Negative Effects of Cyberbullying
Cyberbullying is a
social issue that has proven to be quite a serious matter. The seriousness of
cyberbullying can be seen through not only all of the negative consequences
placed on the victims but also through the large number of cyberbullying cases
reported in America.
Feinberg and Robey, in an article they wrote in 2009, state that cyberbullying
can lead to great emotional harm. This harm correlates to psychological
problems including depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem; problems in
school; physiological complaints; severe dysfunction; externalized violence;
and even suicide. These effects may be worse than those experienced from
face-to-face bullying because the bullies may say or do more hurtful things
since they are shielded behind a computer or phone. These problems arise simply
from the bullying itself as well as the fact that it can be broadcast to a
large audience immediately, it may be hard to eliminate, and the bully can
remain anonymous. The victims of cyberbullying often become hypervigilant and try
to avoid situations where they might be bullied (Feinberg and Robey 29).
A webpage from Research-Cyberbully Wiki Space titled “Negative and Positive Effects of Cyber Bullying” agrees with the article by Feinberg and Robey. The webpage states that cyberbullies can stay anonymous very easily which can be harmful to the victims since they may not know who their bullies are. Cyberbullying also opens up the act to an infinite audience which can cause added harm to the victim. Some psychological effects of cyberbullying, in addition to those stated by Feinberg and Robey, include social anxiety, the victim not wanting to leave home, and even school phobia (“Negative”).
A webpage from Research-Cyberbully Wiki Space titled “Negative and Positive Effects of Cyber Bullying” agrees with the article by Feinberg and Robey. The webpage states that cyberbullies can stay anonymous very easily which can be harmful to the victims since they may not know who their bullies are. Cyberbullying also opens up the act to an infinite audience which can cause added harm to the victim. Some psychological effects of cyberbullying, in addition to those stated by Feinberg and Robey, include social anxiety, the victim not wanting to leave home, and even school phobia (“Negative”).
A book written by
Kowalski, Limber, and Agatston further explains these negative effects. These
three authors state that “the effects of cyberbullying tend to parallel those
of traditional bullying” (Kowalski, Limber, and Agatston 113). These effects
include problems concentrating, alienation, depression, social anxiety,
helplessness, low self-esteem, and even suicidal thoughts (Kowalski, Limber,
and Agatston 113). Also, teenagers that are both bullies and victims suffer
from the highest rates of anxiety, depression and school absences (Kowalski,
Limber, and Agatston 114). These effects that are faced by the victims are very
easily seen by their peers. In a focus group done by the authors, someone said,
“’It made them be mean for a while. They just didn’t want to do anything with
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anyone, they didn’t want to deal with it. It affected their mood, their relationships. It affected them academically. They stopped coming to school for a few days’” (Kowalski, Limber, and Agatston 113). When victims were asked how they felt after being cyberbullied they said they felt angry, sad, depressed, hurt, stressed, and confused. These feelings the victims have are magnified during cyberbullying compared to traditional bullying (Kowalski, Limber, and Agatston 114). One reason why these effects are magnified with cyberbullying is that the victim can’t really escape from the bullying unless they quit using electronic forms of communication. Another reason, as stated by Feinberg and Robey, is the large audience that cyberbullying opens the bully and victim up to. Also the victim may not even know who the bully is which can cause even more harm to the victim (Kowalski, Limber, and Agatston 115).
One specific study, performed by Sameer Hinduja, Ph.D. and Justin W. Patchin, Ph.D. in 2010, examines the relationship between self-esteem and cyberbullying. They begin by defining what self-esteem is in a thorough manner. “…self-esteem is a perception – one’s belief as to their personal value and affected by one’s participation in the social world – where there are often interpersonal conflicts that lead to behavior such as bullying” (Patchin and Hinduja 1). Based on literature, victims of cyberbullying have lower self-esteem than non-victims. The reasons for this may be from the experience itself of being bullied or that people with lower self-esteem are more likely to be targets. After doing some research on the relationship between cyberbully victims and self-esteem, they conducted an experiment. Hinduja and Patchin chose 2,000 random middle schools students and questioned them about cyberbullying. They found that both bullies and victims had lower self-esteem than students who hadn’t experienced cyberbullying. They also found that the relationship between victims and self-esteem was greater than the relationship between bullies and self-esteem. They state that through their research they can’t conclude that cyberbullying causes lower self-esteem but they can conclude that there is a relationship (Patchin and Hinduja 1). They then conclude by saying that schools need to become aware of impacts of cyberbullying and make an effort to prevent this form of bullying from happening (Patchin and Hinduja 2).
One specific study, performed by Sameer Hinduja, Ph.D. and Justin W. Patchin, Ph.D. in 2010, examines the relationship between self-esteem and cyberbullying. They begin by defining what self-esteem is in a thorough manner. “…self-esteem is a perception – one’s belief as to their personal value and affected by one’s participation in the social world – where there are often interpersonal conflicts that lead to behavior such as bullying” (Patchin and Hinduja 1). Based on literature, victims of cyberbullying have lower self-esteem than non-victims. The reasons for this may be from the experience itself of being bullied or that people with lower self-esteem are more likely to be targets. After doing some research on the relationship between cyberbully victims and self-esteem, they conducted an experiment. Hinduja and Patchin chose 2,000 random middle schools students and questioned them about cyberbullying. They found that both bullies and victims had lower self-esteem than students who hadn’t experienced cyberbullying. They also found that the relationship between victims and self-esteem was greater than the relationship between bullies and self-esteem. They state that through their research they can’t conclude that cyberbullying causes lower self-esteem but they can conclude that there is a relationship (Patchin and Hinduja 1). They then conclude by saying that schools need to become aware of impacts of cyberbullying and make an effort to prevent this form of bullying from happening (Patchin and Hinduja 2).
In relation to surveys and research, the negative effects of cyberbullying can also be seen in the multiple case reports in America on cyberbullying. One case reported in September of 2013 in The New York Times was on the story of a twelve year old girl who committed suicide after being cyberbullied. The report tells Rebecca Sedwick’s story of being cyberbullied for over a year. Rebecca was bullied by 15 middle school students. These students repeatedly told Rebecca to kill herself. Rebecca’s mother had complained to the school over and over again but nothing was done to stop the bullying so she pulled Rebecca out of school. She also took Rebecca’s phone away and closed down her Facebook page. She even had Rebecca’s phone number changed. Rebecca then began to cut herself in December (Alvarez 1). She had been hospitalized and counseled. She even switched schools to try and get away from the cruelty brought on by her classmates. Rebecca’s mom thought everything was fine but she did not know that Rebecca had started using ask.fm, Kik, and Voxer which opened her back up to the bullying. The report tells, in grave detail, the things her classmates would say to her such as: “Why are you still alive?” and “Can you die please?” Rebecca then started searching online ways to kill herself (Alvarez 2). The bullying from her fellow classmates ultimately led to her suicide in which she climbed to the top of a tower at the abandoned Cemex plant near her home and she jumped to her death (Alvarez 3).
A few more cases were reported in Junior Scholastic in November of 2010. These cases include that of Seth Walsh, Phoebe Prince, and Tyler Clementi. Seth Walsh, age thirteen, tried to commit suicide after being bullied on Myspace and through e-mails. His attempt occurred on September 19, but he didn’t die until eight days later (Wilmore 1). Phoebe Prince had been verbally and physically bullied at school for months, which continued outside of school through texting and Facebook. Phoebe killed herself at the age of fifteen after the months of bullying. Tyler Clementi killed himself at the age of eighteen after his roommate in college posted a video online of Tyler that invaded his privacy (Wilmore 3). All of these cases led to suicide from the constant online bullying, which shows that suicide is one of the serious negative effects of cyberbullying.
A few more cases were reported in Junior Scholastic in November of 2010. These cases include that of Seth Walsh, Phoebe Prince, and Tyler Clementi. Seth Walsh, age thirteen, tried to commit suicide after being bullied on Myspace and through e-mails. His attempt occurred on September 19, but he didn’t die until eight days later (Wilmore 1). Phoebe Prince had been verbally and physically bullied at school for months, which continued outside of school through texting and Facebook. Phoebe killed herself at the age of fifteen after the months of bullying. Tyler Clementi killed himself at the age of eighteen after his roommate in college posted a video online of Tyler that invaded his privacy (Wilmore 3). All of these cases led to suicide from the constant online bullying, which shows that suicide is one of the serious negative effects of cyberbullying.