of society to create an environment where children can feel safe and secure. For
this, it is responsibility of school leaders, teachers, school staff, parents and other people to maintain
have a coordination with each other. Parents and teachers should monitor the activities of adolescents
and should stop them if they feel that things are going wrong direction (Patchin and Hinduja, 2012).
Schools should develop a curriculum in which they introduce lessons on cyber bullying and measures
to take care of it (Mishna, F and et. al., 2010). Those who are already become the target should be
handled properly and make sure that it does not happen again. They should not reveal their identity to
unknown people they meet on internet and should use privacy tools available on social networking
sites. To catch the bullies, they should save the messages as proof. It is seen that there has been
increase of 88 percent in counselling about cyber bullying in past 5 years Davison and Stein (2014).
According to the report of NSPCC (2016), there were approximately 25000 counselling sessions
which took place in 2015-16. Through counselling, this issue can be resolved. For this role parents
and teachers is crucial as they can act as best advisor who can guide them to right path. According to
Waal, 2017 psychologists suggest that when a child faces bullying, he needs a support to whom he can
talk and discuss his problem freely. This will help them in recovering and again assist him in living
healthy and free. In the adolescent age they are not that much mature so that they can take any
decision. It is the duty of their mentor to make them aware about what is good and better for them.
They have to encourage them to spend less time on the internet and participate in outdoor activities.
According to the Seligman (2007) theory of learned helplessness which deals with the subject of
depression states that a person who is depressed or feel helplessness will not likely to learn. In the
cases of bullying it is observed that he or she will not able to show their temperament and courage to
overcome that. So in such situation a support system can only help them to show a positive path of
hope. Their family members and friends can act as their support system and can guide them what to
do in such situation.
As stated Aoyama, Saxon and Fearon (2011), children are the future of a nation so it becomes prime
duty of the government to contribute their share in development of teens. One day they will lead the
country, so they are as a asset to them. They can stop cyber bullying by making laws as there are no
such legislation in UK which makes it illegal. There are some legislation which can be used to stop
harassment and threatening behavior in such scenario. Criminal Justice and Public Order Act of 1994
gives insight about the changes which can be done in context to criminal justice.Protection from
Harassment Act 1997 helps victims to protect them from any anti-social behaviour leading to
harassment.Malicious Communication Act 1988was made by the British parliament to make sure that
no one sends any letters which can develop anxiety and depression.Communication Act 2013 this
actconsists of offensive message will be considered as crime (Marczak and Coyne, 2010)Defamation
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Act 2013gives freedom to people to register their complaints if they think that their public image has
been hurt.
Conclusion
From the above it has been conclude that, cyber bullying is becoming a big issue in this world. The
adolescent population is continuously experiencing it and this is happening because of various
reasons. Through identifying the problems and then giving proper education on it, will be great help
in reducing the cases. To make things more clear and positive, above mentioned laws needs to
updated againby British government. With the increase in the usage of internet, cases of cyber
bullying has increased drastically. Everyday teenagers becomes victim of cyber bullying because
there is no privacy and restrictions on the usage of internet.
Reference list
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