Cyberbullying

 What is cyberbullying?

Cyberbullying is bullying that takes place over digital devices like cell phones, computers, and tablets. Cyberbullying can occur through SMS, Text, and apps, or online in social media, forums, or gaming where people can view, participate in, or share content. Cyberbullying includes sending, posting, or sharing negative, harmful, false, or mean content about someone else. It can include sharing personal or private information about someone else causing embarrassment or humiliation. Some cyberbullying crosses the line into unlawful or criminal behavior.

The most common places where cyberbullying occurs are:

• Social Media, such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Tik Tok
• Text messaging and messaging apps on mobile or tablet devices
• Instant messaging, direct messaging, and online chatting over the internet
• Online forums, chat rooms, and message boards, such as Reddit
• Email
• Online gaming communities

Victims of cyberbullying often don’t know who are behind the accounts that are abusing them. Sometimes the victim can suspect who the bullies are, but are unable to prove it because trolling and bullying accounts often make use of everybody’s important right to anonymity – other times, complete strangers become aware of cyberbullying taking place and fall into a ‘mob mentality’ by contributing and amplifying the bullying rather than helping the victim.

 

Cyberbullying is not exclusive to any specific demographic – everybody is now at risk of being a cyberbullying victim in some way.

There are many ways that someone can fall victim to or experience cyberbullying when using technology and the internet. Some common methods of cyberbullying are:

·        Harassment – When someone is being harassed online, they are being subjected to a string of abusive messages or efforts to contact them by one person or a group of people. People can be harassed through social media as well as through their mobile phone (texting and calling) and email. Most of the contact the victim will receive will be of a malicious or threatening nature.

• Cyberstalking – Similar to harassment, cyberstalking involves the perpetrator making persistent efforts to gain contact with the victim, however this differs from harassment – more commonly than not, people will cyberstalk another person due to deep feelings towards that person, whether they are positive or negative. Someone who is cyberstalking is more likely to escalate their stalking into the offline world.
• Corporate attacks – In the corporate world, attacks can be used to send masses of information to a website in order to take the website down and make it non-functional. Corporate attacks can affect public confidence, damaging businesses reputations and in some instances, force them to collapse.
• Account hacking – Cyberbullies can hack into a victim’s social media accounts and post abusive or damaging messages. This can be particularly damaging for brands and public figures.
• False profiles – Fake social media accounts can be setup with the intention of damaging a person or brand’s reputation. This can easily be done by obtaining publicly available images of the victim and making the account appear as authentic as possible.

Cyberbullying Statistics

Cyberbullying is more common than you may think. And for many teenagers, young adults, and social media users, it poses a very real threat.

·        According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 20.2% percent of all students have reported experience with some kind of bullying.

·        Another National Center for Education Statistics study published in 2020 reports that about 15% of students between the ages of 12 and 18 had been a victim of cyberbullying within a 12-month period.

·        Youth who are part of the LGBTQ community are significantly more likely to experience cyberbullying. This study by the Cyberbullying Research Center found that 56% of students who identified as LGBTQ had experienced cyberbullying compared to just about a third of non-LGBTQ students.

·        The Cyberbullying Research Center also found that about 16% of students had cyberbullied others at some point in their lifetime.

·        Admissionsly notes that about 5.1% of students have bullied others in some way or form as of 2020.

·        Teachers listed cyberbullying as the top online issue for students in a survey by Google, ahead of privacy, inappropriate content, and other concerns.

·        The consequences of cyberbullying can be substantial for both the bullied and the bullies, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Those who are bullied are at an increased risk for anxiety and depression, as well as poor academic performance and even not finishing school; bullies are more likely to have problems with substance abuse and violence later in life.

 

Impact of Cyberbullying

When kids experience cyberbullying, they experience a variety of physical, psychological, and emotional consequences. Consequently, they may complain of everything from fear and anxiety to depression and low self-esteem. They also may struggle academically and report feelings of significant distress. In fact, more than 30% of kids who are targeted by cyberbullies report experiencing symptoms of stress.²

Victims of cyberbullying also find it difficult to feel safe and may feel alone and isolated,² especially if they are being ostracized by their peers. Cyberbullying also can lead to increasing levels of anxiety and depression. One study found that as many as 93% of kids victimized by cyberbullies reported feelings of sadness, hopelessness, and powerlessness.²

If your child is being targeted by cyberbullying, it's important that you work with them to report the cyberbullying and do everything you can to get the victimization to stop. Additionally, you should talk to their pediatrician or a mental health professional about what your child is experiencing. Expecting your child to cope with the cyberbullying on their own is not realistic.

Coping with Cyberbullying

If your child has been victimized by cyberbullying, it's important that you help them develop tools for coping with what they are experiencing. This may mean enlisting the help of a mental health professional.

You also want to be sure you are keeping the lines of communication open and that you're validating your child's feelings. Here are some other tips to help your child cope with cyberbullying.

• Encourage your child to reclaim control. Cyberbullying can make teens feel like their lives are out of control. For this reason, you want to give them opportunities where they feel like they have some control. One way to do this is to encourage your child to use what they have experienced and turn it into something good like helping others going through the same thing.
• Focus on learning from the experience. Whether your child needs a boost to their self-esteem or they need to learn to think positively, help your child identify what they can learn from this experience. You also can help them reframe their experience and focus on the good that has come from it rather than the pain that it caused.
• Help your child focus on the future. It's very easy for bullied kids to stay stuck in their pain. Instead, help them focus on the future and set goals rather than dwelling on the pain they're experiencing. Remind them that middle school and high school are just a small portion of their entire lives. So, while you should validate their feelings, help them look toward the future too. Doing so teaches them how to take back their power.

Preventing Cyberbullying

When it comes to preventing cyberbullying, it's important that you not only help your child implement some safety measures, but that you also have an ongoing dialogue about how to use social media safely. It's also important to talk about the risks of cyberbullying and what to do if they are bullied online. Here are some ways that you can help prevent cyberbullying in your child's life.

• Help them utilize privacy tools and settings. Almost every social media platform contains privacy tools and settings. Help your child make use of these tools in a way that keeps their account private, prevents people from sharing their photos, and requires their approval before people can post to their pages or accounts.
• Show them how to protect their accounts and devices. Passwords are one of the most effective ways to protect your child's social media accounts as well as their computer, laptop, tablet, and smartphone. Be sure your child knows that they should never share their password with their friends. Even their best friend should not know their passwords because there is no guarantee that they will be friends forever.
• Require them to keep personal information private. Remind your child that they should never share personal information online. This includes things like their address, the school they attend, and even their last name. The more information that they make available, the easier it is for cyberbullies to target them.
• Talk to them about not sharing their location. Many kids like to share their location with their friends. While this is usually fine, it also can provide detailed information about your child's whereabouts to kids who have less than genuine intentions toward them. Knowing your child's location makes it easier for abusive boyfriends or girlfriends to stalk your child or for cyberbullies to exploit this information.
• Teach them to think before posting. Often an impulsive post or comment can be an open door for cyberbullying. Make sure your child knows that they should always take time to really think about what they're posting before putting it online. Even if they post something and then delete it, there is still the risk that someone will see it, take a screenshot of it, and exploit it. It is better to always be slow to post.
• Encourage your child to limit their posts and their time on social media. Kids who post a lot of selfies or self-reflective posts often attract the attention of cyberbullies. Plus, when there are a lot of photos or posts, it gives cyberbullies a lot of material to work with. Encourage your child to limit how much they are posting to social media.
• Perform a social media audit. Every few months, sit down with your child and go through their social media accounts. Talk about what should be deleted from their account because of the potential ways in which the posts could be misconstrued. Performing a social media audit is also a great way to ensure that their social media account presents images and posts that colleges and future employers would find acceptable as well.
• Encourage your child to log out of social media apps and email when on public computers. Simply closing the tab where they were viewing their Instagram or Facebook account is not enough when they are on public computers at school, the library, or a coffee shop. It's too easy for a person to go to that page after they walk away and be inside your child's personal account. Cyberbullies can then change passwords or impersonate your child online.
• Tell your child to report cyberbullies instead of responding to them. One of the biggest mistakes kids make is to respond to cyberbullying with a post that fights back or tries to explain. This interaction is what the cyberbully is hoping for. Consequently, it is safer for your child to ignore the posts and block the person. It's also important that they talk to you about what they're experiencing and report the cyberbully to the appropriate people. This might mean reporting them to the social media provider, the school, or even the police if the cyberbullying involves threats or violates cyberbullying laws.

By Gauri Agicha