essay about bullying and cyberbullying

Cyber Bullying Essay for Students and Children

500+ words essay on cyber bullying.

Cyber Bullying Essay: In today’s world which has been made smaller by technology, new age problems have been born. No doubt technology has a lot of benefits; however, it also comes with a negative side. It has given birth to cyberbullying. To put it simply, cyberbullying refers to the misuse of information technology with the intention to harass others.

Subsequently, cyberbullying comes in various forms. It doesn’t necessarily mean hacking someone’s profiles or posing to be someone else. It also includes posting negative comments about somebody or spreading rumors to defame someone. As everyone is caught up on the social network, it makes it very easy for anyone to misuse this access.

In other words, cyberbullying has become very common nowadays. It includes actions to manipulate, harass and defame any person. These hostile actions are seriously damaging and can affect anyone easily and gravely. They take place on social media, public forums, and other online information websites. A cyberbully is not necessarily a stranger; it may also be someone you know.

Cyber Bullying is Dangerous

Cyberbullying is a multi-faced issue. However, the intention of this activity is one and the same. To hurt people and bring them harm. Cyberbullying is not a light matter. It needs to be taken seriously as it does have a lot of dangerous effects on the victim.

Moreover, it disturbs the peace of mind of a person. Many people are known to experience depression after they are cyberbullied. In addition, they indulge in self-harm. All the derogatory comments made about them makes them feel inferior.

It also results in a lot of insecurities and complexes. The victim which suffers cyberbullying in the form of harassing starts having self-doubt. When someone points at your insecurities, they only tend to enhance. Similarly, the victims worry and lose their inner peace.

Other than that, cyberbullying also tarnishes the image of a person. It hampers their reputation with the false rumors spread about them. Everything on social media spreads like wildfire. Moreover, people often question the credibility. Thus,  one false rumor destroys people’s lives.

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How to Prevent Cyber Bullying?

Cyberbullying prevention is the need of the hour. It needs to be monitored and put an end to. There are various ways to tackle cyberbullying. We can implement them at individual levels as well as authoritative levels.

Firstly, always teach your children to never share personal information online. For instance, if you list your home address or phone number there, it will make you a potential target of cyberbullying easily.

Secondly, avoid posting explicit photos of yourself online. Also, never discuss personal matters on social media. In other words, keep the information limited within your group of friends and family. Most importantly, never ever share your internet password and account details with anyone. Keep all this information to yourself alone. Be alert and do not click on mysterious links, they may be scams. In addition, teach your kids about cyberbullying and make them aware of what’s wrong and right.

In conclusion, awareness is the key to prevent online harassment. We should make the children aware from an early age so they are always cautious. Moreover, parents must monitor their children’s online activities and limit their usage. Most importantly, cyberbullying must be reported instantly without delay. This can prevent further incidents from taking place.

FAQs on Cyber Bullying

Q.1 Why is Cyberbullying dangerous?

A.1 Cyberbullying affects the mental peace of a person. It takes a toll on their mental health. Moreover, it tarnishes the reputation of an individual.

Q.2 How to prevent cyberbullying?

A.2 We may prevent cyberbullying by limiting the information we share online. In addition, we must make children aware of the forms of cyberbullying and its consequences.

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Cyberbullying: Everything You Need to Know

• Cyberbullying
• How to Respond

Cyberbullying is the act of intentionally and consistently mistreating or harassing someone through the use of electronic devices or other forms of electronic communication (like social media platforms).

Because cyberbullying mainly affects children and adolescents, many brush it off as a part of growing up. However, cyberbullying can have dire mental and emotional consequences if left unaddressed.

This article discusses cyberbullying, its adverse effects, and what can be done about it.

FangXiaNuo / Getty Images

Cyberbullying Statistics and State Laws

The rise of digital communication methods has paved the way for a new type of bullying to form, one that takes place outside of the schoolyard. Cyberbullying follows kids home, making it much more difficult to ignore or cope.

Statistics 

As many as 15% of young people between 12 and 18 have been cyberbullied at some point. However, over 25% of children between 13 and 15 were cyberbullied in one year alone.

About 6.2% of people admitted that they’ve engaged in cyberbullying at some point in the last year. The age at which a person is most likely to cyberbully one of their peers is 13.

Those subject to online bullying are twice as likely to self-harm or attempt suicide . The percentage is much higher in young people who identify as LGBTQ, at 56%.

Cyberbullying by Sex and Sexual Orientation

Cyberbullying statistics differ among various groups, including:

• Girls and boys reported similar numbers when asked if they have been cyberbullied, at 23.7% and 21.9%, respectively.
• LGBTQ adolescents report cyberbullying at higher rates, at 31.7%. Up to 56% of young people who identify as LGBTQ have experienced cyberbullying.
• Transgender teens were the most likely to be cyberbullied, at a significantly high rate of 35.4%.

State Laws 

The laws surrounding cyberbullying vary from state to state. However, all 50 states have developed and implemented specific policies or laws to protect children from being cyberbullied in and out of the classroom.

The laws were put into place so that students who are being cyberbullied at school can have access to support systems, and those who are being cyberbullied at home have a way to report the incidents.

Legal policies or programs developed to help stop cyberbullying include:

• Bullying prevention programs
• Cyberbullying education courses for teachers
• Procedures designed to investigate instances of cyberbullying
• Support systems for children who have been subject to cyberbullying 

Are There Federal Laws Against Cyberbullying?

There are no federal laws or policies that protect people from cyberbullying. However, federal involvement may occur if the bullying overlaps with harassment. Federal law will get involved if the bullying concerns a person’s race, ethnicity, national origin, sex, disability, or religion.

Examples of Cyberbullying 

There are several types of bullying that can occur online, and they all look different.

Harassment can include comments, text messages, or threatening emails designed to make the cyberbullied person feel scared, embarrassed, or ashamed of themselves.

Other forms of harassment include:

• Using group chats as a way to gang up on one person
• Making derogatory comments about a person based on their race, gender, sexual orientation, economic status, or other characteristics
• Posting mean or untrue things on social media sites, such as Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, as a way to publicly hurt the person experiencing the cyberbullying  

Impersonation

A person may try to pretend to be the person they are cyberbullying to attempt to embarrass, shame, or hurt them publicly. Some examples of this include:

• Hacking into someone’s online profile and changing any part of it, whether it be a photo or their "About Me" portion, to something that is either harmful or inappropriate
• Catfishing, which is when a person creates a fake persona to trick someone into a relationship with them as a joke or for their own personal gain
• Making a fake profile using the screen name of their target to post inappropriate or rude remarks on other people’s pages

Other Examples

Not all forms of cyberbullying are the same, and cyberbullies use other tactics to ensure that their target feels as bad as possible. Some tactics include:

• Taking nude or otherwise degrading photos of a person without their consent
• Sharing or posting nude pictures with a wide audience to embarrass the person they are cyberbullying
• Sharing personal information about a person on a public website that could cause them to feel unsafe
• Physically bullying someone in school and getting someone else to record it so that it can be watched and passed around later
• Circulating rumors about a person

How to Know When a Joke Turns Into Cyberbullying

People may often try to downplay cyberbullying by saying it was just a joke. However, any incident that continues to make a person feel shame, hurt, or blatantly disrespected is not a joke and should be addressed. People who engage in cyberbullying tactics know that they’ve crossed these boundaries, from being playful to being harmful.

Effects and Consequences of Cyberbullying 

Research shows many negative effects of cyberbullying, some of which can lead to severe mental health issues. Cyberbullied people are twice as likely to experience suicidal thoughts, actions, or behaviors and engage in self-harm as those who are not.

Other negative health consequences of cyberbullying are:

• Stomach pain and digestive issues
• Sleep disturbances
• Difficulties with academics
• Violent behaviors
• High levels of stress
• Inability to feel safe
• Feelings of loneliness and isolation
• Feelings of powerlessness and hopelessness

If You’ve Been Cyberbullied 

Being on the receiving end of cyberbullying is hard to cope with. It can feel like you have nowhere to turn and no escape. However, some things can be done to help overcome cyberbullying experiences.

Advice for Preteens and Teenagers

The best thing you can do if you’re being cyberbullied is tell an adult you trust. It may be challenging to start the conversation because you may feel ashamed or embarrassed. However, if it is not addressed, it can get worse.

Other ways you can cope with cyberbullying include:

• Walk away : Walking away online involves ignoring the bullies, stepping back from your computer or phone, and finding something you enjoy doing to distract yourself from the bullying.
• Don’t retaliate : You may want to defend yourself at the time. But engaging with the bullies can make matters worse.
• Keep evidence : Save all copies of the cyberbullying, whether it be posts, texts, or emails, and keep them if the bullying escalates and you need to report them.
• Report : Social media sites take harassment seriously, and reporting them to site administrators may block the bully from using the site.
• Block : You can block your bully from contacting you on social media platforms and through text messages.

In some cases, therapy may be a good option to help cope with the aftermath of cyberbullying.

Advice for Parents

As a parent, watching your child experience cyberbullying can be difficult. To help in the right ways, you can:

• Offer support and comfort : Listening to your child explain what's happening can be helpful. If you've experienced bullying as a child, sharing that experience may provide some perspective on how it can be overcome and that the feelings don't last forever.
• Make sure they know they are not at fault : Whatever the bully uses to target your child can make them feel like something is wrong with them. Offer praise to your child for speaking up and reassure them that it's not their fault.
• Contact the school : Schools have policies to protect children from bullying, but to help, you have to inform school officials.
• Keep records : Ask your child for all the records of the bullying and keep a copy for yourself. This evidence will be helpful to have if the bullying escalates and further action needs to be taken.
• Try to get them help : In many cases, cyberbullying can lead to mental stress and sometimes mental health disorders. Getting your child a therapist gives them a safe place to work through their experience.

In the Workplace 

Although cyberbullying more often affects children and adolescents, it can also happen to adults in the workplace. If you are dealing with cyberbullying at your workplace, you can:

• Let your bully know how what they said affected you and that you expect it to stop.
• Keep copies of any harassment that goes on in the workplace.
• Report your cyberbully to your human resources (HR) department.
• Report your cyberbully to law enforcement if you are being threatened.
• Close off all personal communication pathways with your cyberbully.
• Maintain a professional attitude at work regardless of what is being said or done.
• Seek out support through friends, family, or professional help.

Effective Action Against Cyberbullying

If cyberbullying continues, actions will have to be taken to get it to stop, such as:

• Talking to a school official : Talking to someone at school may be difficult, but once you do, you may be grateful that you have some support. Schools have policies to address cyberbullying.
• Confide in parents or trusted friends : Discuss your experience with your parents or others you trust. Having support on your side will make you feel less alone.
• Report it on social media : Social media sites have strict rules on the types of interactions and content sharing allowed. Report your aggressor to the site to get them banned and eliminate their ability to contact you.
• Block the bully : Phones, computers, and social media platforms contain options to block correspondence from others. Use these blocking tools to help free yourself from cyberbullying.

Help Is Available

If you or someone you know are having suicidal thoughts, dial  988  to contact the  988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline  and connect with a trained counselor. To find mental health resources in your area, contact the  Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline  at  800-662-4357  for information.

Cyberbullying occurs over electronic communication methods like cell phones, computers, social media, and other online platforms. While anyone can be subject to cyberbullying, it is most likely to occur between the ages of 12 and 18.

Cyberbullying can be severe and lead to serious health issues, such as new or worsened mental health disorders, sleep issues, or thoughts of suicide or self-harm. There are laws to prevent cyberbullying, so it's essential to report it when it happens. Coping strategies include stepping away from electronics, blocking bullies, and getting.

Alhajji M, Bass S, Dai T. Cyberbullying, mental health, and violence in adolescents and associations with sex and race: data from the 2015 youth risk behavior survey . Glob Pediatr Health. 2019;6:2333794X19868887. doi:10.1177/2333794X19868887

Cyberbullying Research Center. Cyberbullying in 2021 by age, gender, sexual orientation, and race .

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: StopBullying.gov. Facts about bullying .

John A, Glendenning AC, Marchant A, et al. Self-harm, suicidal behaviours, and cyberbullying in children and young people: systematic review .  J Med Internet Res . 2018;20(4):e129. doi:10.2196/jmir.9044

Cyberbullying Research Center. Bullying, cyberbullying, and LGBTQ students .

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: StopBullying.gov. Laws, policies, and regulations .

Wolke D, Lee K, Guy A. Cyberbullying: a storm in a teacup? . Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2017;26(8):899-908. doi:10.1007/s00787-017-0954-6

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: StopBullying.gov. Cyberbullying tactics .

Garett R, Lord LR, Young SD. Associations between social media and cyberbullying: a review of the literature . mHealth . 2016;2:46-46. doi:10.21037/mhealth.2016.12.01

Nemours Teens Health. Cyberbullying .

Nixon CL. Current perspectives: the impact of cyberbullying on adolescent health . Adolesc Health Med Ther. 2014;5:143-58. doi:10.2147/AHMT.S36456

Nemours Kids Health. Cyberbullying (for parents) .

By Angelica Bottaro Angelica Bottaro is a professional freelance writer with over 5 years of experience. She has been educated in both psychology and journalism, and her dual education has given her the research and writing skills needed to deliver sound and engaging content in the health space.

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Teens and cyberbullying 2022, nearly half of u.s. teens have been bullied or harassed online, with physical appearance being seen as a relatively common reason why. older teen girls are especially likely to report being targeted by online abuse overall and because of their appearance.

Pew Research Center conducted this study to better understand teens’ experiences with and views on bullying and harassment online. For this analysis, we surveyed 1,316 U.S. teens. The survey was conducted online by Ipsos from April 14 to May 4, 2022.

This research was reviewed and approved by an external institutional review board (IRB), Advarra, which is an independent committee of experts that specializes in helping to protect the rights of research participants.

Ipsos recruited the teens via their parents who were a part of its  KnowledgePanel , a probability-based web panel recruited primarily through national, random sampling of residential addresses. The survey is weighted to be representative of U.S. teens ages 13 to 17 who live with parents by age, gender, race, ethnicity, household income and other categories.

Here are the  questions used for this report , along with responses, and  its methodology .

While bullying existed long before the internet, the rise of smartphones and social media has brought a new and more public arena into play for this aggressive behavior.

Nearly half of U.S. teens ages 13 to 17 (46%) report ever experiencing at least one of six cyberbullying behaviors asked about in a Pew Research Center survey conducted April 14-May 4, 2022. 1

The most commonly reported behavior in this survey is name-calling, with 32% of teens saying they have been called an offensive name online or on their cellphone. Smaller shares say they have had false rumors spread about them online (22%) or have been sent explicit images they didn’t ask for (17%).

Some 15% of teens say they have experienced someone other than a parent constantly asking them where they are, what they’re doing or who they’re with, while 10% say they have been physically threatened and 7% of teens say they have had explicit images of them shared without their consent.

In total, 28% of teens have experienced multiple types of cyberbullying.

Defining cyberbullying in this report

This report measures cyberbullying of teens using six distinct behaviors:

• Offensive name-calling
• Spreading of false rumors about them
• Receiving explicit images they didn’t ask for
• Physical threats
• Constantly being asked where they are, what they’re doing, or who they’re with by someone other than a parent
• Having explicit images of them shared without their consent

Teens who indicate they have personally experienced any of these behaviors online or while using their cellphone are considered targets of cyberbullying in this report. The terms “cyberbullying” and “online harassment” are used interchangeably throughout this report.

Age and gender are related to teens’ cyberbullying experiences, with older teen girls being especially likely to face this abuse

Teens’ experiences with online harassment vary by age. Some 49% of 15- to 17-year-olds have experienced at least one of the six online behaviors, compared with 42% of those ages 13 to 14. While similar shares of older and younger teens report being the target of name-calling or rumor spreading, older teens are more likely than their younger counterparts (22% vs. 11%) to say someone has sent them explicit images they didn’t ask for, an act sometimes referred to as cyberflashing ; had someone share explicit images of them without their consent, in what is also known as revenge porn (8% vs. 4%); or been the target of persistent questioning about their whereabouts and activities (17% vs. 12%).

While there is no gender difference in having ever experienced online abuse, teen girls are more likely than teen boys to say false rumors have been spread about them. But further differences are seen when looking at age and gender together: 15- to 17-year-old girls stand out for being particularly likely to have faced any cyberbullying, compared with younger teen girls and teen boys of any age. Some 54% of girls ages 15 to 17 have experienced at least one of the six cyberbullying behaviors, while 44% of 15- to 17-year-old boys and 41% of boys and girls ages 13 to 14 say the same. These older teen girls are also more likely than younger teen girls and teen boys of any age to report being the target of false rumors and constant monitoring by someone other than a parent.

White, Black and Hispanic teens do not statistically differ in having ever been harassed online, but specific types of online attacks are more prevalent among certain groups. 2 For example, White teens are more likely to report being targeted by false rumors than Black teens. Hispanic teens are more likely than White or Black teens to say they have been asked constantly where they are, what they’re doing or who they’re with by someone other than a parent.

There are also differences by household income when it comes to physical threats. Teens who are from households making less than $30,000 annually are twice as likely as teens living in households making $75,000 or more a year to say they have been physically threatened online (16% vs. 8%).

Beyond those differences related to specific harassing behaviors, older teen girls are particularly likely to say they experience multiple types of online harassment. Some 32% of teen girls have experienced two or more types of online harassment asked about in this survey, while 24% of teen boys say the same. And 15- to 17-year-olds are more likely than 13- to 14-year-olds to have been the target of multiple types of cyberbullying (32% vs. 22%).

These differences are largely driven by older teen girls: 38% of teen girls ages 15 to 17 have experienced at least two of the harassing behaviors asked about in this survey, while roughly a quarter of younger teen girls and teen boys of any age say the same.

Beyond demographic differences, being the target of these behaviors and facing multiple types of these behaviors also vary by the amount of time youth spend online. Teens who say they are online almost constantly are not only more likely to have ever been harassed online than those who report being online less often (53% vs 40%), but are also more likely to have faced multiple forms of online abuse (37% vs. 21%).

These are some of the findings from a Pew Research Center online survey of 1,316 U.S. teens conducted from April 14 to May 4, 2022.

Black teens are about twice as likely as Hispanic or White teens to say they think their race or ethnicity made them a target of online abuse

There are numerous reasons why a teen may be targeted with online abuse. This survey asked youth if they believed their physical appearance, gender, race or ethnicity, sexual orientation or political views were a factor in them being the target of abusive behavior online.

Teens are most likely to say their physical appearance made them the target of cyberbullying. Some 15% of all teens think they were cyberbullied because of their appearance.

About one-in-ten teens say they were targeted because of their gender (10%) or their race or ethnicity (9%). Teens less commonly report being harassed for their sexual orientation or their political views – just 5% each.

Looking at these numbers in a different way, 31% of teens who have personally experienced online harassment or bullying think they were targeted because of their physical appearance. About one-in-five cyberbullied teens say they were targeted due to their gender (22%) or their racial or ethnic background (20%). And roughly one-in-ten affected teens point to their sexual orientation (12%) or their political views (11%) as a reason why they were targeted with harassment or bullying online.

The reasons teens cite for why they were targeted for cyberbullying are largely similar across major demographic groups, but there are a few key differences. For example, teen girls overall are more likely than teen boys to say they have been cyberbullied because of their physical appearance (17% vs. 11%) or their gender (14% vs. 6%). Older teens are also more likely to say they have been harassed online because of their appearance: 17% of 15- to 17-year-olds have experienced cyberbullying because of their physical appearance, compared with 11% of teens ages 13 to 14.

Older teen girls are particularly likely to think they have been harassed online because of their physical appearance: 21% of all 15- to 17-year-old girls think they have been targeted for this reason. This compares with about one-in-ten younger teen girls or teen boys, regardless of age, who think they have been cyberbullied because of their appearance.

A teen’s racial or ethnic background relates to whether they report having been targeted for cyberbullying because of race or ethnicity. Some 21% of Black teens report being made a target because of their race or ethnicity, compared with 11% of Hispanic teens and an even smaller share of White teens (4%).

There are no partisan differences in teens being targeted for their political views, with 5% of those who identify as either Democratic or Republican – including those who lean toward each party – saying they think their political views contributed to them being cyberbullied.

Black or Hispanic teens are more likely than White teens to say cyberbullying is a major problem for people their age

In addition to measuring teens’ own personal experiences with cyberbullying, the survey also sought to understand young people’s views about online harassment more generally.

The vast majority of teens say online harassment and online bullying are a problem for people their age, with 53% saying they are a major problem. Just 6% of teens think they are not a problem.

Certain demographic groups stand out for how much of a problem they say cyberbullying is. Seven-in-ten Black teens and 62% of Hispanic teens say online harassment and bullying are a major problem for people their age, compared with 46% of White teens. Teens from households making under $75,000 a year are similarly inclined to call this type of harassment a major problem, with 62% making this claim, compared with 47% of teens from more affluent homes. Teen girls are also more likely than boys to view cyberbullying as a major problem.

Views also vary by community type. Some 65% of teens living in urban areas say online harassment and bullying are a major problem for people their age, compared with about half of suburban and rural teens.

Partisan differences appear as well: Six-in-ten Democratic teens say this is a major problem for people their age, compared with 44% of Republican teens saying this.

Roughly three-quarters of teens or more think elected officials and social media sites aren’t adequately addressing online abuse

In recent years, there have been several initiatives and programs aimed at curtailing bad behavior online, but teens by and large view some of those behind these efforts – including social media companies and politicians – in a decidedly negative light.

According to teens, parents are doing the best of the five groups asked about in terms of addressing online harassment and online bullying, with 66% of teens saying parents are doing at least a good job, including one-in-five saying it is an excellent job. Roughly four-in-ten teens report thinking teachers (40%) or law enforcement (37%) are doing a good or excellent job addressing online abuse. A quarter of teens say social media sites are doing at least a good job addressing online harassment and cyberbullying, and just 18% say the same of elected officials. In fact, 44% of teens say elected officials have done a poor job addressing online harassment and online bullying.

Teens who have been cyberbullied are more critical of how various groups have addressed online bullying than those who haven’t

Teens who have experienced harassment or bullying online have a very different perspective on how various groups have been handling cyberbullying compared with those who have not faced this type of abuse. Some 53% of teens who have been cyberbullied say elected officials have done a poor job when it comes to addressing online harassment and online bullying, while 38% who have not undergone these experiences say the same (a 15 percentage point gap). Double-digit differences also appear between teens who have and have not been cyberbullied in their views on how law enforcement, social media sites and teachers have addressed online abuse, with teens who have been harassed or bullied online being more critical of each of these three groups. These harassed teens are also twice as likely as their peers who report no abuse to say parents have done a poor job of combatting online harassment and bullying.

Aside from these differences based on personal experience with cyberbullying, only a few differences are seen across major demographic groups. For example, Black teens express greater cynicism than White teens about how law enforcement has fared in this space: 33% of Black teens say law enforcement is doing a poor job when it comes to addressing online harassment and online bullying; 21% of White teens say the same. Hispanic teens (25%) do not differ from either group on this question.

Large majorities of teens believe permanent bans from social media and criminal charges can help reduce harassment on the platforms

Teens have varying views about possible actions that could help to curb the amount of online harassment youth encounter on social media.

While a majority of teens say each of five possible solutions asked about in the survey would at least help a little, certain measures are viewed as being more effective than others.

Teens see the most benefit in criminal charges for users who bully or harass on social media or permanently locking these users out of their account. Half of teens say each of these options would help a lot in reducing the amount of harassment and bullying teens may face on social media sites.

About four-in-ten teens think that if social media companies looked for and deleted posts they think are bullying or harassing (42%) or if users of these platforms were required to use their real names and pictures (37%) it would help a lot in addressing these issues. The idea of forcing people to use their real name while online has long existed and been heavily debated: Proponents see it as a way to hold bad actors accountable and keep online conversations more civil , while detractors believe it would do little to solve harassment and could even  worsen it .

Three-in-ten teens say school districts monitoring students’ social media activity for bullying or harassment would help a lot. Some school districts already use digital monitoring software to help them identify worrying student behavior on school-owned devices , social media and other online platforms . However, these programs have been met with criticism regarding privacy issues , mixed results and whether they do more harm than good .

Having personally experienced online harassment is unrelated to a teen’s view on whether these potential measures would help a lot in reducing these types of adverse experiences on social media. Views do vary widely by a teen’s racial or ethnic background, however.

Black or Hispanic teens are consistently more optimistic than White teens about the effectiveness of each of these measures.

Majorities of both Black and Hispanic teens say permanently locking users out of their account if they bully or harass others or criminal charges for users who bully or harass on social media would help a lot, while about four-in-ten White teens express each view.

In the case of permanent bans, Black teens further stand out from their Hispanic peers: Seven-in-ten say this would help a lot, followed by 59% of Hispanic teens and 42% of White teens.

• It is important to note that there are various ways researchers measure youths’ experiences with cyberbullying and online harassment. As a result, there may be a range of estimates for how many teens report having these experiences. In addition, since the Center last polled on this topic in 2018, there have been changes in how the surveys were conducted and how the questions were asked. For instance, the 2018 survey asked about bullying by listing a number of possible behaviors and asking respondents to “check all that apply.” This survey asked teens to answer “yes” or “no” to each item individually. Due to these changes, direct comparisons cannot be made across the two surveys. ↩
• There were not enough Asian American teen respondents in the sample to be broken out into a separate analysis. As always, their responses are incorporated into the general population figures throughout the report. ↩

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About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts .

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Cyberbullying: what is it and how to stop it, what teens want to know about cyberbullying..

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We brought together UNICEF specialists, international cyberbullying and child protection experts, and teamed up with Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and X to answer some of the most common questions about online bullying and give advice on ways to deal with it. 

What is cyberbullying?

Cyberbullying is bullying with the use of digital technologies. It can take place on social media, messaging platforms, gaming platforms and mobile phones. It is repeated behaviour, aimed at scaring, angering or shaming those who are targeted. Examples include:

• spreading lies about or posting embarrassing photos or videos of someone on social media
• sending hurtful, abusive or threatening messages, images or videos via messaging platforms
• impersonating someone and sending mean messages to others on their behalf or through fake accounts.

Face-to-face bullying and cyberbullying can often happen alongside each other. But cyberbullying leaves a digital footprint – a record that can prove useful and provide evidence to help stop the abuse.

If you are worried about your safety or something that has happened to you online, you can seek help by calling your national helpline . If your country does not have a helpline, please urgently speak to an adult you trust or seek professional support from trained and experienced carers.

The top questions on cyberbullying

• Am I being bullied online? How do you tell the difference between a joke and bullying?
• What are the effects of cyberbullying?
• How can cyberbullying affect my mental health?
• Who should I talk to if someone is bullying me online? Why is reporting important?
• I’m experiencing cyberbullying, but I’m afraid to talk to my parents about it. How can I approach them?
• How can I help my friends report a case of cyberbullying especially if they don’t want to do it?
• How do we stop cyberbullying without giving up access to the internet?
• How do I prevent my personal information from being used to manipulate or humiliate me on social media?
• Is there a punishment for cyberbullying?
• Technology companies don’t seem to care about online bullying and harassment. Are they being held responsible?
• Are there any online anti-bullying tools for children or young people?

1. Am I being bullied online? How do you tell the difference between a joke and bullying?

All friends joke around with each other, but sometimes it’s hard to tell if someone is just having fun or trying to hurt you, especially online. Sometimes they’ll laugh it off with a “just kidding,” or “don’t take it so seriously.” 

But if you feel hurt or think others are laughing at you instead of with you, then the joke has gone too far. If it continues even after you’ve asked the person to stop and you are still feeling upset about it, then this could be bullying.

And when the bullying takes place online, it can result in unwanted attention from a wide range of people including strangers. Wherever it may happen, if you are not happy about it, you should not have to stand for it.

Call it what you will – if you feel bad and it doesn’t stop, then it’s worth getting help. Stopping cyberbullying is not just about calling out bullies, it’s also about recognizing that everyone deserves respect – online and in real life.

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2. What are the effects of cyberbullying?

When bullying happens online it can feel as if you’re being attacked everywhere, even inside your own home. It can seem like there’s no escape. The effects can last a long time and affect a person in many ways:

• Mentally – feeling upset, embarrassed, stupid, even afraid or angry 
• Emotionally – feeling ashamed or losing interest in the things you love
• Physically – tired (loss of sleep), or experiencing symptoms like stomach aches and headaches 

The feeling of being laughed at or harassed by others, can prevent people from speaking up or trying to deal with the problem. In extreme cases, cyberbullying can even lead to people taking their own lives. 

Cyberbullying can affect us in many ways. But these can be overcome and people can regain their confidence and health.

3. How can cyberbullying affect my mental health?

When you experience cyberbullying you might start to feel ashamed, nervous, anxious and insecure about what people say or think about you. This can lead to withdrawing from friends and family, negative thoughts and self-talk, feeling guilty about things you did or did not do, or feeling that you are being judged negatively. Feeling lonely, overwhelmed, frequent headaches, nausea or stomachaches are also common.

You can lose your motivation to do the things that you usually enjoy doing and feel isolated from the people you love and trust. This can perpetuate negative feelings and thoughts which can adversely affect your mental health and well-being.

Skipping school is another common effect of cyberbullying and can affect the mental health of young people who turn to substances like alcohol and drugs or violent behaviour to deal with their psychological and physical pain. Talking to a friend, family member or school counsellor you trust can be a first step to getting help.

The effects of cyberbullying on mental health can vary depending on the medium through which it happens. For example, bullying via text messaging or through pictures or videos on social media platforms has proven to be very harmful for adolescents.   

Cyberbullying opens the door to 24-hour harassment and can be very damaging. That’s why we offer in-app mental health and well-being support through our feature “ Here For You .” This Snapchat portal provides resources on mental health, grief, bullying, harassment, anxiety, eating disorders, depression, stress, and suicidal thoughts. It was developed in partnership with leading international advocacy and mental health organizations to help Snapchatters contend with some very real issues. Still, our foundational piece of guidance for any well-being issue is to talk to someone: a friend, parent, caregiver, trusted adult – anyone whom you trust to listen.

At Snap, nothing is more important than the safety and well-being of our community.  Reach out and tell us how we might be able to help.    

Cyberbullying has the potential of having a negative impact on people's mental health. It's why it's so important that you reach out to someone you trust – whether it's a parent, teacher, friend or caregiver – and let them know what you're going through so that they can help you.

The well-being of our community matters hugely to us, and we recognise that cyberbullying can have an adverse impact on people's mental health. As well as taking strong action against content or behaviour that seeks to shame, bully or harass members of our community, we have partnered with experts to develop our well-being guide to help people learn more about improving their well-being, and keep TikTok a safe and inclusive home for our community.

4. Who should I talk to if someone is bullying me online? Why is reporting important?

If you think you’re being bullied, the first step is to seek help from someone you trust such as your parents, a close family member or another trusted adult.

In your school you can reach out to a counsellor, the sports coach or your favourite teacher – either online or in person.

And if you are not comfortable talking to someone you know, search for a helpline in your country to talk to a professional counsellor.

If the bullying is happening on a social platform, consider blocking the bully and formally reporting their behaviour on the platform itself. Social media companies are obligated to keep their users safe.

For bullying to stop, it needs to be identified and reporting it is key.

It can be helpful to collect evidence – text messages and screen shots of social media posts – to show what’s been going on.

For bullying to stop, it needs to be identified and reporting it is key. It can also help to show the bully that their behaviour is unacceptable.

If you are in immediate danger, then you should contact the police or emergency services in your country.

Facebook/Instagram

At Meta, we take bullying and harassment situations seriously. Bullying and harassment is a unique challenge and one of the most complex issues to address because context is critical. We work hard to enforce against this content while also equipping our community with tools to protect themselves in ways that work best for them.

If you're experiencing bullying online, we encourage you to talk to a parent, teacher or someone else you can trust – you have a right to be safe and supported.

We also make it easy to report bullying directly within Facebook or Instagram. You can send our team a report from a post, comment, story or direct message (DM). Your report is anonymous; the account you reported won’t see who reported them. We have a team who reviews these reports 24/7 around the world in 70+ languages and we will remove anything that violates our policies.

Meta’s Family Center offers resources, insights and expert guidance to help parents, guardians and trusted adults support their teen’s online experiences across our technologies. Additionally, the Meta Safety Center provides bullying prevention resources that can help teens seeking support for issues related to bullying like what to do if you or a friend is being bullied or if you've been called a bully. For educators , we have expert-backed tips on how to proactively handle and work to implement bullying prevention strategies

Bullying is something no one should have to experience, either in person or online. 

Snapchat’s Community Guidelines clearly and explicitly prohibit bullying, intimidation, and harassment of any kind. We don’t want it on the platform; it’s not in keeping with why Snapchat was created and designed. Learn more here .

Letting us know when you experience or witness someone breaking our rules allows us to take action, which helps to protect you and other members of our community. In addition to reporting violating content or behaviour to Snapchat, speak with a friend, parent, caregiver, or other trusted adult. Our goal is for everyone to stay safe and have fun!

Everyone has the right to feel safe and to be treated with respect and dignity. Bullying and harassment are incompatible with the inclusive environment we aim to foster on TikTok. 

If you ever feel someone is bullying you or otherwise being inappropriate, reach out to someone you trust - for example, a parent, a teacher or a caregiver – who can provide support.

We deploy both technology and thousands of safety professionals to help keep bullying off TikTok. We also encourage our community members to make use of the easy in-app reporting tools to alert us if they or someone they know has experienced bullying. You can report videos, comments, accounts and direct messages so that we can take appropriate action and help keep you safe. Reports are always confidential. 

You can find out more in our Bullying Prevention guide for teens, caregivers, and educators on how to identify and prevent bullying, and provide support.

Being the target of bullying online is not easy to deal with. If you are being cyberbullied, the most important thing to do is to ensure you are safe. It’s essential to have someone to talk to about what you are going through. This may be a teacher, another trusted adult, or a parent. Talk to your parents and friends about what to do if you or a friend are being cyberbullied.

We encourage people to report accounts to us that may break our  rules . You can do this on our  Help Center  or through the in-post reporting mechanism by clicking on the “Report a post” option.

Last updated: January 2022.

5. I’m experiencing cyberbullying, but I’m afraid to talk to my parents about it. How can I approach them?

If you are experiencing cyberbullying, speaking to a trusted adult – someone you feel safe talking to – is one of the most important first steps you can take.

Talking to parents isn’t easy for everyone. But there are things you can do to help the conversation. Choose a time to talk when you know you have their full attention. Explain how serious the problem is for you. Remember, they might not be as familiar with technology as you are, so you might need to help them to understand what’s happening.

They might not have instant answers for you, but they are likely to want to help and together you can find a solution. Two heads are always better than one! If you are still unsure about what to do, consider reaching out to other trusted people . There are often more people who care about you and are willing to help than you might think!

6. How can I help my friends report a case of cyberbullying especially if they don’t want to do it?

Anyone can become a victim of cyberbullying. If you see this happening to someone you know, try to offer support.

It is important to listen to your friend. Why don’t they want to report being cyberbullied? How are they feeling? Let them know that they don’t have to formally report anything, but it’s crucial to talk to someone who might be able to help.

Anyone can become a victim of cyberbullying.

Remember, your friend may be feeling fragile. Be kind to them. Help them think through what they might say and to whom. Offer to go with them if they decide to report. Most importantly, remind them that you’re there for them and you want to help.

If your friend still does not want to report the incident, then support them in finding a trusted adult who can help them deal with the situation. Remember that in certain situations the consequences of cyberbullying can be life threatening.

Doing nothing can leave the person feeling that everyone is against them or that nobody cares. Your words can make a difference.

We know that it can be hard to report bullying, but everyone deserves to feel safe online. If your friend is experiencing cyberbullying, encourage them to talk to a parent, a teacher or an adult they trust.

Reporting content or accounts to Facebook or Instagram is anonymous and can help us better keep our platforms safe. Bullying and harassment are highly personal by nature, so in many instances, we need a person to report this behaviour to us before we can identify or remove it. You can report something you experience yourself, but it’s also just as easy to submit a report for one of your friends. You can find more information on how to report something on our How to Report Bullying section  at the Meta Safety Center.

You and your friends may be reluctant to report to a technology platform for any number of reasons, but it’s important to know that reporting on Snapchat is confidential and easy. And remember: You can report Snaps (photos and videos), Chats (messages) and accounts – about your own experiences or on behalf of someone else. 

In the more public places of Snapchat, like Stories and Spotlight, simply press and hold on the piece of content and a card with “Report Tile” (as one option) will appear in red. Click that link and our reporting menu will appear. Bullying and harassment are among the first categories in the reporting list. Just follow the prompts and provide as much information as you can about the incident. We appreciate you doing your part to help us protect the Snapchat community!  

If you believe another member of the TikTok community is being bullied or harassed, there are ways you can provide support. For example, you can make a confidential report on TikTok so that we take appropriate action and help keep your friend safe. 

If you know the person, consider checking in with them and encourage them to read our Bullying Prevention guide so they can find out more information about how to identify bullying behaviour and take action.

If your friends are experiencing cyberbullying, encourage them to talk to a parent, a teacher or an adult they trust.

If a friend of yours does not want to report their experience, you can submit a bystander report  on their behalf. This can include reports of private information , non -consensual nudity  or impersonation.

7. How do we stop cyberbullying without giving up access to the Internet?

Being online has so many benefits. However, like many things in life, it comes with risks that you need to protect against.

If you experience cyberbullying, you may want to delete certain apps or stay offline for a while to give yourself time to recover. But getting off the Internet is not a long-term solution. You did nothing wrong, so why should you be disadvantaged? It may even send the bullies the wrong signal — encouraging their unacceptable behaviour. 

We need to be thoughtful about what we share or say that may hurt others.

We all want cyberbullying to stop, which is one of the reasons reporting cyberbullying is so important. But creating the Internet we want goes beyond calling out bullying. We need to be thoughtful about what we share or say that may hurt others. We need to be kind to one another online and in real life. It's up to all of us!

We’re continuously developing new technologies  to encourage positive interactions and take action on harmful content, and launching new tools to help people have more control over their experience. Here are some tools you can use:

• Comment warnings: When someone writes a caption or a comment that our AI detects as potentially offensive or intended to harass, we will show them an alert that asks them to pause and reflect on whether they would like to edit their language before it’s posted.
• Comment and message controls: Comments with common offensive words, phrases or emojis, and abusive messages or messages from strangers can be automatically hidden or filtered out with the ‘ Hidden words ’ setting, which is defaulted on for all people. If you want an even more personalized experience, you can create a custom list of emojis, words or phrases you don’t want to see, and comments containing these terms won’t appear under your posts and messages will be sent to a filtered inbox. All Instagram accounts have the option to switch off DMs from people they don’t follow. Messenger also gives you the option to ignore a conversation and automatically move it out of your inbox, without having to block the sender.
• Block and Mute: You can always  block  or  mute  an account that is bullying you, and that account will not be notified. When you block someone on Instagram, you’ll also have the option to block other accounts they may have or create, making it more difficult for them to interact with you.
• Restrict: With ‘Restrict,’ you can protect your account from unwanted interactions in a quieter, or more subtle way. Once Restrict is enabled, comments on your posts from a person you have restricted will only be visible to that person. You can choose to view the comment by tapping “See Comment”; approve the comment so everyone can see it; delete it; or ignore it. You won’t receive any notifications for comments from a restricted account.
• Limits:  You can automatically hide comments and DM requests from people who don’t follow you, or who only recently followed you. If you’re going through an influx of unwanted comments or messages — or think you may be about to — you can turn on Limits and avoid it.

Our priority is to foster a welcoming and safe environment where people feel free to express themselves authentically. Our Community Guidelines make clear that we do not tolerate members of our community being shamed, bullied or harassed. 

We use a combination of technology and moderation teams to help us identify and remove abusive content or behaviour from our platform. 

We also provide our community with an extensive range of tools to help them better control their experience – whether it's control over exactly who can view and interact with your content or filtering tools to help you stay in control of comments. You can find out about them on our Safety Centre . 

Since hundreds of millions of people share ideas on X every day, it’s no surprise that we don’t all agree with each other all the time. That’s one of the benefits of a public conversation in that we can all learn from respectful disagreements and discussions.

But sometimes, after you’ve listened to someone for a while, you may not want to hear them anymore. Their right to express themselves doesn’t mean you’re required to listen. If you see or receive a reply you don’t like, unfollow  and end any communication with that account. If the behaviour continues, it is recommended that you block the account . If you continue receiving unwanted, targeted and continuous replies on X, consider reporting the behaviour to X here .

We are also working proactively to protect people using our service through a combination of human review and technology. Learn more about how to feel safer on X here .

8. How do I prevent my personal information from being used to manipulate or humiliate me on social media?

Think twice before posting or sharing anything on digital platforms – it may be online forever and could be used to harm you later. Don’t give out personal details such as your address, telephone number or the name of your school.

Learn about the privacy settings of your favourite social media apps. Here are some actions you can take on many of them: 

• You can decide who can see your profile, send you direct messages or comment on your posts by adjusting your account privacy settings. 
• You can report hurtful comments, messages, photos and videos and request they be removed.
• Besides ‘unfriending’, you can completely block people to stop them from seeing your profile or contacting you.
• You can also choose to have comments by certain people to appear only to them without completely blocking them.
• You can delete posts on your profile or hide them from specific people. 

On most of your favourite social media, people aren't notified when you block, restrict or report them.

9. Is there a punishment for cyberbullying?

Most schools take bullying seriously and will take action against it. If you are being cyberbullied by other students, report it to your school.

People who are victims of any form of violence, including bullying and cyberbullying, have a right to justice and to have the offender held accountable.

Laws against bullying, particularly on cyberbullying, are relatively new and still do not exist everywhere. This is why many countries rely on other relevant laws, such as ones against harassment, to punish cyberbullies.

In countries that have specific laws on cyberbullying, online behaviour that deliberately causes serious emotional distress is seen as criminal activity. In some of these countries, victims of cyberbullying can seek protection, prohibit communication from a specified person and restrict the use of electronic devices used by that person for cyberbullying, temporarily or permanently.

However, it is important to remember that punishment is not always the most effective way to change the behaviour of bullies. Sometimes, focusing on repairing the harm and mending the relationship can be better.

On Facebook, we have a set of  Community Standards , and on Instagram, we have  Community Guidelines . We take action when we are aware of content that violates these policies, like in the case of bullying or harassment, and we are constantly improving our detection tools so we can find this content faster.

Bullying and harassment can happen in many places and come in many different forms from making threats and releasing personally identifiable information to sending threatening messages and making unwanted malicious contact. We do not tolerate this kind of behavior because it prevents people from feeling safe and respected on our apps.

Making sure people don’t see hateful or harassing content in direct messages can be challenging, given they’re private conversations, but we are taking steps to take tougher action when we become aware of people breaking our rules. If someone continues to send violating messages, we will disable their account. We’ll also disable new accounts created to get around our messaging restrictions and will continue to disable accounts we find that are created purely to send harmful messages.

On Snapchat, reports of cyberbullying are reviewed by Snap’s dedicated Trust & Safety teams, which operate around the clock and around the globe. Individuals found to be involved in cyberbullying may be given a warning, their accounts might be suspended or their accounts could be shut down completely. 

We recommend leaving any group chat where bullying or any unwelcome behaviour is taking place and please report the behaviour and/or the account to us.  

Our Community Guidelines define a set of norms and common code of conduct for TikTok and they provide guidance on what is and is not allowed to make a welcoming space for everyone. We make it clear that we do not tolerate members of our community being shamed, bullied or harassed. We take action against any such content and accounts, including removal.

We strongly enforce our rules to ensure all people can participate in the public conversation freely and safely. These rules specifically cover a number of areas including topics such as:

• Child sexual exploitation
• Abuse/harassment
• Hateful conduct
• Suicide or self-harm
• Sharing of sensitive media, including graphic violence and adult content

As part of these rules, we take a number of different enforcement actions when content is in violation. When we take enforcement actions, we may do so either on a specific piece of content (e.g., an individual post or Direct Message) or on an account.

You can find more on our enforcement actions here .

10. Technology companies don’t seem to care about online bullying and harassment. Are they being held responsible?

Technology companies are increasingly paying attention to the issue of online bullying.

Many of them are introducing ways to address it and better protect their users with new tools, guidance and ways to report online abuse.

But it is true that more is needed. Many young people experience cyberbullying every day. Some face extreme forms of online abuse. Some have taken their own lives as a result.

Technology companies have a responsibility to protect their users especially children and young people.

It is up to all of us to hold them accountable when they’re not living up to these responsibilities.

11. Are there any online anti-bullying tools for children or young people?

Each social platform offers different tools (see available ones below) that allow you to restrict who can comment on or view your posts or who can connect automatically as a friend, and to report cases of bullying. Many of them involve simple steps to block, mute or report cyberbullying. We encourage you to explore them.

Social media companies also provide educational tools and guidance for children, parents and teachers to learn about risks and ways to stay safe online.

Also, the first line of defense against cyberbullying could be you. Think about where cyberbullying happens in your community and ways you can help – by raising your voice, calling out bullies, reaching out to trusted adults or by creating awareness of the issue. Even a simple act of kindness can go a long way.

The first line of defense against cyberbullying could be you.

If you are worried about your safety or something that has happened to you online, urgently speak to an adult you trust. Many countries have a special helpline you can call for free and talk to someone anonymously. Visit  United for Global Mental Health to find help in your country.

We have a number of anti-bullying tools across Facebook and Instagram:

• You can block people, including any existing and new accounts they might create.
• You can  mute  an account and that account will not be notified.
• You can limit unwanted interactions for a period of time by automatically hiding comments and message requests from people who don’t follow you, or who only recently followed you.
• You can use ‘ Restrict ’ to discreetly protect your account without that person being notified.
• You can  moderate comments  on your own posts.
• You can  modify your settings  so that only people you follow can send you a direct message.
• We will notify someone when they’re about to post something that might cross the line, encouraging them to reconsider.
• We automatically filter out comments and message requests that don’t go against our Community Guidelines but may be considered inappropriate or offensive. You can also create your own custom list of emojis, words or phrases that you don’t want to see.

For more tips and ideas, visit Instagram’s Safety page and Facebook’s Bullying Prevention Hub . We also offer resources, insights and expert guidance for parents and guardians on our Family Center .

We want teens and young adults to be aware of the blocking and removal functions on Snapchat. Clicking on the person’s avatar will bring up a three-dot menu in the upper right-hand corner. Opening that menu offers the option of “Manage Friendship,” which, in turn, offers the ability to Report, Block or Remove the person as a friend. Know that if you block someone, they will be told that their Snaps and Chats to you will be delivered once the relationship is restored.  

It’s also a good idea to check privacy settings to ensure they continue to be set to the default setting of “Friends Only.” This way, only people you’ve added as Friends can send you Snaps and Chats.  

We also recommend reviewing your Friends’ list from time to time to ensure it includes those people you still want to be friends with on Snapchat.  

Alongside the work that our safety teams do to help keep bullying and harassment off our platform, we provide an extensive range of tools to help you control your TikTok experience. You can find these in full on our Safety Centre . Here are a few highlights:

• You can restrict who comments on your videos to no one, just friends or everyone (for those aged under 16, the everyone setting is not available)
• You can filter all comments or those with specific keywords that you choose. By default, spam and offensive comments are hidden from users when we detect them.
• You can delete or report multiple comments at once, and you can block accounts that post bullying or other negative comments in bulk too, up to 100 at a time.
• A comment prompt asks people to reconsider posting a comment that may be inappropriate or unkind, reminding them of our Community Guidelines and allowing them to edit their comments before sharing.

We want everybody to be safe on X. We continue to launch and improve tools for people to feel safer, be in control and manage their digital footprint. Here are some safety tools anyone on X can use: 

• Select who can reply to your posts  – either everyone, only people you follow or only people you mention
• Mute – removing an account's posts from your timeline without unfollowing or blocking that account
• Block – restricting specific accounts from contacting you, seeing your posts, and following you
• Report – filing a report about abusive behaviour
• Safety mode  – a feature that temporarily blocks accounts for using potentially harmful language or sending repetitive and uninvited replies or mentions.

With special thanks to:  Meta, Snap, TikTok and X (formerly known as Twitter). Last updated: February 2024.

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TikTok stars Charli and Dixie D'Amelio open up about their personal experience of being bullied and share tips on how to make the internet a better place.

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78 Cyber Bullying Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

🏆 best cyber bullying topic ideas & essay examples, 💡 interesting topics to write about cyber bullying, 👍 good essay topics on cyber bullying, ❓ questions about cyberbullying research.

• Cyber Bullying Issue Therefore, the goal of this paper is to analyse who the victims of cyber bullying are and the influence it has on them.
• Cyber Bullying and Positivist Theory of Crime Learning theory approaches to the explanation of criminal behavior have been associated with one of the major sociological theories of crime, the differential association theory. We will write a custom essay specifically for you by our professional experts 808 writers online Learn More
• Is Cyber Bullying Against Teenagers More Detrimental Than Face-To-Face Bullying? Social networking has also contributed greatly to the issue of cyber bullying especially in making it more harmful as compared to face-to-face bullying.
• Discouraging and Eliminating Cyber Bullying Resources Role of the resource/input Statement forms To facilitate information transfer to the staff Counseling Personnel To arm students against the problem Bullying report system To create efficient internet enhance report system Regulation implementation documents […]
• Cyber Bullying as a Virtual Menace The use of information and communication technologies to support a deliberate and most of the time repeated hostile behavior by an individual or groups of people with the sole intention of harming others, one is […]
• The Effects of Cyber-Bullying and Cyber-Stalking on the Society In particular, one should focus on such issues as the disrespect for a person’s autonomy, the growing intensity of domestic violence and deteriorating mental health in the country.
• Cyber Bullying Reduction Program Table of Activities Activity Significance Assembling parents/guardians, students and teachers to announce and explain the program in the institution To enlighten parents/guardians, students and teachers about the rules and regulation enacted due to the threat […]
• Cyber Bullying Prevention in Learning Institutions: Systematic Approach To start with, the students are provided with ways of reporting their concern to the educational institution, and when the staff members of the institution receive the report, they evaluate the information together with the […]
• Cyber Bullying and Its Forms The difference between the conventional way of bullying and cyber bullying is that in conventional bullying, there is contact between the bully and the victim.
• Ethics in Technology: Cyber Crimes Furthermore, the defendant altered the data, which compromised the integrity of the information to the detriment of the organizations involved. In this litigation, Aleksey Vladimirovich Ivanov was the defendant while the American government was the […]
• Ethical Case: Facebook Gossip or Cyberbullying? The best option to Paige is to apologize publicly and withdraw her comments. The final stage is to act and reflect the outcome of the choice made.
• Freedom Of Speech In The Era Of Cyber Bullying
• The Negative Impacts of Technology on Social Skills: Anxiety, Awkward Conversations, Cyber Bullying, and Lack of Awareness
• Different Consequences of Cyber Bullying in School
• The Study Of Cyber Bullying Victimization On Children Who Are Addicted To The Internet
• The Causes and Harmful Effects of Cyber Bullying
• Why Do Cyber Bullying Laws Need to Be Enforced
• Unsecured Privacy Settings, Cyber Bullying, And Facebook Crime
• Bullying Carried too Far: Cyber Bullying and Violent Bullying
• Cyber Bullying: Misuse of Information and Communications Technology
• Cyber Bullying and Why Parents Need to Monitor Their Children’s Activity
• The Detrimental Effects of Cyber Bullying
• Cyber Bullying, Its Forms, Impact, and Relationship to Juvenile Delinquency
• How Cyber Bullying Affects Our Lives Negatively
• The Effects Of Cyber Bullying On Substance Use And Mental Health
• Cyberbullying : Causes And Dangers Of Cyber Bullying
• The Effects Of Cyber Bullying On The Mental Health Of Middle School Aged Youth
• Is Cyber Bullying Morally Justifiable
• Cyber Bullying And Its Effect On Our Youth
• An Analysis of Cyber Bullying in Today’s World
• Cyber Bullying And Its Effect On The Lives Of The American
• Bullying And The Potential Motives Behind Cyber Bullying
• Cyber Bullying And Its Various Forms
• Bullying In The Digital Age: Electronic Or Cyber Bullying
• Information Technology – Role of Social Networking Cites in Cyber Bullying
• Cyber Bullying : A Consistent Problem For Young People
• Cause And Effect Of Cyber Bullying
• Cyber Bullying, Creating a Culture of Respect
• Cyber Bullying And Its Effect On Adolescents
• Prevention And Intervention Of Cyber Bullying
• Investigating Cyber Bullying Using Social Media
• Cyber Bullying Affects People ‘s Lives More Than One Might Think
• The Cyber Crime and the Cyber Bullying
• The Cause of Cyber Bullying and the Effect of the Mental Development of Teenagers
• Cyber Bullying: An Uncontrollable Epidemic
• The Psychological Impact of Cyber Bullying
• The Eternal Effects Of Cyber Bullying
• Cyber Bullying : Bullying Through Technology
• Why Does Online Anonymity Increase Cyberbullying Among Teenagers?
• Are Laws Effective Strategy Address Issue Cyberbullying?
• Are Schools Doing Enough About Cyberbullying?
• What Are the Causes of Cyberbullying?
• What Is the Prevention of Cyberbullying?
• Is Cyberbullying Related to a Lack of Empathy and Social-Emotional Problems?
• How Often Do Celebrities Suffer From Cyberbullying?
• What Are the Characteristics of Cyberbullying Among Students?
• How Does Social Integration of Children Help to Combat Cyberbullying?
• What Is the Correlation Between Suicide Rates and Cyberbullying?
• How Does Cyberbullying Affect Society?
• What Is the Correlation Between Depression, Bullying and Cyberbullying?
• Are There Gender Differences in Cyberbullying?
• What Is the Criminal Penalty for Cyberbullying?
• What International Associations Prevent Cyberbullying?
• What Is the Role of Affective and Cognitive Empathy in Cyberbullying?
• What Are the Solutions to Cyberbullying?
• Can Cyberbullying Be Called Cyber Crime?
• What Is the Role of Teachers in Preventing Cyberbullying?
• Can Internet Privacy Be Enough to Prevent Cyberbullying?
• How Does Cyberbullying Affect Children?
• How Many American Teenagers Are Cyberbullied?
• How Does Cyberbullying Affect Mental Health?
• How Is Cyberbullying Different From Physical Bullying?
• Is Cyberbullying an Example of Psychological Abuse?
• Can School Policies Reduce Cyberbullying?
• How Does Cyberbullying Affect Teenagers’ Self-Esteem?
• What Are the Consequences of Cyberbullying?
• Has the Proliferation of Social Media Led to an Increase in Cyberbullying?
• Is Cyberbullying Less Criminal Than Traditional Bullying?
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Cyberbullying and its influence on academic, social, and emotional development of undergraduate students

This study investigated the influence of cyberbullying on the academic, social, and emotional development of undergraduate students. It's objective is to provides additional data and understanding of the influence of cyberbullying on various variables affecting undergraduate students. The survey sample consisted of 638 Israeli undergraduate students. The data were collected using the Revised Cyber Bullying Survey, which evaluates the frequency and media used to perpetrate cyberbullying, and the College Adjustment Scales, which evaluate three aspects of development in college students. It was found that 57% of the students had experienced cyberbullying at least once or twice through different types of media. Three variables were found to have significant influences on the research variables: gender, religion and sexual preferences. Correlation analyses were conducted and confirmed significant relationships between cyberbullying, mainly through instant messaging, and the academic, social and emotional development of undergraduate students. Instant messaging (IM) was found to be the most common means of cyberbullying among the students.

The main conclusions are that although cyberbullying existence has been proven, studies of cyberbullying among undergraduate students have not been fully developed. This particular population needs special attention in future research. The results of this study indicate that cyberbullying has an influence on the academic, social, and emotional development of undergraduate students. Additional Implications of the findings are discussed.

1. Introduction

Cyberbullying is defined as the electronic posting of mean-spirited messages about a person (such as a student) often done anonymously ( Merriam-Webster, 2017 ). Most of the investigations of cyberbullying have been conducted with students in elementary, middle and high school who were between 9 and 18 years old. Those studies focused on examining the prevalence and frequency of cyberbullying. Using “cyberbullying” and “higher-education” as key words in Google scholar (January, 2019) (all in title) yields only twenty one articles. In 2009, 2012 and 2013 one article appeared each year, since 2014 each year there were few publications. Of these articles only seven relates to effect of cyberbullying on the students, thus a gap in the literature exists in that it only minimally reports on studies involving undergraduate students. Given their relationship and access to technology, it is likely that cyberbullying occurs frequently among undergraduates. The purpose of this study is to examine the frequency and media used to perpetrate cyberbullying, as well as the relationship that it has with the academic, social and emotional development of undergraduate students.

Undergraduate students use the Internet for a wide variety of purposes. Those purposes include recreation, such as communicating in online groups or playing games; academics, such as doing assignments, researching scholarships or completing online applications; and practical, such as preparing for job interviews by researching companies. Students also use the Internet for social communication with increasing frequency.

The literature suggests that cyberbullied victims generally manifest psychological problems such as depression, loneliness, low self-esteem, school phobias and social anxiety ( Grene, 2003 ; Juvonen et al., 2003 ; Akcil, 2018 ). Moreover, research findings have shown that cyberbullying causes emotional and physiological damage to defenseless victims ( Akbulut and Eristi, 2011 ) as well as psychosocial difficulties including behavior problems ( Ybarra and Mitchell, 2007 ), drinking alcohol ( Selkie et al., 2015 ), smoking, depression, and low commitment to academics ( Ybarra and Mitchell, 2007 ).

Under great emotional stress, victims of cyberbullying are unable to concentrate on their studies, and thus their academic progress is adversely affected ( Akcil, 2018 ). Since the victims are often hurt psychologically, the depressive effect of cyberbullying prevents students from excelling in their studies ( Faryadi, 2011 ). The overall presence of cyberbullying victimization among undergraduate college students was found to be significantly related to the experience of anxiety, depression, substance abuse, low self-esteem, interpersonal problems, family tensions and academic underperformance ( Beebe, 2010 ).

1.1. Cyberbullying and internet

The Internet has been the most useful technology of modern times, which has enabled entirely new forms of social interaction, activities, and organizing. This has been possible thanks to its basic features such as widespread usability and access. However, it also causes undesirable behaviors that are offensive or threatening to others, such as cyberbullying. This is a relatively new phenomenon.

According to Belsey (2006, p.1) , “Cyberbullying involves the use of information and communication technologies such as e-mail, cell-phone and pager text messages, instant messaging, defamatory personal web sites, blogs, online games and defamatory online personal polling web sites, to support deliberate, repeated, and hostile behavior by an individual or group that is intended to harm others.” Characteristics like anonymity, accessibility to electronic communication, and rapid audience spread, result in a limitless number of individuals that can be affected by cyberbullying.

Different studies suggest that undergraduate students' use of the Internet is more significant and frequent than any other demographic group. A 2014 survey of 1006 participants in the U.S. conducted by the Pew Research Center revealed that 97% of young adults aged from 18 to 29 years use the Internet, email, or access the Internet via a mobile device. Among them, 91% were college students.

1.2. Mediums to perpetrate cyberbullying

The most frequent and common media within which cyberbullying can occur are:

Electronic mail (email): a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients.

Instant messaging: a type of online chat that offers real-time text transmission between two parties.

Chat rooms: a real-time online interaction with strangers with a shared interest or other similar connection.

Text messaging (SMS): the act of composing and sending a brief electronic message between two or more mobile phones.

Social networking sites: a platform to build social networks or social relations among people who share interests, activities, backgrounds or real-life connections.

Web sites : a platform that provides service for personal, commercial, or government purpose.

Studies indicate that undergraduate students are cyberbullied most frequently through email, and least often in chat rooms ( Beebe, 2010 ). Other studies suggest that instant messaging is the most common electronic medium used to perpetrate cyberbullying ( Kowalski et al., 2018 ).

1.3. Types of cyberbullying

Watts et al. (2017) Describe 7 types of cyberbullying: flaming, online harassment, cyberstalking, denigration, masquerading, trickery and outing, and exclusion. Flaming involves sending angry, rude, or vulgar messages via text or email about a person either to that person privately or to an online group.

Harassment involves repeatedly sending offensive messages, and cyberstalking moves harassment online, with the offender sending threatening messages to his or her victim. Denigration occurs when the cyberbully sends untrue or hurtful messages about a person to others. Masquerading takes elements of harassment and denigration where the cyberbully pretends to be someone else and sends or posts threatening or harmful information about one person to other people. Trickery and outing occur when the cyberbully tricks an individual into providing embarrassing, private, or sensitive information and posts or sends the information for others to view. Exclusion is deliberately leaving individuals out of an online group, thereby automatically stigmatizing the excluded individuals.

Additional types of cyberbullying are: Fraping - where a person accesses the victim's social media account and impersonates them in an attempt to be funny or to ruin their reputation. Dissing - share or post cruel information online to ruin one's reputation or friendships with others. Trolling - is insulting an individual online to provoke them enough to get a response. Catfishing - steals one's online identity to re-creates social networking profiles for deceptive purposes. Such as signing up for services in the victim's name so that the victim receives emails or other offers for potentially embarrassing things such as gay-rights newsletters or incontinence treatment. Phishing - a tactic that requires tricking, persuading or manipulating the target into revealing personal and/or financial information about themselves and/or their loved ones. Stalking – Online stalking when a person shares her personal information publicly through social networking websites. With this information, stalkers can send them personal messages, send mysterious gifts to someone's home address and more. Blackmail – Anonymous e-mails, phone-calls and private messages are often done to a person who bear secrets. Photographs & video - Threaten to share them publicly unless the victim complies with a particular demand; Distribute them via text or email, making it impossible for the victim to control who sees the picture; Publish the pictures on the Internet for anyone to view. Shunning - persistently avoid, ignore, or reject someone mainly from participating in social networks. Sexting - send sexually explicit photographs or messages via mobile phone.

1.4. Prevalence of cyberbullying

Previous studies have found that cyberbullying incidents among college students can range from 9% to 34% ( Baldasare et al., 2012 ).

Beebe (2010) conducted a study with 202 college students in United States. Results indicated that 50.7% of the undergraduate students represented in the sample reported experiencing cyberbullying victimization once or twice during their time in college. Additionally, 36.3% reported cyberbullying victimization on a monthly basis while in college. According to Dılmaç (2009) , 22.5% of 666 students at Selcuk University in Turkey reported cyberbullying another person at least once and 55.35% reported being a victim of cyberbullying at least once in their lifetimes. In a study of 131 students from seven undergraduate classes in United States, 11% of the respondents indicated having experienced cyberbullying at the university ( Walker et al., 2011 ). Of those, Facebook (64%), cell phones (43%) and instant messaging (43%) were the most frequent technologies used. Students indicated that 50% of the cyberbullies were classmates, 57% were individuals outside of the university, and 43% did not know who was cyberbullying them.

Data from the last two years (2017–18) is similar to the above. A research, of 187 undergraduate students matriculated at a large U.S. Northeastern metropolitan Roman Catholic university ( Webber and Ovedovitz, 2018 ), found that 4.3% indicated that they were victims of cyberbullying at the university level and a total of 7.5% students acknowledged having participated in bullying at that level while A survey (N = 338) at a large midwestern university conducted by Varghese and Pistole (2017) , showed that frequency counts indicated that 15.1% undergraduate students were cyberbully victims during college, and 8.0% were cyberbully offenders during college.

A study of 201 students from sixteen different colleges across the United States found a prevalence rate of 85.2% for college students who reported being victims of cyberbullying out of the total 201 responses recorded. This ranged from only occasional incidents to almost daily experiences with cyberbullying victimization ( Poole, 2017 ).

In A research of international students, 20.7% reported that they have been cyberbullied in the last 30 days once to many times ( Akcil, 2018 ).

1.5. Psychological impact of cyberbullying

Cyberbullying literature suggests that victims generally manifest psychological problems such as depression, anxiety, loneliness, low self-esteem, social exclusion, school phobias and poor academic performance ( DeHue et al., 2008 ; Juvonen and Gross, 2008 ; Kowalski and Limber, 2007 ; Grene, 2003 ; Juvonen et al., 2003 ; Rivituso, 2012 ; Varghese and Pistole, 2017 ; Na, 2014 ; Akcil, 2018 ), low self-esteem, family problems, school violence and delinquent behavior ( Webber and Ovedovitz, 2018 ), which brings them to experience suicidal thoughts as a means of escaping the torture ( Ghadampour et al., 2017 ).

Moreover, research findings have shown that cyberbullying causes emotional and physiological damage to defenseless victims ( Faryadi, 2011 ) as well as psychosocial problems including inappropriate behaviors, drinking alcohol, smoking, depression and low commitment to academics ( Walker et al., 2011 ).

The victims of cyberbullying, under great emotional stress, are unable to concentrate on their studies, and thus their academic progress is adversely affected ( Faryadi, 2011 ). Since the victims are often hurt psychologically, the depressive effect of cyberbullying prevents students from excelling in their studies ( Faryadi, 2011 ).

In a Malaysian university study with 365 first year students, the majority of the participants (85%) interviewed indicated that cyberbullying affected their academic performance, specifically their grades ( Faryadi, 2011 ). Also, 85% of the respondents agreed that bullying caused a devastating impact on students' emotions and equally caused unimaginable psychological problems among the victims. Heiman and Olenik-Shemesh (2018) report that for students with learning disabilities, predictors of cybervictimization were low social support, low self-perception, and being female, whereas for students without learning disabilities, the predictors were low social support, low well-being, and low body perception.

1.6. Academic, social, and emotional development of undergraduate students

The transition to academic institutions is marked by complex challenges in emotional, social, and academic adjustment ( Gerdes and Mallinckrodt, 1994 ; Parker et al., 2004 ).

The adaptation to a new environment is an important factor in academic performance and future achievement. Undergraduate students are not only developing academically and intellectually, they are also establishing and maintaining personal relationships, developing an identity, deciding about a career and lifestyle, and maintaining personal health and wellness. Many students are interacting with people from diverse backgrounds who hold different values and making new friends. Some are also adapting to living away from home for the very first time ( Inkelas et al., 2007 ).

The concept of academic development involves not only academic abilities, but motivational factors, and institutional commitment. Motivation to learn, taking actions to meet academic demands, a clear sense of purpose, and general satisfaction with the academic environment are also important components of the academic field ( Lau, 2003 ).

A second dimension, the social field, may be as important as academic factors. Writers have emphasized integration into the social environment as a crucial element in commitment to a particular academic institution ( Tinto, 1975 ). Becoming integrated into the social life of college, forming a support network, and managing new social freedoms are some important elements of social development. Crises in the social field include conflict in a living situation, starting or maintaining relationships, interpersonal conflicts, family issues, and financial issues ( McGrath, 2005 ), which are manifested as feelings of loneliness ( Clark et al., 2015 ).

In the emotional field, students commonly question their relationships, direction in life, and self-worth ( Rey et al., 2011 ). A balanced personality is one which is emotionally adjusted. Emotional adjustment is essential for creating a sound personality. physical, intellectual mental and esthetical adjustments are possible when emotional adjustment is made ( Ziapour et al., 2018 ). Inner disorders may result from questions about identity and can sometimes lead to personal crises ( Gerdes and Mallinckrodt, 1994 ). Emotional problems may be manifested as global psychological distress, somatic distress, anxiety, low self-esteem, or depression. Impediments to success in emotional development include depression and anxiety, stress, substance abuse, and relationship problems ( Beebe, 2010 ).

The current study is designed to address two research questions: (1) does cyberbullying affect college students' emotional state, as measured by the nine factors of the College Adjustment Scales ( Anton and Reed, 1991 ); (2) which mode of cyberbullying most affects students' emotional state?

2.1. Research settings and participants

The present study is set in Israeli higher education colleges. These, function as: (1) institutions offering undergraduate programs in a limited number of disciplinary fields (mainly the social sciences), (2) centers for training studies (i.e.: teacher training curricula), as well as (3) as creators of access to higher education. The general student population is heterogeneous, coming from the Western Galilee. In this study, 638 Israeli undergraduate students participated. The sample is a representative of the population of the Western galilee in Israel. The sample was 76% female, 70% single, 51% Jewish, 27% Arabs, 7% Druze, and 15% other ethnicity. On the dimension of religiosity, 47% were secular, 37% traditional, 12% religious, 0.5% very religious, and 3.5% other. On the dimension of sexual orientation, 71% were straight women, 23.5% straight men, 4% bisexual, 1% lesbians, and 0.5% gay males (note: according to the Williams Institute, approximately 4% of the population in the US are LGBT, [ Gates, 2011 ], while 6% of the EU population are LGBT, [ Dalia, 2016 ]).

2.2. Instrumentation

Two instruments were used to collect data: The Revised Cyber Bullying Survey (RCBS), with a Cronbach's alpha ranging from .74 to .91 ( Kowalski and Limber, 2007 ), designed to measure incidence, frequency and medium used to perpetrate cyberbullying. The survey is a 32-item questionnaire. The frequency was investigated using a 5-item scale with anchors ranging from ‘it has never happened to me’ to ‘several times a week’. Five different media were explored: email, instant messaging, chat room, text messaging, and social networking sites. Each medium was examined with the same six questions related to cases of cyberbullying (see Table 1 ).

Description of the Revised Cyber Bullying Survey (RCBS) variables.

Note: the theoretical range is between zero to twenty-four.

Table 1 shows the five variables that composed the RCBS questionnaire (all of the variables are composed of 6 statements). The results indicate that the levels of all the variables is very low, which means that the respondents experienced cyberbullying once or twice. The internal consistency reliability estimate based on the current sample suggested that most of the variables have an adequate to high level of reliability, with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.68–0.87.

The College Adjustment Scales (CAS) ( Anton and Reed, 1991 ), evaluated the academic, social, and emotional development of college students. Values were standardized and validated for use with college students. The validity for each subscale ranged from .64 to .80, noting high correlations among scales. Reliability of the scales ranged from .80 to .92, with a mean of .86. The instrument included 128 items, divided into 10 scales: anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, substance abuse, self-esteem problems, interpersonal problems, family problems, academic problems, career problems, and regular activities (see Table 2 ). Students responded to each item using a four-point scale.

Description of CAS variables.

Anxiety: A measure of clinical anxiety, focusing on common affective, cognitive, and physiological symptoms.

Depression: A measure of clinical depression, focusing on common affective, cognitive, and physiological symptoms.

Suicidal Ideation: A measure of the extent of recent ideation reflecting suicide, including thoughts of suicide, hopelessness, and resignation.

Substance Abuse: A measure of the extent of disruption in interpersonal, social, academic, and vocational functioning as a result of substance use and abuse.

Self-esteem Problems: A measure of global self-esteem which taps negative self-evaluations and dissatisfaction with personal achievement.

Interpersonal Problems: A measure of the extent of problems in relating to others in the campus environment.

Family Problems: A measure of difficulties experienced in relationships with family members.

Academic Problems: A measure of the extent of problems related to academic performance.

Career Problems: A measure of the extent of problems related to career choice.

Participants also responded to a demographic questionnaire that included items on gender, birth year, marital status, ethnicity, and sexual orientation. As sexual orientation is a major cause for bullying ( Pollock, 2006 ; Cahill and Makadon, 2014 ), it was included in the background information.

Convenience sampling and purposive sampling were used for this study. Surveys with written instructions were administered in classrooms, libraries and online via Google Docs at the end of the semester.

The surveys were translated to Hebrew and back translated four times until sufficient translation was achieved. The research was approved by the Western Galilee College Research and Ethic Committee.

A sizeable percentage, 57.4% (366), of the respondents reported being cyber bullied at least once and 3.4% (22) reported being cyber bullied at least once a week. The types of bullies can be seen in Fig. 1 .

Types of bullies.

Three variables were found to have significant influences on the research variables: (1) gender (see Table 3 ); (2) religion (see Table 4 ); and (3) sexual preferences (see Table 5 ).

Results of independent t-tests for research variables by gender.

Note: n male = 127, n female = 510, *p < .05.

Results of independent t-tests for research variables by level of religion.

Note: n religious = 345, n secular = 293, ∗ p < .05, ∗∗ p < .01, ∗∗∗ p < .001.

Results of independent t-tests for research variables by sexual preference.

Note: n heterosexual = 596, n other = 42, ∗ p < .05, ∗∗ p < .01, ∗∗∗ p < .001.

Independent t-tests between the CAS variables and gender show significant differences between females and males (see Table 3 ).

Independent t-tests between the CAS variables and level of religiosity show significant differences between secular and religious persons, i.e., observant believers (see Table 4 ).

Independent t-tests between the CAS variables and sexual preference show significant differences between heterosexual individuals and others (see Table 5 ).

The research population was divided into three age groups having five year intervals. One respondent who was 14 years old was removed from the population.

For the variable “career problems” it was found that there was a significant difference between the 26–30 year age group [p < .05, F(2,5815) = 3.49, M = 56.55] and the 31–35 (M = 56.07) as well as the 20–25 (M = 54.58) age groups.

For the variable "depression" it was found that there was a significant difference between the 20–25 year age group [p < .05, F(2,5815) = 3.84, M = 54.56] and the 31–35 (M = 51.61) as well as the 26–30 (M = 52.83) age groups.

For the variable “interpersonal problems” it was found that there was a significant difference between the 20–25 year age group [p < .06, F(2,5815) = 3.84, M = 53.85] and the 31–35 (M = 51.29) as well as the 26–30 (M = 52.19) age groups.

For the variable “suicidal ideation” it was found that there was a significant difference between the 20–25 year age group [p < .06, F(2,5815) = 3.84, M = 55.45] and the 31–35 (M = 49.71) as well as the 26–30 (M = 50.13) age groups (see Table 6 ).

Results of one way Anova for research variables by age.

Note: n 20-25 = 216, n 26-30 = 287, n 31-35 = 82, ∗ p < .05, ∗∗ p < .01, ∗∗∗ p < .001.

To confirm that there was no effect among the independent variables, a Pearson correlation analysis of cyberbullying with CAS variables was run. As the correlations between the independent variables are weak, no multicollinearity between them was noted (see Table 7 ).

Pearson correlation of cyberbullying with CAS variables.

Note: n = 638, ∼ p < .06, ∗ p < .05, ∗∗ p < .01, ∗∗∗ p < .001.

Regression analyses on the effect of the cyberbullying variables on the CAS variables (see Fig. 2 ) show that an increase in cyberbullying by social networking and IM increases the academic problems variable. The model explained 6.1% of the variance (F (13,585) = 2.94, p < .001) and shows an increase in the suicidal ideation variable. There is also a marginal effect of cyberbullying by SMS on suicidal ideation, revealing that an increase in cyberbullying by SMS causes a decrease in suicidal ideation. The explained variance of the model is 24.8% (F (11,584) = 14.80, p < .001). Higher cyberbullying by social networking results in an increase in the anxiety variable. The explained variance of the model is 8.8% (F (13,584) = 4.32, p < .001). An increase in cyberbullying by chat and IM shows an increase in the substance abuse variable. The model explains 13% of the variance (F (13,584) = 6.71, p < .001). Increasing cyberbullying by social networking and IM increases the self-esteem problems variable. The explained variance of the model is 9% (F (13,584) = 4.43, p < .001). An increase of cyberbullying by email increases the problems students have with regular activities. The explained variance of the model is 5.2% (F (13,575) = 2.44, p < .01). Heightened cyberbullying by social networking and IM increases students' interpersonal problems. There is also an effect of cyberbullying by IM on suicidal ideation, such that an increase in cyberbullying by IM causes a decrease in interpersonal problems. The explained variance of the model is 8% (F (13,584) = 3.89, p < .001). An increase in cyberbullying by SMS decreases the family problems variable. The explained variance of the model is 11.4% (F (13,584) = 5.76, p < .001). And finally, heightened cyberbullying by IM and social networking decreases the depression variable. The variance explained by the model is 11.9% (F (13,584) = 6.04, p < .001).

The influence of academic cyberbullying variables on the CAS variables.

4. Discussion

The objective of this study was to fill an existing gap in the literature regarding the influence of cyberbullying on the academic, social, and emotional development of undergraduate students.

As has been presented, cyberbullying continues to be a disturbing trend not only among adolescents but also undergraduate students. Cyberbullying exists in colleges and universities, and it has an influence on the development of students. Fifty seven percent of the undergraduate students who participated in this study had experienced cyberbullying at least once during their time in college. As previous studies have found that cyberbullying incidents among college students can range from 9% to 50% ( Baldasare et al., 2012 ; Beebe, 2010 ) it seems that 57% is high. Considering the effect of smartphone abundance on one hand and on the other the increasing use of online services and activities by young-adults can explain that percentage.

Considering the effect of such an encounter on the academic, social and emotional development of undergraduate students, policy makers face a formidable task to address the relevant issues and to take corrective action as Myers and Cowie (2017) point out that due to the fact that universities are in the business of education, it is a fine balancing act between addressing the problem, in this case cyberbullying, and maintaining a duty of care to both the victim and the perpetrator to ensure they get their degrees. There is a clear tension for university authorities between acknowledging that university students are independent young adults, each responsible for his or her own actions, on one hand, and providing supervision and monitoring to ensure students' safety in educational and leisure contexts.

Although there are increasing reports on connections between cyberbullying and social-networks (see: Gahagan et al., 2016 ), sending SMS or MMS messages through Internet gateways ensures anonymity, thus indirectly supporting cyberbullying. A lot of websites require only login or a phone number that can also be made up ( Gálik et al., 2018 ) which can explain the fact that instant-messaging (IM) was found to be the most common means of cyberbullying among undergraduate students with a negative influence on academic, family, and emotional development (depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation). A possible interpretation of the higher frequency of cyberbullying through IM may be that young adults have a need to be connected.

This medium allows for being online in ‘real time’ with many peers or groups. With the possibility of remaining anonymous (by creating an avatar – a fake profile) and the possibility of exposing private information that remains recorded, students who use instant messaging become easy targets for cyberbullying. IM apps such as WhatsApp are extremely popular as they allow messages, photos, videos, and recordings to be shared and spread widely and in real time.

Students use the Internet as a medium and use it with great frequency in their everyday lives. As more aspects of students' lives and daily affairs are conducted online, coupled with the fact that excessive use may have consequences, it is important for researchers and academic policy makers to study the phenomenon of cyberbullying more deeply.

Sexual orientation is also a significant factor that increases the risk of victimization. Similarly, Rivers (2016) documented the rising incidence of homophobic and transphobic bullying at university and argues strongly for universities to be more active in promoting tolerance and inclusion on campus. It is worth noting that relationships and sexual orientation probably play a huge role in bullying among university students due to their age and the fact that the majority of students are away from home and experiencing different forms of relationships for the first time. Faucher et al. (2014) actually found that same sex cyberbullying was more common at university level than at school. Nonetheless, the research is just not there yet to make firm conclusions.

Finally, cyberbullying is not only an adolescent issue. Although its existence has been proven, studies of cyberbullying among undergraduate students have not been fully developed. This particular population needs special attention in future research.

The results of this study indicate that cyberbullying has an influence on the academic, social, and emotional development of undergraduate students.

In the academic field, findings revealed a statistically significant correlation between cyberbullying perpetrated by email and academic problems. Relationships between academic problems and cyberbullying perpetrated by other media were not found. This suggests that cyberbullying through instant messaging, chat room, text messaging, and social networking sites, have not influenced academic abilities, motivation to learn, and general satisfaction with the academic environment. However, cyberbullying perpetrated by email has an influence on academics, perhaps because of the high use of this medium among undergraduate students.

With regard to career problems, correlations with cyberbullying were not found. This indicates that cyberbullying has no influence on career problems, perhaps because these kinds of problems are related to future career inspirations, and not to the day-to-day aspects of a student's life.

In the social field, it was found that interpersonal problems such as integration into the social environment, forming a support network, and managing new social freedoms, were related to cyberbullying via social networking sites. This finding is consistent with the high use of social networking sites, the purpose of the medium, and the reported episodes of cyberbullying in that medium.

Family problems were also related to cyberbullying perpetrated by all kinds of media. This may indicate that as cyberbullying through the use of email, instant messaging, chat rooms, text messaging, and social networking sites increases, so do family problems. This could be due to the strong influence that cyberbullying generates in all the frameworks of students, including their families.

Finally, in the emotional field, correlations between cyberbullying perpetrated by all kinds of media and substance abuse were found. This may indicate that as cyberbullying through the use of email, instant messaging, chat rooms, text messaging, and social networking sites increases, so does substance abuse. This is important because cyberbullying may be another risk factor for increasing the probability of substance abuse.

Depression and suicidal ideation were significantly related to the same media – email instant messaging and chat cyberbullying – suggesting that depression may lead to a decision of suicide as a solution to the problem. Previous findings support the above that being an undergraduate student – a victim of cyberbullying emerges as an additional risk factor for the development of depressive symptoms ( Myers and Cowie, 2017 ). Also Selkie et al. (2015) reported among 265 female college students, being engaged in cyberbullying as bullies, victims, or both led to higher rates of depression and alcohol use.

Relationships between anxiety and cyberbullying, through all the media, were not found although Schenk and Fremouw (2012) found that college student victims of cyberbullying scored higher than matched controls on measures of depression, anxiety, phobic anxiety, and paranoia. This may be because it was demonstrated that anxiety is one of the most common reported mental health problems in all undergraduate students, cyberbullied or not.

Self-esteem problems were significantly related to cyberbullying via instant messaging, social networking sites, and text messaging. This may suggest that as cyberbullying through instant messaging, social networking sites, and text messaging increases, so do self-esteem problems. This is an important finding, given that these were the media with more reported episodes of cyberbullying.

5. Conclusions

This findings of this study revealed that cyberbullying exists in colleges and universities, and it has an influence on the academic, social, and emotional development of undergraduate students.

It was shown that cyberbullying is perpetrated through multiple electronic media such as email, instant messaging, chat rooms, text messaging, and social networking sites. Also, it was demonstrated that students exposed to cyberbullying experience academic problems, interpersonal problems, family problems, depression, substance abuse, suicidal ideation, and self-esteem problems.

Students have exhibited clear preferences towards using the Internet as a medium and utilize it with great frequency in their everyday lives. As more and more aspects of students' lives are conducted online, and with the knowledge that excessive use may have consequences for them, it is important to study the phenomenon of cyberbullying more deeply.

Because college students are preparing to enter the workforce, and several studies have indicated a trend of cyberbullying behavior and victimization throughout a person's lifetime ( Watts et al., 2017 ), the concern is these young adults are bringing these attitudes into the workplace.

Finally, cyberbullying is not only an adolescent issue. Given that studies of cyberbullying among undergraduate students are not fully developed, although existence of the phenomenon is proven, we conclude that the college and university population needs special attention in future areas of research. As it has been indicated by Peled et al. (2012) that firm policy in regard to academic cheating reduces its occurrence, colleges should draw clear guidelines to deal with the problem of cyberbullying, part of it should be a safe and if needed anonymous report system as well as clear punishing policy for perpetrators.

As there's very little research on the effect of cyberbullying on undergraduates students, especially in light of the availability of hand held devices (mainly smartphones) and the dependence on the internet for basically every and any activity, the additional data provided in this research adds to the understanding of the effect of cyberbullying on the welfare of undergraduate students.

Declarations

Author contribution statement.

Yehuda Peled: Conceived and designed the experiments; Performed the experiments; Analyzed and interpreted the data; Contributed reagents, materials, analysis tools or data; Wrote the paper.

Funding statement

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Competing interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Additional information

No additional information is available for this paper.

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

The effects of cyberbullying victimization on cyberbullying perpetration among chinese college students: callous-unemotional traits and the moderating role of internet morality.

• 1 Graduate School, People’s Public Security University of China, Beijing, China
• 2 Faculty of Criminology, People’s Public Security University of China, Beijing, China

Introduction: The Internet has triggered a series of online deviant behaviors, and cyberbullying is one of them. Cyberbullying victimization as a category of frustration and the aggression triggered by it has been confirmed by many studies. Previous studies have explored the relationship between cyberbullying victimization and cyberbullying perpetration. However, the boundary conditions of the two have yet to be sufficiently explored, and this article will further explore the moderating effect in the transformation mechanism.

Methods: The convenience sampling method was used to select a cumulative total of 668 students from university students of several universities in Beijing for the study, using questionnaires including Cyberbullying Victimization Questionnaire, Cyberbullying Perpetration Questionnaire, the Callous-unemotional Traits Scale, and Internet Morality Questionnaire.

Results: (1) Controlling for gender and grade, cyberbullying victimization has a positive relationship with cyberbullying perpetration. (2) Callous-unemotional traits moderated the relationship between cyberbullying victimization and perpetration. (3) Internet morality can moderate the relationship between cyberbullying victimization and perpetration. (4) Callous-unemotional traits and Internet morality can co-regulate the relationship between cyberbullying victimization and perpetration.

Conclusion: The results indicate that cyberbullying victimization had a significant positive relationship with cyberbullying perpetration, a process moderated by callous-unemotional traits and Internet morality.

1 Introduction

With the development of information and communication technology, more and more people have joined the “Internet army” for learning, working, and socializing. The virtual nature, anonymity, and even the arbitrariness of moral norms of the Internet have thus triggered a series of online deviant behaviors, and cyberbullying has a high incidence among Chinese Internet users ( Zhong et al., 2021 ). Adolescents are a susceptible group to cyberbullying ( Bauman et al., 2013 ). However, as one of the leading forces of Internet use ( China Internet Network Information Center [CINIC], 2023 ), college students in the youth group use the Internet much more frequently than primary and secondary school students. Suppose college students feel cyberbullying by outgroups when using social media. In that case, their emotional feelings will be rendered and incited by each other, which will lead to negative emotions such as aggrievement, anxiety, depression, and even self-harm or suicidal behaviors ( Iranzo et al., 2019 ). The study of college students’ cyberbullying has increasingly become a focus of attention for researchers in psychology ( Gosling and Mason, 2015 ). Kim and Lee (2023) point out that a person may be motivated to cyberbully another person due to being cyberbullied. In criminology, the process of reverse malignant transformation from victim to perpetrator, driven by lousy psychology, is called “evil reversal” ( Guo, 1997 ). The phenomenon of “evil reversal” also exists in cyberspace. This article intends to take cyberbullying victimization as the independent variable to explore the influence and mechanism of cyberbullying perpetration.

1.1 Cyberbullying victimization and cyberbullying perpetration

Cyberbullying perpetration is the intentional and repeated infliction of harm on another person via electronic media ( Patchin and Hinduja, 2006 ). According to the frustration-aggression hypothesis ( Gilbert and Bushman, 2020 ), frustration in life experiences can trigger various aggressive behaviors. Cyberbullying victimization as a category of frustration and the aggression triggered by it has been confirmed by many studies ( Zhu et al., 2019 ; Wang Q. Q. et al., 2020 ; Xia and Sha, 2021 ). A study on the effects of adolescent cyberbullying victimization on deviant behavior showed that cyberbullying victimization positively predicts deviant behavior ( Li et al., 2015 ; Wang Y. L. et al., 2020 ). Meanwhile, a meta-analysis on cyberbullying perpetration showed a positive correlation between cyberbullying victimization and cyberbullying perpetration ( Kowalski et al., 2014 ). It has also been shown that among adolescents, there is a joint trajectory between cyberbullying victimization and cyberbullying perpetration ( Camacho et al., 2023 ), and cyberbullying victimization can unidirectionally predict cyberbullying perpetration ( Wang, 2020 ). Previous studies have explored the relationship between cyberbullying victimization and cyberbullying perpetration. However, not all cyberbullying victims would become perpetrators, and the influence processes between them need to be further explored. This article will further explore the moderating effect of the transformation mechanism.

1.2 The moderating role of callous-unemotional traits

The general model of aggression states that aggression cannot occur without a combination of the individual and the environment ( Anderson and Bushman, 2002 ). This article will explore the moderating roles of personality dispositions and subjective norms in the predictive roles of cyberbullying victimization on cyberbullying perpetration from the individual’s perspective. As an essential input variable in individual factors, personality traits significantly predict aggressive behavior ( Anderson and Bushman, 2002 ). For instance, loneliness positively predicts cyberbullying victimization and cyberbullying perpetration ( Zhou et al., 2019 ). The callous-unemotional trait is a personality trait that treats others with indifference, lacks culpability and empathy, and is characterized by stability, severity, and ease of aggression ( Xiao et al., 2014 ). Most of the studies that have been conducted have used callous-unemotional traits as a predictor, such as being able to predict bullying behavior positively ( Zhang et al., 2023 ) and cyberbullying perpetration ( Fang and Wang, 2020 ). However, as a personality trait-like variable, the callous-unemotional traits are usually moderate. Some empirical studies have shown that callous-unemotional traits can effectively modulate the effects of adverse life experiences on college students’ consciences ( Wang et al., 2021 ). In addition, Fang Jie, a scholar in China, found in his study that callous-unemotional traits can mediate the relationship between childhood abuse and adolescent cyberbullying perpetration ( Fang et al., 2020 ). Childhood abuse and cyberbullying victimization are individual adverse life experiences, and based on this study, the callous-unemotional traits are likely to play a moderating role between cyberbullying victimization and cyberbullying perpetration.

1.3 The moderating role of Internet morality

Internet morality is the moral values and principles of behavior that guide and regulate an individual’s online activities, including cyber ethical perceptions, emotions, and intentions ( Ma and Lei, 2010 ). Previous studies have focused on moral excuses, such as the significant positive correlation between moral excuses and cyberbullying perpetration ( Fang and Wang, 2020 ). Cyberbullying victimization can indirectly act on actual aggressive behavior through moral excuses ( Xia and Sha, 2021 ). However, Internet morality belongs to the extension of traditional morality and has the role of subjective norms that can influence people’s behavior; in the network society, network morality can influence behavior ( Jiang, 2023 ). Greene et al. (2008) put forward the dual processing theory that rational and perceptual processing work together with the individual’s ethical choices. The openness and anonymity of the Internet make it easier for individuals subjected to cyberbullying victimization to deal with the problem by adopting emotional processing, which breeds cyberbullying perpetration behavior. Empirical studies have also shown that Internet morality moderates the effects of violent environments on aggressive behavior ( Jin et al., 2018 ) and the effect of pro-social behavior on cyber deviant behavior ( Ma and Lei, 2010 ). This points out that individuals with high Internet morality can constrain their behavior to be ethical in the face of undesirable situations. In contrast, individuals with low Internet morality may exhibit cyber deviant behaviors, such as cyberbullying perpetration.

1.4 The co-moderating effects of callous-unemotional traits and Internet morality

Bosnjak et al. (2020) proposed the theory of planned behavior, which points out the complexities of human behavior and the possible moderating role of attitudes and subjective norms. The callous-unemotional personality traits can influence an individual’s attitudes and emotional perceptions ( Xiao et al., 2014 ). In contrast, Internet morality is a unique form that reflects an individual’s subjective norms ( Ma and Lei, 2010 ). There are four scenarios in the pathway of cyberbullying victimization influenced by cyberbullying perpetration: low callous-unemotional traits high Internet morality, high callous-unemotional traits low Internet morality, low callous-unemotional traits low Internet morality, and high callous-unemotional high Internet morality. According to the Theory of Planned Behavior, individual attitudes and subjective norms can moderate individual behavior. Whether there is a joint moderating effect between the two still needs to be further explored.

To summarize, based on China’s unique national conditions, this study takes college students who are active users of the Internet in the youth group as the research object and explores whether there is the “evil inversion” phenomenon of cyberbullying victimization to cyberbullying perpetration in the Internet from the perspective of criminal psychology and in combination with the general attack model. At the same time, the theory of planned behavior was expanded to include attitudes and subjective norms as moderating variables of individual behavior, exploring the moderating role of callous-unemotional traits and Internet morality. The study flow is shown in Figure 1 . In total, the following hypotheses were formulated for this study:

Figure 1. Research flowchart.

H1: Cyberbullying victimization has a positive relationship with cyberbullying perpetration

H2: The callous-unemotional traits can moderate the relationship between cyberbullying victimization and cyberbullying perpetration

H3: Internet morality moderates the relationship between cyberbullying victimization and cyberbullying perpetration

H4: The callous-unemotional traits and Internet morality can jointly mediate the relationship between cyberbullying victimization and cyberbullying perpetration.

2 Materials and methods

2.1 participants and procedure.

The convenience sampling method was used to randomly select college students from several colleges and universities in Beijing as the study population. The Criminology Ethics Committee of the People’s Public Security University of China reviewed the study. The survey used an online questionnaire to obtain data. The link to the questionnaire was sent to the participants by the instructor of the course, and the participants completed the questionnaire independently. The first part of the questionnaire informed the subjects of the purpose of the study and assured them that personal information would be kept strictly confidential. According to the formula N = Z 2 × P (1 − P )/ E 2 , N is the sample size, Z is the statistic, P is the probability value, and E is the allowed error. In this study, Z = 1.96 [95% confidence interval (95% CI)], E = 0.05, and P = 0.86 ( Yang et al., 2022 ) give a required sample of no less than 185 subjects.

Therefore, in this study, 668 undergraduates from a university in Beijing were selected as the research subjects by convenience sampling method. The questionnaires were distributed through the online platform for administering the test, and a total of 633 valid questionnaires were obtained after removing invalid questionnaires, such as missing values in the data analysis and samples with answer times less than 60 s or greater than 600 s, with an effective recovery rate of 94.76%. Among them, the age range was 18–22, and the average age was 19.98 ± 1.24. The subjects were all non-rural college students with more than 1 year of exposure to the Internet. Statistics on specific demographic variables are shown in Table 1 .

Table 1. Demographic variables.

2.2 Measures

2.2.1 cyberbullying victimization.

We measured subjects’ level of cyberbullying victimization using the Cyberbullying Victimization Questionnaire ( Lei et al., 2015 ). This nine-question questionnaire investigates, in a single dimension, the frequency of whether subjects have been subjected to property bullying, abusive venting, harassment, cell phone harassment, stalking, stigmatization, camouflage, privacy dissemination, and ostracism in the Internet in the past 3 months in nine areas. A 5-point scale was used from 1 (none) to 5 (several times a week). The Chinese version of this questionnaire showed good applicability. The internal consistency reliability coefficient was 0.91. Validated factor analysis showed good construct validity of the scale (GFI = 0.99, CFI = 0.99, AGFI = 0.98, RMSEA = 0.056).

2.2.2 Cyberbullying perpetration

We used the revised Cyberbullying Perpetration Questionnaire ( Lei et al., 2015 ), which showed good applicability in Chinese college students. The questionnaire consisted of 7 questions and was scored on a 5-point Likert scale from 1 (never) to 5 (always). The alpha coefficient of the scale in this study was 0.92. Validated factor analysis showed good scale construct validity (GFI = 0.96, CFI = 0.98, AGFI = 0.95, RMSEA = 0.060).

2.2.3 The callous-unemotional traits

We used a revised version of the Callous-unemotional Traits Scale ( Liu, 2018 ). The Chinese version of the scale has shown good applicability in the Chinese college student population. The scale is categorized into three dimensions: coldness, indifference, and callousness, with 21 questions. A 4-point scale ranged from 0 (non-compliant) to 3 (fully compliant). The alpha coefficient of the scale in this study was 0.72. Validated factor analysis showed good construct validity of the scale (GFI = 0.94, CFI = 0.95, AGFI = 0.93, RMSEA = 0.036).

2.2.4 Internet morality

The Internet Morality Questionnaire was developed by Luo (2007) , which includes four dimensions with a total of nine questions, namely, Internet morality Cognition, Internet morality Emotions, Internet morality Evaluation, and Internet morality Behavior, and scored on a 7-point scale ranging from −3 (totally disagree) to 3 (totally agree). The questionnaire was tested and shown to apply to the Chinese college student population. Validated factor analysis showed good construct validity of the scale (GFI = 0.97, CFI = 0.96, AGFI = 0.95, RMSEA = 0.053).

2.3 Data analysis

In this study, SPSS 26.0 was used for data entry and processing. Firstly, the Harman single-factor test was used for common method bias. Secondly, descriptive statistics were performed for the four variables, and the reliability of the scales was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient to assess the reliability of the scales. Partial correlation coefficients were calculated to test the relationship between the variables. In addition, covariance diagnostics were performed to confirm the absence of multicollinearity between variables and conformity to normal distribution. Finally, Hayes’s (2017) Process macro was used to test for moderating effects.

3.1 Common method bias

This study was examined using the Harman single-factor test ( Zhou and Long, 2004 ), and the results showed 13 factors with eigenvalues greater than 1. The variation explained by the first factor was 19.44%, less than the critical criterion of 40%, indicating no significant standard method bias in this study.

3.2 Mean number, standard deviation, and correlation analysis of variables

Table 2 presents the results of the descriptive statistics and correlation analysis in this study. The results indicated (as shown in Table 2 ) that cyberbullying victimization was significantly and positively correlated with cyberbullying perpetration and callous-unemotional traits; cyberbullying perpetration was significantly and positively correlated with callous-unemotional traits. The correlation between Internet morality and other variables was not significant.

Table 2. Mean number, standard deviation, and correlation analysis of variables.

3.3 The role of cyberbullying victimization in predicting cyberbullying perpetration

The study demonstrates that the direct predictive effect of traditional bullying on cyberbullying perpetration is moderated by gender, with the predictive effect being significant among boys and not among girls ( Zhu et al., 2019 ; Leban and Gibson, 2020 ). Meanwhile, age was correlated with both cyberbullying perpetration and cyberbullying victimization ( Xie et al., 2022 ). Therefore, in order to further verify the relationship between cyberbullying victimization and cyberbullying perpetration, regression analysis was conducted controlling for gender and grade, and the analysis results are shown in Table 3 . After controlling for gender and grade variables, cyberbullying victimization had a significant positive relationship with cyberbullying perpetration (β = 0.94, t = 69.54, p < 0.001), verifying Hypothesis 1. This suggests that after excluding other possible influences, there is still a positive relationship between cyberbullying victimization and perpetration, but what factors will be moderated still needs to be further explored.

Table 3. The relationship of cyberbullying perpetration with cyberbullying victimization.

3.4 Moderating effects test

3.4.1 callous-unemotional traits and the test of internet morality moderating effect.

Process macros (Model 1) were used to test the moderating role of callous-unemotional traits and Internet morality in the optimistic relationship of cyberbullying perpetration behavior by cyberbullying victimization, respectively. In order to reduce the effect of multicollinearity among variables, each variable was standardized before entering the regression analysis, and the results are shown in Table 4 , where the dependent variables of Model 1 ∼ Model 4 were all cyberbullying perpetration.

Table 4. Callous-unemotional traits and Internet morality moderating affect test results.

Model 1 and Model 2 show the results of the moderating effect test for the callous-unemotional traits. The data showed that cyberbullying victimization was a significant positive predictor of cyberbullying perpetration after controlling for gender and grade (β = 0.30, t = 2.30, p < 0.001), which further verified Hypothesis 1: the interaction term between the callous-unemotional traits and cyberbullying victimization had a significant positive effect on cyberbullying perpetration (β = 0.82, t = 4.70, p < 0.001), suggesting that the moderating effect of the callous-unemotional traits was significant, and Hypothesis 2 was verified. Model 3 and Model 4 show the test results of the moderating effect of Internet morality. The data show that cyberbullying victimization has a significant positive effect on cyberbullying perpetration (β = 0.67, t = 7.38, p < 0.001); the interaction term between cyberbullying victimization and Internet morality has a significant positive effect on cyberbullying perpetration (β = 0.31, t = 3.00, p < 0.001), which indicates that the moderating effect of Internet morality is significant, and Hypothesis 3 is verified.

The above findings suggest that callous-unemotional traits and Internet morality can play a moderating role in the relationship between cyberbullying and cyberbullying. To further explore how these two variables play a role in the relationship between cyberbullying victimization and perpetration, simple slope analyses were conducted to differentiate between high and low levels by adding or subtracting 1 SD from the mean.

Table 5 and Figure 2 show that cyberbullying victimization positively predicted cyberbullying perpetration in both the high callous-unemotional traits group [ Simple slope = 0.76, p < 0.001, 95% bootstrap CI (0.93, 0.99)] and the low callous-unemotional traits group [ Simple slope = 0.58, p < 0.001, 95% bootstrap CI (0.56, 0.78)] and that the high callous-unemotional traits group had a more substantial positive predictive effect, further validating Hypothesis 2. Compared to Internet users with low callous-unemotional traits, Internet users with high callous-unemotional traits are likely to adopt more serious cyberbullying behaviors after being cyberbullied. Table 6 and Figure 3 show that cyberbullying victimization positively predicted cyberbullying perpetration in both the high Internet morality group [ Simple slope = 0.67, p < 0.001, 95% bootstrap CI (0.95, 1.02)] and the low Internet morality group [ Simple slope = 0.51, p < 0.001, 95% bootstrap CI (0.76, 0.92)] and that the high Internet morality group had a more substantial positive predictive effect as the degree of cyberbullying victimization increased, further validating Hypothesis 3. Internet users with high Internet morality are more likely to bully others after being bullied online than those with low Internet morality.

Table 5. Simple slope analysis of the callous-unemotional traits.

Table 6. Simple slope analysis of Internet morality.

Figure 2. Moderating role of the callous-unemotional traits between cyberbullying victimization and cyberbullying perpetration.

Figure 3. The moderating role of Internet morality between cyberbullying victimization and cyberbullying perpetration.

3.4.2 A test of the co-regulatory effect of the callous-unemotional traits and Internet morality

Stratified regression was used to test the co-moderating effect of the callous-unemotional traits and Internet morality on the relationship between cyberbullying victimization and cyberbullying perpetration ( Wang Y. L. et al., 2020 ). The results ( Table 7 ) showed that the triple interaction term was a significant positive predictor of cyberbullying perpetration (β = 0.59, t = 2.95, p < 0.05) after controlling the variables for gender and grade, which led to the conclusion that callous-unemotional traits and Internet morality play a co-moderating role in cyberbullying victimization’s optimistic relationship of cyberbullying perpetration, verifying Hypothesis 4.

Table 7. Results of the test of the co-moderating effect of the callous-unemotional traits and Internet morality.

A simple slope test was used to further explore the co-moderating role of callous-unemotional traits and Internet morality in the effect of cyberbullying victimization on cyberbullying perpetration, and the moderating effect plot is shown in Figure 4 . According to the level, the group was categorized into low callous-unemotional traits and high Internet morality group ( Simple slope = 0.43, p < 0.001), high callous-unemotional traits and low Internet morality group ( Simple slope = 0.83, p < 0.001), low callous-unemotional traits and low Internet morality group ( Simple slope = 0.39, p < 0.001), and high callous-unemotional traits and high Internet morality group ( Simple slope = 0.76, p < 0.001). As can be seen from the figure, cyberbullying victimization has a significant positive relationship with cyberbullying perpetration at all four levels, and cyberbullying victimization has the most substantial positive relationship with cyberbullying perpetration at the high callous-unemotional traits at the low Internet morality level. This suggests that high callous-unemotional traits and low Internet morality are essential factors influencing the relationship between cyberbullying victimization and perpetration, and it has important implications for our future targeted recommendations.

Figure 4. Co-moderating role of the callous-unemotional traits and Internet morality between cyberbullying victimization and cyberbullying perpetration.

4 Discussion

This study examined the moderating role of callous-unemotional traits and Internet morality in the relationship between cyberbullying victimization and perpetration. The study showed that cyberbullying victimization was a significant positive predictor of cyberbullying perpetration, controlling for gender and grade level. Whereas callous-unemotional traits and Internet morality not only played a moderating role in it separately but could also co-moderate the relationship between cyberbullying victimization and cyberbullying perpetration, the co-moderating effect was more substantial for low callous-unemotional traits and high Internet morality.

4.1 The impact of cyberbullying victimization on cyberbullying perpetration

The results indicated that cyberbullying victimization positively predicted cyberbullying perpetration, controlling for gender and grade variables, consistent with previous research findings ( Kowalski et al., 2014 ; Wang, 2020 ; Zhang et al., 2022 ; Kim and Lee, 2023 ). The phenomenon of “evil reversal,” in which Internet users transform from bullied groups to bullies in cyberspace, is also verified. Agnew’s (1992) Social Learning Theory points out that aggressive behavior can be learned through external stimulation like other societal behaviors. Cyberbullying victimization is an extension of traditional bullying behavior ( Wang, 2020 ). Through the learning of cyberbullying perpetration, Internet users in the context of cyberbullying victimization produced “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.”

Meanwhile, in frustration-induced aggression, the smaller the punishment expected by the aggressor, the greater the likelihood of practicing the aggressive behavior ( Gilbert and Bushman, 2020 ). The anonymity of the Internet makes it less costly for Internet users to interact with each other, with little time and space constraints. It reduces the expected cost of punishment ( Zhang et al., 2021 ), exacerbating the shift from cyberbullying victimization to cyberbullying perpetration.

4.2 The moderating role of callous-unemotional traits and Internet morality

4.2.1 the moderating role of callous-unemotional traits.

The callous-unemotional trait is a personality tendency that predisposes to violent crime, and people with the callous-unemotional traits are more aggressive and prone to antisocial behavior ( Xiao et al., 2014 ). The present study shows that the callous-unemotional traits moderate the positive predictive effect of cyberbullying victimization on cyberbullying perpetration. This result suggests that callous-unemotional personality traits can exacerbate the shift from cyberbullying victimization to cyberbullying perpetration, validating the general attack model. In discussing the effects of the callous-unemotional traits on juvenile violent offenders, Yang and Huang (2013) emphasized that the callous-unemotional traits have a positive predictive effect on premeditated sexual violence. Liu (2018) also showed that the callous-unemotional traits did not predict reactive aggression in her revision and initial application of the Callous-unemotional Traits Scale. The cyberbullying perpetration behavior in this study was influenced by cyberbullying victimization. It was impulsive violence or reactive aggression, in which the role of the callous-unemotional traits was inconsistent with previous studies. This may be because the present study used the callous-unemotional traits as a moderating variable, which acted in conjunction with the interaction term for cyberbullying perpetration. In addition, the low cost of engaging in aggression in the online environment facilitates the aggressive behavior of Internet users with highly callous-unemotional. Although the callous-unemotional traits have strong stability and genetic likelihood ( Xiao et al., 2014 ), with the depth of research, some scholars have found that environmental factors are also able to influence the changes in the level of the callous-unemotional traits ( Frick and White, 2008 ). This suggests that in the future, we can avoid the phenomenon of online “evil reversal” by influencing the callous-unemotional traits of Internet users.

4.2.2 The moderating role of Internet morality

Internet morality is an extraordinary internal norm, a code of conduct for online social relationships ( Luo, 2007 ). This study found that Internet morality significantly moderates the relationship between cyberbullying victimization and cyberbullying perpetration among Internet users. Internet morality and real-society morality are universal and particular, and behavior on the Internet will be naturally influenced by morality on the Internet. An individual’s level of Internet morality can influence the formation of cyberbullying perpetration. The analysis of the moderating effect of Internet morality shows that high Internet morality can inhibit the transition from cyberbullying victimization to cyberbullying perpetration behavior when subjected to less cyberbullying perpetration, which is consistent with the results of existing studies ( Jin et al., 2018 ). However, as the level of cyberbullying victimization increases, individuals with high Internet morality instead have a more substantial moderating effect on the transformation of cyberbullying victimization to cyberbullying perpetration, which may be because Internet morality consists of the four dimensions of moral cognition, moral emotion, moral evaluation, and moral behavior ( Luo, 2007 ) while being cyberbullied may have multiple effects on the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral dimensions of the bullied individual ( Xiao et al., 2022 ), and the mediating effects of the various dimensions of Internet morality in it can be explored in the future.

4.2.3 Co-moderating effects of callous-unemotional traits and Internet morality

In the mechanism by which cyberbullying victimization affects cyberbullying perpetration, callous-unemotional and Internet morality regulate the relationship between the two and play a co-regulatory role. In the process of “evil reversal,” the victim cannot get timely and effective help after being violated, falls into a negative psychological state, and produces a malignant transformation of psychology and behavior under the joint action of multiple factors of oneself and the environment ( Guo, 1997 ). As for the “evil reversal” in the network, this study, based on the Theory of Planned Behavior, confirms that callous-unemotional as a personality trait and Internet morality as a reflection of individual subjective norms can jointly influence the formation of cyberbullying penetration. The results of the simple slope test show that under the level of high callous-unemotional and low Internet morality, cyberbullying victimization is the most significant positive predictor of cyberbullying perpetration, and low callous-unemotional and high Internet morality can effectively inhibit the transformation of cyberbullying victimization to cyberbullying perpetration, which is consistent with the results of existing studies ( Jin et al., 2018 ; Wang et al., 2021 ; Zhang et al., 2023 ). In addition, moral excuses theory states that moral excuses are correlated with the emergence of aggressive behavior ( Bandura, 2014 ). On the one hand, moral shirking can be affected by individual personality traits, and individuals high in callous-unemotional traits have difficulty distinguishing between moral violations and customary violations and are more likely to act in a way that harms others ( Wang et al., 2021 ). On the other hand, individuals high in Internet morality can rationally analyze the possible adverse consequences of aggressive behaviors, inhibiting cognition and preventing aggressive behaviors ( Jin et al., 2018 ). The effect of the two of them on aggressive behavior is consistent with the results of this study, which validates the theory of moral excuses.

4.3 Research implication

This study has the following innovations. Theoretically, the study starts from the criminological phenomenon of “evil reversal,” confirms the phenomenon of vicious transition from cyberbullying victimization to cyberbullying perpetration on the Internet, and verifies the moderating role of callous-unemotional and Internet morality, which provides a new research perspective for criminal psychology. Meanwhile, previous studies have mainly studied the callous-unemotional traits as a mediating variable, ignoring the fact that personality traits are also an important moderating variable, based on which the present study confirms that the callous-unemotional traits can play a moderating role in the relationship between cyberbullying victimization positively predicting cyberbullying perpetration.

In practice, the findings confirm, cyberbullying victimization has a positive relationship with cyberbullying perpetration. In order to effectively avoid vicious transformations, the speech of Internet users can be regulated by implementing a real-name system for online communities and strengthening accountability. At the same time, it is recommended that Internet platforms establish an early warning and monitoring system to protect the health of the Internet ecosystem. On the other hand, the study also confirm that either low callous-unemotional traits or high Internet morality are a protective factor that prevents cyberbullying victimization from shifting to cyberbullying perpetration, which provides a reference for future interventions in the cyber “evil reversal” process. For the problem of cold-hearted traits predisposing college students to emotional processing difficulties, Lochman and Wells (2004) proposed the Coping Power Program to manage anger, which includes controlling the degree of arousal to provocation, correcting hostile attributional biases, and practicing anger management. Therefore, we can alleviate the emotional processing deficits of college students’ cold-hearted traits by incorporating a coping power program into their daily Internet use. It also suggests that the cyberbully may be the last cyberbullied person, and the cyberbullied person may be the next. It makes cyberbullying spread, which in turn leads to a ring of more severe consequences. Teachers and parents should strengthen the education of adolescents’ moral cognition, promote their correct understanding of moral phenomena and behaviors on the Internet, and cultivate their positive cyber moral intention to effectively avoid the vicious transformation from cyberbullying victimization to cyberbullying perpetration, and especially for young people who have been subjected to cyberbullying, help them realize that cyberbullying is inherently wrong.

4.4 Limitations and further work

This study also has specific areas for improvement. Firstly, in terms of sample selection, scholars Velicer and Fava (1998) found that in exploratory factor analysis, the number of samples is an essential variable in determining a good model. While the sample of this study is limited, and all of them are urban college students, the sample could be more representative. In the future, the relationship between cyberbullying victimization and cyberbullying perpetration can be further explored by increasing the sample of subjects. Secondly, the use of cross-sectional studies has some limitations in explaining the intrinsic causal relationship, and longitudinal studies need to be used in the future to explore the mechanism of the transition from cyberbullying victimization to cyberbullying perpetration. In the selection of variables, Olweus (2012) confirms the correlation between cyberbullying and traditional bullying, that cyberbullying was not a significant predictor of self-esteem after controlling for the effects of traditional bullying. However, some studies have also confirmed that cyberbullying can positively predict deviant behavior even after controlling for traditional bullying ( Li et al., 2015 ). Meanwhile, it is worth exploring whether there is a bidirectional role between cyberbullying and cyberbullying. In the future, a comparative study between traditional and cyberbullying and bullied behaviors can be conducted to improve the cyclic processing model of bullying continuously. In terms of transformational mechanisms, this study focuses on the moderating role of individual personality traits and subjective norms on aggressive behavior. However, there may be other moderating variables from an individual’s perspective—self-control ( Li et al., 2015 ), gender ( Zhu et al., 2019 ), emotion regulation strategies ( Wang, 2020 ), and so on. At the same time, environmental input variables can alter an individual’s cognition and emotions, affecting behavioral intentions and thus leading to aberrant behavior ( Anderson and Bushman, 2002 ). For example, in a study on the effects of parental head-down behavior on adolescent cyberbullying and bullying, it was shown that adolescent parent-child intimacy and internalization problems jointly affect cyberbullying, cyberbullying under the effect of parental head-down behavior ( Liu and Chen, 2023 ). Environmental factors such as poor peer relationships ( Eisenhut et al., 2023 ) and parenting styles ( Zhang and Zhu, 2023 ) can be added to future studies for research. Finally, this study only confirms the existence of the phenomenon of cyberbullying to cyberbullying in cyberspace. In the future, we can also propose targeted measures from the perspective of criminal psychology to guide practice with theory better.

5 Conclusion

The following conclusions were obtained in this study: (1) controlling for gender and grade, cyberbullying victimization has a positive relationship with cyberbullying perpetration; (2) callous-unemotional traits can modulate the relationship between cyberbullying victimization and cyberbullying perpetration, and cyberbullying victimization has a more substantial positive relationship on cyberbullying perpetration at high callous-unemotional traits; (3) Internet morality can modulate the relationship between cyberbullying victimization and cyberbullying perpetration, and as the level of cyberbullying victimization increases, high Internet morality has a more substantial moderating effect; (4) callous-unemotional and Internet morality can co-regulate the relationship between cyberbullying victimization and cyberbullying perpetration, with a more substantial co-regulatory effect for low callous-unemotional traits high Internet morality.

Data availability statement

The original contributions presented in this study are included in the article/supplementary material, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.

Ethics statement

The studies involving humans were approved by the Criminology Ethics Committee of the People’s Public Security University of China. The studies were conducted in accordance with the local legislation and institutional requirements. The participants provided their written informed consent to participate in this study.

Author contributions

WZ: Writing – original draft. JS: Writing – review & editing.

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. Specialized Dual-First-Class Innovative Research funded this research in Criminology at the People’s Public Security University of China (2023SYL03).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher’s note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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Keywords : cyberbullying victimization, cyberbullying perpetration, callous-unemotional traits, Internet morality, co-moderating

Citation: Zhang W and Sha J (2024) The effects of cyberbullying victimization on cyberbullying perpetration among Chinese college students: callous-unemotional traits and the moderating role of Internet morality. Front. Psychol. 15:1326237. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1326237

Received: 23 October 2023; Accepted: 18 March 2024; Published: 03 April 2024.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2024 Zhang and Sha. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Jingying Sha, [email protected]

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Essay on Cyber Bullying

In the digital era, the internet and social media have transformed how we communicate, but they have also given rise to a sinister phenomenon: cyber bullying. This essay aims to dissect the issue of cyber bullying, exploring its definition, manifestations, impacts, and potential solutions, providing a comprehensive understanding for students engaging in essay writing competitions.

Cyber Bullying

Cyber Bullying is the use of electronic communication to bully a person, typically by sending messages of an intimidating or threatening nature. Unlike traditional bullying, cyber bullying allows the perpetrator to hide behind a screen, often making them bolder in their actions and words.

The Scope and Manifestations

Cyber bullying can take many forms:

• Harassing Messages : Sending threatening or abusive texts or emails.
• Social Media Bullying : Spreading rumors or posting hurtful comments on social platforms.
• Impersonation : Creating fake profiles to ridicule or defame someone.
• Cyberstalking : Repeatedly sending messages that include threats of harm or are highly intimidating.
• Sharing Private Information : Distributing someone’s personal information without consent, often to embarrass or threaten them.

Prevalence and Statistics

The prevalence of cyber bullying is alarming. Studies suggest that a significant percentage of young people have experienced cyber bullying at some point. The anonymity of the internet, the ease of spreading information, and the 24/7 nature of digital media contribute to its increasing incidence.

Impact on Victims

The effects of cyber bullying can be devastating and long-lasting:

• Emotional Trauma : Victims may experience anxiety, depression, and a sense of isolation.
• Social Withdrawal : Fear of bullying can lead to avoiding social interactions both online and offline.
• Academic Impact : It can lead to a decline in academic performance and school avoidance.
• Physical Health : Chronic stress from bullying can manifest in physical health issues.
• Suicidal Ideation : In extreme cases, prolonged cyber bullying can lead to suicidal thoughts or actions.

The Psychology Behind Cyber Bullying

Understanding the mindset of cyber bullies is crucial:

• Anonymity : The internet provides a veil of anonymity, emboldening individuals who might not engage in bullying offline.
• Lack of Empathy : The digital barrier can desensitize individuals to the consequences of their actions.
• Power Dynamics : Some engage in cyber bullying to exert power or control over others.

Legal and Ethical Considerations

Cyber bullying raises several legal and ethical issues:

Legal Considerations:

• Criminal Offense: In many jurisdictions, cyberbullying is considered a criminal offense, especially when it involves harassment, threats, or stalking online. Perpetrators can face charges such as harassment, cyberstalking, or even hate crimes in extreme cases.
• Age Restrictions: Laws often address cyberbullying differently for minors and adults. Special regulations, such as those under cyberbullying laws for minors, may apply to protect young victims or impose age-appropriate consequences on young offenders.
• Cyberbullying Legislation: Some regions have specific cyberbullying legislation that outlines legal consequences for offenders. For example, the United States has laws like “Grace’s Law” in Maryland, targeting cyberbullying.
• School Policies: Educational institutions often have policies in place to address cyberbullying among students. These policies may involve disciplinary actions or even expulsion in severe cases.
• Cyber Harassment Laws: Many jurisdictions have laws against cyber harassment, which encompass various forms of online abuse, including cyberbullying.

Ethical Considerations:

• Respect for Privacy: Ethical considerations emphasize the importance of respecting individuals’ privacy and not engaging in invasive or harmful online behavior.
• Digital Empathy: Practicing digital empathy involves being mindful of the impact of one’s online actions on others and promoting online kindness and respect.
• Cyberbullying Prevention: Ethical obligations include actively working to prevent cyberbullying, either by intervening as a bystander or reporting abusive behavior.
• Media Literacy: Promoting media literacy and critical thinking skills helps individuals discern between credible sources and misinformation, reducing the spread of harmful content.
• Online Accountability: Ethical behavior online includes taking responsibility for one’s actions, acknowledging mistakes, and making amends when necessary.
• Creating Safe Online Spaces: Ethical considerations call for the creation and maintenance of safe, inclusive online spaces where individuals can express themselves without fear of harassment.
• Educational Initiatives: Ethical efforts involve educating individuals, particularly young people, about the consequences of cyberbullying and promoting ethical online behavior.
• Supporting Victims: Ethical obligations extend to providing support and assistance to cyberbullying victims, ensuring they receive the help they need to cope with the emotional impact.

Role of Education and Awareness

Combatting cyber bullying requires a multifaceted approach:

• Awareness Campaigns : Educating young people about the harms of cyber bullying and promoting digital citizenship.
• Parental Involvement : Parents should be aware of their children’s online activities and foster open communication.
• School Policies : Implementing clear policies and programs in schools to address and prevent cyber bullying.

Technological Interventions

Technology can be part of the solution:

• Monitoring Tools : Software that can monitor online activities and flag potential bullying behavior.
• Reporting Mechanisms : Social media platforms should have easy and effective ways to report bullying.

Personal and Social Strategies

Individuals can take steps to protect themselves and others:

• Cyber Hygiene : Practicing safe online behavior, like keeping personal information private.
• Support Networks : Building a support network of friends, family, and counselors.
• Bystander Intervention : Encouraging those who witness cyber bullying to speak up or report it.

In conclusion, crafting an essay on cyberbullying requires a nuanced approach, combining research, empathy, and ethical awareness. This guide has offered valuable insights and tips to assist students in addressing this pressing issue effectively. By understanding its definition, impact, and prevention strategies, writers can create essays that raise awareness, promote empathy, and contribute to the ongoing fight against cyberbullying.

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Essays About Cyberbullying: Top 5 Examples and Prompts

Cyberbullying is a serious issue; if you’re writing essays about cyberbullying, these examples should give you inspiration for your assignment.

Cyberbullying is the public harassment, intimidation, and humiliation of others over the internet. It could include posting, sending, or streaming negative content to hurt and ridicule someone. 

With the internet’s power to spread information like wildfire to millions of netizens, coupled with its anonymity that empowers people to say things they wouldn’t otherwise say in person, cyberbullying has created alarming negative effects such as broad mistrust in the online space, a range of mental health issues and increasing suicide incidents.

Cyberbullying is a relevant subject as more people spend their time online. As a result, several institutions and groups have been stepping up efforts to combat bullying on multiple fronts. Here are a few essay examples on bullying: 

1. Support for Cyberbullying Victims Should Start at School by Ben Jackson

2. cancel culture: just another form of bullying by drm, 3. what is cyberbullying and how does it impact work productivity by georgi mamajanyan, 4. bullying, suicide, punishment by john schwartz, 5. can this technology put an end to bullying by sarah griffiths, 10 prompts on essays about cyberbullying, 1. how are cyberbullies made, 2. what are the effects of cyberbullying, 3. do existing laws respond to cyberbullying, 4. when does a joke go too far , 5. how can parent protect their kids from cyberbullying, 6. how can victims stand up against a cyberbully, 7. policy recommendations to counter cyberbullying. , 8. how to prevent cyberbullying victim suicide , 9. privacy settings, why they matter, 10. cyberbullying prevention programs .

“Bullying will always exist in one form or another. Instead of calling for websites to be deleted, let’s modernize our schools so they meet the needs of their pupils.” 

The student-author – himself a victim of bullying – raises concerns on how cyberbullying has become a more dangerous form of bullying, with its ubiquity online and, therefore, seeming inescapability. However, instead of lobbying for take-downs of harmful websites, which could be instantly replaced, Jackson calls for more proactive policies at school that could sufficiently stamp out the culture of bullying. You may also like these essays about cyber crime .

“Their cause may indeed be right and just; we’re not talking about the issues of outrage in this article. What we are talking about is whether or not calling-out individuals online is really social activism, or whether it’s just cyberbullying.”

Cancel culture is publicly calling out someone for a misdeed or misaligned morals or social behavior with the intent to change society for the better. DRM says that social media has “exponentially amplified” cancel or outrage culture, with the “canceled” facing the consequences as grave as a job layoff. However, the author does not see public humiliation effectively driving social change but only promoting a new form of cyberbullying. You might be interested in these articles about racism in schools .

“As workplace cyberbullying is a relatively new area of bullying, there isn’t a significant amount of research and clear data available around the topic. However, there is enough evidence of cyberbullying impacting the performance of employees in the long run​​.”

Cyberbullying threatens workplace productivity, and several companies are doubling down on anti-cyberbullying efforts. The author suggests a list of measures a company can adopt to be more capable of preventing and handling cyberbullying cases.  

“What should the punishment be for acts like cyberbullying and online humiliation? That question is as difficult to answer as how to integrate our values with all the things in our lives made of bits, balancing a right to privacy with the urge to text, tweet, stream and post.”

The writer recounts recent cases of cyberbullying that end in suicide and finds that state statutes “seem ill-fit” to give justice to these lives lost. Through interviews with lawyers and cybersecurity experts, Schwartz finds that imposing a harsher punishment against cyberbullying remains restrained by considerations of personal responsibility and constitutional freedoms. 

“Bullying can cast a dark shadow over people’s lives and leave permanent scars, but artificial intelligence may provide new ways of stamping our harassment and discrimination.”

Griffiths shows how artificial intelligence (AI) offers promising results in actively detecting and taking down bullying content online. The author dives into the efforts social media giants are taking to expand their platforms’ AI features to more accurately filter harmful content and even attempt to interpret suicidal signals.

To help narrow down your topic choices, here is a list of prompts with suggestions on how you could build your story:

Research has found that some bullies are victims of abuse and emotional trauma. But of course, no one’s hurt is a justification for bad behavior, significantly if it harms others. Find the latest research studies that dwell on factors that make a bully. Examine how the internet stimulates their urge to embarrass other people at the expense of “looking good.”

Victims of cyberbullying could develop anxiety, depression, and other stress-related illnesses. It would be great to interview cyberbullying victims for this essay. Allowing them to talk about their struggles could also empower them. Ask them what forms of support they think should be available in the future in schools or offices and how other victims can be encouraged to speak out.  

Examine existing anti-cyberbullying laws in your state and weigh in on how much people are satisfied or dissatisfied with them. Then, discuss ongoing proposals to amend these laws, if any, and find a state to compare them against – preferably one with laws touted to be a model for institutionalizing effective measures against online bullying. 

This is the digital counterpart of the question, “When does teasing become bullying?” Sharing a funny post about someone could be harmless and even nurture friendships. Dive deep into the fine lines that make online activities abusive. Are they frequent? Are they making other people look bad? Provide more questions that people can ask themselves to assess the situation better. 

You can also expand this by providing psychology experts’ tips on how to stop “playful” teasing kids from becoming full-blown bullies.

Kids are highly susceptible to cyberbullying. Everywhere, governments and non-profit organizations have been launching campaigns to support parents in setting up tech boundaries for their kids. Lay down these recommendations and discuss how each one can be effective. If you want to go the extra mile, interview some parents and find out what they are doing to enable their children to protect and defend themselves from online shamers. 

The bystander effect can further perpetuate the culture of bullying. Discuss the importance of encouraging victims to hold bullies accountable. Provide a step-by-step guide on the proper reporting of a cyberbullying incident either at school or directly via online platforms. Help them know what pieces of evidence they should gather that would suffice to take down posts. You may encourage them to get involved in campaigns and use their horrible experience to further anti-cyberbullying advocacy.

Research emerging policy recommendations to counter cyberbullying and enumerate how they can effectively weed out cyberbullies. Discuss how they are making headway in the legislative agenda and share your thoughts about them. Why do you think these bills are urgent and should be prioritized as urgent? 

To focus on policies protecting victims, you may want to navigate how the healthcare system responds to their mental health needs. 

You can explore how suicide helplines support cyberbullying victims. Gather data to see how many of their callers are cyberbullying victims and if there is an upward trend over the years.

Aside from helplines, what can family members and friends do to reach out to someone who may be suffering from online shaming? This is a challenge as most victims are too scared to go into the details of the incident, let alone mention it. Research what psychology experts say and build on their recommendations to encourage families, friends, and the larger society to take action. 

The most common cyberbullying tactic is the sharing of photos and posts online that are spread and made fun of. Suppressing the supply of personal information, photos, and videos that reach bullies is an excellent tactic to keep cyberbullying at bay. Lay down tips that could help people set up their privacy settings for protection. You can even discuss tips specific to social media platforms, given their different security vulnerabilities.  

Describe the programs and initiatives at your school, company, or community to combat cyberbullying. How are they cultivating awareness and enabling you to protect yourself in the digital space better? Interview relevant resource persons about the plans to continue stamping out power imbalances across the organization.

If you’re looking for more ideas, check out our essays about bullying . You might find an interesting topic that also relates to cyberbullying. 

Once you’ve found an exciting prompt to work on, check out our essay writing tips to ensure your essay will be understandable and impressively analytical. 

Yna Lim is a communications specialist currently focused on policy advocacy. In her eight years of writing, she has been exposed to a variety of topics, including cryptocurrency, web hosting, agriculture, marketing, intellectual property, data privacy and international trade. A former journalist in one of the top business papers in the Philippines, Yna is currently pursuing her master's degree in economics and business.

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• Cyberbullying Essays

Cyber Bullying: preventing and responding to cyberbullying Essay

“If you bully somebody face to face, and they get upset, you see them cry and be hurt. When it’s over the Internet, you can’t see the emotional reaction and go along thinking it’s no big deal.”

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Dr. Robin Kowalski

The advent of technology which has brought about the development of a whole new e-world aka, the Digital Age characterized by blogs, social networking sites and instant messaging, have significantly transformed the manner in which we communicate, yet threatened the very social fabric of our societies by posing unique challenges – cyber bullying being one of them. Cyber bullying is one of the fastest growing trends in the field of cyber crimes among teens, in recent times, and often leads to disastrous consequences for the victims ranging from long term psychological damage to physical and emotional distress and at times even death (Kowalski, Limber and Agatston, 2012).

The widespread reach and scope of cyber bullying among teens is apparent from various worldwide polls and surveys conducted over the years, which highlights the gravity of the issue. According to data made available by the Cyber bullying Research Center (Cyberbullying Research Center, 2011) approximately 20 of students reported experiences some sort of cyber bullying in their lifetimes, about 13.7 of them reported experiencing hurtful or insulting comments made against them; 12.9 of them reported being victims of rumors spread against them; which is incidentally one of the most common forms of cyber bullying. According to another customer research survey conducted in the U.S. in the year 2011, about 1 million children were reported to have been harassed, threatened or subjected to various forms of cyberbullying on social networking site such as Facebook during the period of one year (Consumer Reports, 2011).

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Source: Cyberbullying Research Center (2011)

Meaning & Definition:

According to Trolley and Hanel, (2009) Cyberbullying is defined as any activitiy involving “the use of information and communication technologies such as e-mail, cell phones, and pager text messages, instant messaging, defamatory personal web sites, and online personal polling web sites to support deliberate, repeated and hostile behavior by an individual or group, that is intended to harm others” (pp. 33).

It has also been defined to include the use of any form of internet media, or electronic device to cause intentional harm or injury to others. It includes but is not limited to, the acts of cyber stalking, impersonating, virtual threatening and / or hacking into others’ personal accounts such as email ids or social networking site accounts etc., with a sole intention of damaging the other person’s reputation and causing mental, emotional or social distress / harm.

Background:

Contemporary technology has revolutionized the social as well as cultural dimensions of human interaction, particularly with regard to the manner in which students especially teens, interact with each other. This has completely transformed the concept of bullying from its conventional approach of in-school to online bullying, more popularly known as cyber bullying. The adolescent aggression which was so far being witnessed in classrooms and playgrounds have now ventured into more private spheres via electronic communication (Hinduja and Patchin, 2008). The internet is fast becoming one of the most inevitable parts of our social lives, and in the process has redefined the meaning and scope of interpersonal communications. The digital citizens of today, who grew up with internet around them are more exposed to the ill effects of the same, than never before (Herring, 2008).

The fact that internet has penetrated almost all aspects of our lives, is quite apparent and undeniable. The overwhelming presence of such a powerful tool, and its easy access to teens have increased the vulnerability of the victims of bullying to unprecedented levels. Furthermore, the trend of social networking sites and instant messaging as a part of our everyday lives, has opened up novel ways of communication, at the same time exposing individuals to varied forms of cyber bullying across all platforms. In contemporary society, physical spaces are shrinking and the virtual space is expanding at a rapid rate, presenting newer avenues for the youth to hang out and socialize. The sheer amount of time spent by young people and adolescents on the internet, be it social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter or on blogs, virtual chat rooms or instant messaging, has provided them with an opportunity to form virtual identities, thus giving them immense power to dictate their terms and dominate others in the virtual spheres (Kowalski, Limber and Agatston, 2008 ).

Cyber bullying includes flaming, harassment, cyber stalking, as well as denigration. Flaming refers to an activity whereby the perpetrators of the crime engage in abusive behavior towards the victims, by way of passing on rude, abusive or derogatory messages about a person and share them in an online group such as social networking sites, group chat rooms or blogs (Li, 2007). The key characteristic of “flaming” is that it occurs in virtual public settings, where the messages posted by the perpetrators are visible and accessible to everyone else (Kowalski, Limber and Agatston, 2008). The term harassment refers to repeated exchange of abusive messages through electronic means (Li, 2007). Unlike ‘flaming’ harassment occurs in a private setting such as private email messages sent to the victims, or through one on one chat, although in some cases, it may occur in public settings as well. Cyber stalking refers to repeatedly stalking people online, keeping tabs on their online activities, in order to intimidate them (Kowalski, Limber, and Agatston, 2008). Denigration refers to posting of derogatory messages or hurtful comments against a person through an online medium (Willard 2004, in Liu, 2007).

The problem:

“What makes cyber bullying so dangerous … is that anyone can practice it without having to confront the victim. You don’t have to be strong or fast, simply equipped with a cell phone or computer and a willingness to terrorize”

King, (2006: 1)

Children have been historically exposed to some form of bullying including harassment, stalking and verbal and emotional abuse, in schools, playgrounds and other similar social settings. Aggressive behavior among teens and young children has always assumed the form of bullying, but these actions are now magnified to unprecedented proportions with the advent of technology. Bullying has now taken a whole new meaning, and has shifted from the closed setting of classroom environment to virtual bullying. The key problem with cyber bullying is the fact that the perpetrators of such crime are not visible or easily traceable. They are anonymous and have the power and ability to harm others discreetly, without the fear of getting caught or being punished. Such impunity has afforded them the boost to indulge in cyber bullying in an unabashed manner, with hardly any regret or remorse for their actions.

One of the most common victims of cyber bullying include young children and teens, who are known to spend more time online, and hence are highly vulnerable to such acts. Modern technology has offered a new and bigger platform for bullies to harass their victims, beyond the physical settings and carry out their threats in a virtual setting where their actions are hardly likely to be noticed and hence go unreported. The students today are highly tech savvy and this ability affords them an opportunity to use novel means to intimidate others (Patchin and Hinduja, 2006).

Finding effective solutions to the problem of cyber bullying is crucial to protect the children from potential harm. Cyber bullying is known to have disastrous consequences on the victims, who may suffer from serious physical or mental distress, loss of self-esteem due to constant verbal abuse and rumors spread against them, being mocked and ridiculed in a virtual public setting may seriously affect their self-confidence leading them to withdraw from social interactions driving them to take drastic measures.

The solution:

The problem of cyber bullying is one of the key issues faced by school authorities and parents of teens and young children, in modern times. It is hence of utmost significance to ensure that effective and viable solutions are implemented to avoid such acts and prevent disastrous consequences. Some such solutions which can be implemented are discussed below:

Spread awareness through informative programs

The schools must introduce programs which help in spreading awareness regarding the gravity of the issue. Such programs can be directed towards both – the students as well as the parents. The students must be taught to be morally responsible and made aware of the ill effects and consequences of cyber bullying on the victims as well as on those indulging in it. The parents on the other hand must be made aware about the types of issues that their children might be facing and the manner in which they can help out their children and protect them from such bullying in the virtual world. Implement internet safety rules in school as well as at home:

The virtual world is vast and has a huge outreach. It is hence of utmost significance that the students must be made aware of the potential damage that can be caused by careless attitudes of the students, and acts which seemingly appear to be innocent and harmless yet are likely to turn out to be fatal when circulated online. Today, children as young as 9 are active on the web, and comprise of the highly vulnerable segment of population which is prone to cyber bullying. They must be made aware of regarding the negative consequences of sharing private information online, and protect their privacy at all times while interacting with people online.

Use filtering and blockage software

There are various softwares available in the market that helps in preventing cyber bullying. These include: Puresight, Cyber bully and Net Nanny among many others. These softwares offer protection to children by monitoring their net usage, and forwarding alerts directly to their parents in case any unusual activity or case of cyber bullying is detected. These programs also offer the opportunity to permanently block trouble makers, and protect the victims from falling prey to deliberate acts of aggression online. The price comparison of the same are mentioned in the table below:

Children today are becoming more and more tech savvy and have an increasing presence online, than never before. Their understanding of the virtual world far exceeds that of their parents or teachers, thus giving them total power to dominate and unleash their aggression on an infinite cyber space. Such power often leads to irresponsible and risky behavior on the part of the young children and adolescents often leading to serious issues such as cyber bullying. Schools and parents must take active interest in the online activities of their students and children, and ensure their safety online by way of various means such as protective softwares and educational programs, to name a few.

References:

Herring, S.C. (2008) Questioning the Generational Divide: Technological Exoticism and Adult Constructions of Online Youth Identity. In: Buckingham, D. (ed.), Youth, Identity, And Digital Media. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pp. 71 – 95.

Hinduja, S. & Patchin, J. W. (2008). Bullying beyond the schoolyard: Preventing and responding to cyberbullying. California: Corwin Press.

King (2006) cited in Kowalski, R. M., Limber., S. P., and Agatston, P. W., (2012) Cyberbullying: Bullying in the digital age. John Wiley & Sons Publication, pp. 1 Kowalski, R.M, Limber, S.P. & Agatston, P.W. (2008) Cyber Bullying – Bullying in the Digital Age. Oxford: Blackwell

Li, Q. (2007). ‘Bullying in the new playground: Research into cyberbullying and cyber victimisation’ Australasian Journal of Educational Technology. 23(4) pp.435-454.

Patchin, W. & Hinduja, S. (2006). ‘Bullies Move Beyond the Schoolyard: A Preliminary Look at Cyberbullying’ Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 2006; 4 pp.148.

Trolley, B. C., Hanel, C., (2009). Cyber kids, cyber bullying, cyber balance. Corwin Press, pp. 33

Primary Sources:

Cyberbullying Research Center (2011). [Online] Available at: http://www.cyberbullying.us/research.php [Accessed: April 12, 2012]

Consumer Reports (2011). Online exposure [Online] Available at: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine-archive/2011/june/electronics-computers/state-of-the-net/online-exposure/index.htm [Accessed: April 13, 2012]

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Essay about The Effects and Consequences of Cyber-bullying

This paper defines and discusses what cyber-bullying is, what the actions of cyber-bullying are, and how much of a severe problem it has become. It also discusses the some of the psychological ramifications of being cyber-bullied; as well as explain some of the legal ramifications of what can happen if someone becomes a cyber-bully. It also discusses some of the things that can be done to prevent cyber-bullying or if it does happen to keep it from going any further.

Keywords:  Cyber-bullying, legal consequences of cyber-bullying.

The Effects and Consequences of Cyber-bullying

Bullying has been around for a very long time. Over the last few decades, it has taken a new form over the Internet and social media and is referred to as cyber-bullying. Lately, cyber-bullying has become the focus and topic of research. This paper will focus on cyber-bullying and the severe legal consequences that have come about due to the severity of the new way to bully an individual. This paper will discuss the various aspects of cyber-bullying and the effects that it has had on individuals, including suicides and the different legal consequences that have been written into the federal law due to the high rise within the cyber-bullying will also be discussed Cyber-bullying has become an epidemic and is detrimental to the health of this nation’s youth.

Cyber-bullying

It could be asked what is bullying exactly; even though it is an easy question to ask, it is not an easy question to answer. Simply because “this question is not helped by the fact that sociological researchers do not even agree on the definition of face-to-face bullying” (Butler, Kift, & Campbell, 2009). On the other hand, cyber-bullying is easy to define. However, one of the biggest problems about cyber-bullying is that most people either don’t know what it is or what it consists of. Cyber-bullying has been defined as “any behavior performed through electronic or digital media by individuals or groups that repeatedly communicate hostile or aggressive messages intended to inflict harm or discomfort on others” (Akar, 2017). There are several various categories or activities that are considered to be cyber-bullying; Del Siegle (2010) defines them as:

• Flaming: Online fights using electronic messages with angry and vulgar language.
• Harassment: Repeatedly sending nasty, mean, and insulting messages.
• Denigration: “Dissing” someone online. Sending or posting gossip or rumors about a person to damage his or her reputation or friendships.
• Impersonation: Pretending to be someone else and sending or posting material to get that person in trouble or danger or to damage that person’s reputation or friendships.
• Outing: Sharing someone’s secrets or embarrassing information or images online.
• Trickery: Talking someone into revealing secrets or embarrassing information or images online.
• Exclusion: Intentionally and cruelly excluding someone from an online group.
• Cyber stalking: Repeated, intense harassment and denigration that includes threats or creates significant fear.”

 The biggest difference between face-to-face bullying and cyber-bullying is that with face to face no one will likely remember what happened. Unfortunately, with cyber-bullying, like anything else on the internet, once it is out there it is out there for the world to see, and people can never really get rid of it.

Some people might think that a person is pulling a joke. They might think that what they wrote or shown is not a big deal, or that it doesn’t happen all that often. However, ” more than 1 out of 5 students report being bullied, according to the National Center for Educational Statistics” (DeNisco, 2018). Another example is that “Prevalent rates for victims of cyber-bullying (cyber victims) range anywhere from 4 percent to 72 percent, while the prevalence rates for cyberbullies range from 4 percent to 20 percent” (Gorzig, 2016).  Like other crimes that take power away from individuals, those are only the cases that are reported. For example, “The Cyber-bullying Research Center indicates that 50% of teenagers have been cyber-bullied at some point, and 20% are regularly cyber-bullied” (Waggoner, 2016). To most, it would be considered that it happens too often.

Causes and after effects of Cyber-bullying

The causes of cyber-bullying are not always that clear. For some, it is attention, power, and for others, mostly girls, it’s relationship issues (Lotrean, Ailoaiei, & Stan, 2016). For most, more than likely, it’s for power of some kind. Unfortunately, no one really knows the exact reasons why people become a cyber-bully, maybe it is for the same reasons people become regular bullies. All that is known for certain are the after effects of being cyber-bullied. It has been proven that cyber-bullying and bullying have had a negative effect on child’s life in general and that “both traditional and cyber-bullying among adolescents is considered a major health concern” (Gorzig, 2016). “Cyberbullying could lead negative emotions, depression, loneliness, suicidal tendency, decrease in academic achievement, isolation, anxiety and lowered self-esteem sexual harassment and even death threats” (Akar, 2017).  It is also known from past experiences that bullying can lead to shootings; it’s just a matter of time before it happens because of cyber-bullying. It is not funny when someone is being bullied through social media. There have been many suicides due to cyber-bullying, and sadly nothing was done about it because our legal system at the time hadn’t caught up to the technology and unfortunately still is not quite there yet: “In many respects the law has struggled to keep apace with advances in technology. The problem of cyberbullying is no different” (Butler, Kift, & Campbell, 2009)

People get away with cyber-bullying because the teachers and administrators at the school are more afraid of a lawsuit than wanting to protect their charges. “School administrators, however, have been reluctant to get involved in cyber-bullying incidents, fearing civil litigation over regulating speech or behaviors that are protected by the First Amendment“ (Stewart & Fritsch, 2011). To make the matter worse// even if they do want to act, they do not know when they have the authority to intervene (Stewart & Fritsch, 2011).

Consequences. Unfortunately, there are no actual federal laws for cyber-bullying; however, some of what is defined as cyber-bullying does overlap with other federal laws. Also, there has been some progress in fighting cyber-bullying. For instance, some states have implemented an online reporting system for cyber-bullying (DeNisco, 2018).  And in 2008 California passed a law giving school administrators authority to discipline online bullies, later this law became known as Seth’s Law, which was signed by the governor in 2011 (Stewart & Fritsch, 2011); also “In 2012, the law was expanded to require schools to investigate student complaints about online bullying, even if the bullying occurs are off campus. Additionally, there could be disciplinary action taken if the cyber attack created an on-campus disruption” (Waggoner, 2016).  And “In October 2013, Governor Jerry Brown of California signed legislation that allows educators to suspend or expel cyberbullies, even if the harassment had nothing to do with school and occurred off of the school grounds” (Waggoner, 2016).

Other states have taken have acted as well “According to the National Conference of State Legislatures (2009), 47 states have enacted laws that explicitly address electronic forms of harassment and stalking” (Stewart & Fritsch, 2011). By doing so some of these actions overlap and become a federal case instead of a state/local case.

There is not much that can be done to prevent cyber-bullying. The best thing that can be done is to educate children, parents and school personnel on what cyber-bullying is and what the warning signs are. Which unfortunately could also mean that they are bored, or a just a typical adolescent/teenager. The best thing to prevent it is open communication, open to both teachers and parents. Not just before but during as well as after so the situation does not escalate and become something much worse, such as a suicide or a mass shooting. As a deterrent, the lawmakers also need to pass and expand federal and state laws to combat cyber-bullying. Also, if someone is found guilty of cyber-bullying it should be a felony, not a misdemeanor. However, like all laws and punishment of those laws, the person’s state of mind and cognitive ability must be taken into consideration. That is because if the person who is doing the bullying does not understand what they did wrong then how will it stop.

At the pace that technology is advancing it is going to be a while before the law will be able to catch up. What this means is that until technology’s rate of advancement slows down it is going to be society’s responsibility to change this direction of thought. Within society, it will fall mainly to the teachers and the parents to educate the future generations, that this way of thinking is not appropriate and if something like this is happening they need to tell someone, so it can be addressed. But it should not just fall on to them, like the old saying it takes a village to raise a child. The other reason that it will fall mainly two these two groups, as they have the most control over the adolescents for most of the time. At home, a parent should know what their child is looking at or do on the internet. Parents should also know who their children are talking to and what they are doing on their phones. Teachers and school personnel might not know about their phone however they should know about the internet usage and have certain block or programs to set off red flags if any cyber-bullying behavior is perpetrated from one of their machines.

 This paper has discussed the various aspects of cyber-bullying. And on how wide-spread and how dangerous that cyber-bullying has taken over the internet and social media. On the causes and phycological after effects of cyber-bullying. And how people have gotten away with being cyberbullies. The other main issue that was discussed was, how more severe those consequences have gotten to be due to the prominent level of cyber-bullying has gotten to be, and the high rate of suicides, from the after-effects of being cyber-bullied. And finally, how cyber-bullying might be prevented or at least mitigated to something that is a very happens very rarely.

Akar, F. (2017). School Psychological Counselors’ Opinions about Causes & Consequences of Cyber bullying&Preventive Policies at Schools. Proceedings of the Multidisciplinary Academic Conference, pp. 445-459. Butler, D., Kift, S., & Campbell, M. (2009). Cyber Bullying In Schools and the Law: Is There an Effective Means of Addressing the Power Imbalance? eLaw: Murdoch University Electronic Journal of Law, 84-114. DeNisco, A. (2018, January). Districts turn to technology to combat bullying. District Administration, pp. 21-21. Gorzig, A. (2016). Adolescents’ Viewing of Suicide-Related Web Content and Psychological Problems: Differentiating the Roles of Cyber-bullying Involvement. CYBERPSYCHOLOGY, BEHAVIOR, AND SOCIAL NETWORKING, 502-509. Lotrean, L. M., Ailoaiei, R., & Stan, O. (2016). Use of information technology by adolescents and young people and its effect on health promotion. Balneo Research Journal, 3(7), 76-80. Siegle, D. (2010, Spring). Cyber-bullying and Sexting: Technology Abuses of the 21st Century. Gifted Child Today, pp. 14-65. Stewart, D. M., & Fritsch, E. J. (2011). School and Law Enforcement Efforts to Combat Cyber-bullying. Preventing School Failure, 55(2), pp. 79-87. Waggoner, C. R. (2016). Cyber Bullying: The Public School Response. Insights to a Changing World Journal, 10-20.

Essay on Cyber Bullying

Students are often asked to write an essay on Cyber Bullying in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Cyber Bullying

Understanding cyber bullying.

Cyber bullying is a type of bullying done through digital platforms. It includes sending, posting, or sharing negative content that harms others.

Impact of Cyber Bullying

It can cause emotional distress. Victims may feel sad, angry, or scared, and it can affect their school work.

Preventing Cyber Bullying

To prevent cyber bullying, don’t respond or forward harmful messages. Always report bullying to adults or the platform where it happened.

Cyber bullying is harmful. It’s important to stand against it and support victims.

Also check:

• Paragraph on Cyber Bullying

250 Words Essay on Cyber Bullying

Introduction.

Cyberbullying, a modern form of harassment, has emerged with the advent of innovative communication technologies. This digital form of bullying is characterized by the intent to cause emotional distress and the repeated use of communication tools to harm others.

The Prevalence of Cyberbullying

The ubiquity of the internet and the proliferation of social media platforms have exacerbated the prevalence of cyberbullying. It has become an alarming issue, particularly among younger demographics, due to its detrimental psychological effects, including anxiety, depression, and even suicidal thoughts.

Understanding the Mechanisms

Cyberbullies exploit the anonymity of the internet, which emboldens them to launch attacks without fear of immediate repercussion. The absence of face-to-face interaction desensitizes them to the emotional harm they inflict, making it a pervasive problem.

Preventive Measures and Solutions

Addressing cyberbullying requires a multifaceted approach. Education about digital citizenship, empathy, and the potential harm caused by cyberbullying, are crucial. Additionally, the implementation of strict policies and laws can deter potential cyberbullies.

Cyberbullying is a pressing issue in our digital society. It necessitates collective efforts from educators, parents, policymakers, and internet users to create a safer online environment. By fostering awareness, understanding, and empathy, we can mitigate the effects of cyberbullying and build a more respectful digital community.

500 Words Essay on Cyber Bullying

Introduction to cyber bullying.

Cyber bullying is a modern form of bullying that takes place over digital devices like cell phones, computers, and tablets. It can occur through text messages, social media, or online platforms that allow digital communication. Cyber bullying includes sending, posting, or sharing negative, harmful, false, or mean content about someone else, often to cause embarrassment or humiliation.

The Prevalence of Cyber Bullying

As technology advances and becomes increasingly integrated into our daily lives, the prevalence of cyber bullying has risen significantly. The anonymity provided by the internet often emboldens individuals to engage in destructive behavior without fear of immediate consequences. In fact, according to a study conducted by the Cyberbullying Research Center, approximately 34% of students have experienced cyber bullying during their lifetime.

The Impact of Cyber Bullying

The impact of cyber bullying on the mental health of victims can be devastating. It can lead to anxiety, depression, and even suicidal thoughts. Unlike traditional bullying, cyber bullying can be relentless and ubiquitous, with victims unable to escape their tormentors even within the safety of their own homes. The harmful effects can extend beyond the individual and impact their families and communities.

Preventing and Combating Cyber Bullying

Preventing and combating cyber bullying requires a multi-faceted approach. Education is a crucial aspect of prevention. By educating students, parents, and educators about the risks and consequences of cyber bullying, we can foster a safer online environment.

Additionally, legislation plays a critical role in combating this issue. Many countries have enacted laws to address cyber bullying, but enforcement remains a challenge due to the global nature of the internet.

The Role of Social Media Platforms

Social media platforms also have a responsibility to combat cyber bullying. They can do this by implementing stricter community guidelines, developing effective reporting systems, and using advanced algorithms to detect and remove harmful content.

In conclusion, cyber bullying is a pervasive issue that has been amplified by the digital age. It is a complex problem that requires a comprehensive solution involving education, legislation, and active participation from social media platforms. By working together, we can create a safer online environment and mitigate the harmful effects of cyber bullying.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

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85 Bullying Research Topics and Essay Ideas

Table of Contents

Bullying is a controversial yet sensitive issue that is worth studying. Therefore, in recent times, some instructors have been asking students to work on bullying research topics. In general, bullying is defined as repeated unwanted aggressive behavior that is intended to hurt a person physically, verbally, or emotionally. Mainly, based on the methods, bullying is categorized into different types such as verbal bullying, physical bullying, social bullying, sexual bullying, and cyberbullying. When it comes to writing a research paper on bullying, you can pick any topic related to these bullying types.

If you are unsure what topic to choose for your bullying research paper, then this blog might be useful to you. For your convenience, here, we have suggested a list of engaging bullying research questions and essay topics. Additionally, we have also shared how to choose a good topic and write a well-researched academic paper on bullying.

Continue reading this blog and get captivating ideas for bullying research paper writing.

Steps for Selecting a Bullying Research Topic

The bullying research topic that you choose will play a vital role in the success of your paper. So, spend some time to identify the right topic for your bullying research paper. If you experience difficulties with topic selection, follow these steps.

• First, determine the area of bullying that you are interested in writing about. It can be any sort of bullying such as verbal bullying, cyberbullying, etc.
• In the chosen area, search and gather relevant bullying research ideas. To collect ideas, you may read already published articles, journals, and magazines related to the theme.
• Next, brainstorm all the gathered ideas and narrow down the list based on its research scope, authenticity, and the availability of sources.
• Refine the shortlisted ideas and pick a unique topic that is researchable and meets your needs.
• Finalize the topic after consulting with your instructors.

Bullying Research Paper Writing

Once you have chosen a research topic, you may go ahead and start preparing the academic paper by executing these steps.

• Deeply analyze the selected research topic and generate a powerful thesis statement to focus on.
• Based on your topic, use either quantitative or qualitative research methods and collect the necessary details for discussion.
• Conduct extensive research on the chosen topic and obtain knowledge of background information by referring to existing materials.
• Organize all the gathered ideas and create a well-structured bullying research paper outline with essential elements such as the introduction, body, and conclusion.
• Elaborate on the outline and begin writing a well-cited bullying research paper. Remember, the paper you compose should contain valid facts and evidence to prove your thesis statement. You may also quote a real-life incident in your paper and present your arguments.
• After you finish writing, proofread the paper multiple times and correct if there are any grammar, spelling, punctuation, and citation errors in it. Submit your bullying research paper only if it is error-free and non-plagiarized.

List of Bullying Research Topics and Essay Ideas

Are you searching for the best bullying research topics or essay prompts? If yes, then without any hesitation, take a look at the list presented below. In the list, we have analyzed and added 85 outstanding bullying research paper topics .

Best Bullying Essay Topics

• Discuss the common characteristics of school bullies.
• Analyze the causes of workplace bullying.
• Write about the bystander effect in workplace bullying.
• Examine the correlation between bullying and suicide.
• Analyze the long-term effects of bullying.
• Explain how cyberbullying affects school children.
• Write about the different physical and emotional forms of bullying.
• Analyze how harassment affects job satisfaction.
• Discuss the effects of anti-bullying measures in schools.
• Explain how to prevent workplace bullying.
• Discuss the importance of anti-bullying laws.
• Analyze the impact of social media on bullying rates.
• Explain the effect of harassment acts on the perpetrators.
• Write about domestic violence and bullying.
• Analyze the impact of bullying on children with developmental disabilities.

Top Bullying Research Topics

• Explain the emotional effects of workplace bullying.
• Analyze the factors of investigating the cases of nurse bullying.
• Examine the factors in group bullying participation.
• Investigate the impact of teacher-initiated bullying reduction strategies.
• Explain how adolescents should cope with bullying.
• Examine the gender differences in harassment behavior.
• Analyze the physical health impacts of bullying on adolescents.
• Examine the role of friendship bonds in bullying experiences.
• Write about the bullying of LGBTQ+ adolescents.
• Evaluate the efficiency of legislation to prevent bullying.
• Analyze the effects of bullying on a victim’s physical health.
• Examine the impact of bullying on the academic performance of teenagers.
• Investigate the effect of harassment on anxiety symptoms.
• Explore the effectiveness of family interventions in addressing bullying.
• Study the correlation between racial differences in aggression experiences.

Good Bullying Essay Ideas

• Explain the role of parenting styles in bullying.
• Write about the anti-bullying practices in the criminal justice system.
• Explain how bullying affects the social learning theory.
• Examine the reasons why people bully others.
• Study the correlation between bullying and substance abuse.
• How does bullying affect those who observe it?
• Write about the reactions when people get bullied.
• Discuss the three key elements of bullying
• Analyze the effects of social media on bullying.
• Explain how to support your peer who has already been bullied.
• Suggest some best tricks to overcome bullying.
• Analyze the adverse effects of bullying in schools.
• Explain how to increase awareness about bullying.
• Examine the consequences that bullied kids suffer.
• Explain the use of technology in bullying prevention.

Also Read: 150 Outstanding Film Research Paper Topics

Cyberbullying Research Questions

• Analyze the factors that help to identify online abuse.
• Research the psychology of aggressors who initiate cyberbullying.
• Examine the role of educators in online abuse issues.
• Suggest some best measures to prevent cyberbullying.
• Discuss the consequences for individuals who cause cyberbullying.
• Prepare a research paper on cyberstalking.
• Explain how cyberbullying affects the social lives of the victims.
• Examine the link between cyberbullying and juvenile delinquency.
• Write about teenage cyberbullying.
• Analyze the effects of cyberbullying and violent behavior on victims.
• Investigate the reasons behind the increasing cases of cyberbullying in modern society.
• Compare cyberbullying and offline bullying.
• Write about laws and regulations that penalize cyberbullying.
• Explore how anti-social behavior results in online victimization.
• Prepare a case study on celebrities who were affected by online harassment.

Interesting Bullying Research Topics

• Examine the impact of bullying on the bully.
• Analyze the correlation between bullying and self-esteem.
• Discuss the legal measures that should be taken to solve bullying.
• Explain the impact of bullying on social relationships.
• Examine the behaviors that children who are bullied exhibit.
• Discuss the importance of empathy in preventing bullying.
• Analyze the psychological consequences of bullying on victims.
• Explain the difference between teasing and bullying.
• Analyze the risks associated with standing up when bullied.
• Examine the legal implications of social bullying.
• Write about bullying in the healthcare environment.
• Discuss the role of HR in preventing workplace harassment and bullying.
• Suggest some recovery strategies to heal from bullying trauma.
• Analyze the effect of bullying on American society.
• Explain how to talk to children about bullying.

Latest Bullying Research Topics

• Write about the countries that have anti-bullying laws.
• Analyze the psychological things that bullies do to their victims.
• Explain the difference between harassment and bullying.
• Analyze the link between bullying and the school dropout rate.
• Write about the workplace bullying prevention policy.
• Discuss the impact of bullying on the mental health of a person.
• Suggest some of the best ways to overcome the urge to bully.
• Examine the impact of the pandemic on the prevalence of bullying.
• Write about the bullying of LGBTQ students in American schools.
• Prepare a research paper on bullying and conflict resolution tactics.

Also Read: 180 Impactful Religion Research Paper Topics

Wrapping Up

From the various ideas suggested in the above-published list, choose any topic of your choice and craft a detailed bullying research paper with supporting claims. If you need help with writing a research paper on bullying, contact us immediately.

At greatassignmenthelp.com, we have several academic writers with a strong knowledge of various problems associated with different types of bullying. So, by using their expertise, they will offer you cheap and best bullying research paper help . Especially, according to the guidelines you share with us, our scholarly writers will guide you in composing a plagiarism-free and high-quality bullying research paper. Furthermore, by utilizing our bullying assignment help online , you can wrap up all your tasks ahead of the deadline and rope in top grades in your class.

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