Effects of Cyberbullying to Teenagers.

Abstract:

Cyberbullying is a term which means intentional insult, threat or other harmful content

delivered with the help of the means of communication during the long period of time. The aim of

cyberbullying is to fear and to humiliate the target. Cyberbullying has become widespread

nowadays because of the rapid development of technology and the increase of its role in our life.

And it is now a public health concern because of preparators of cyberbullying and more likely to

report increase substance use, aggression, and delinquent behaviors. Many longitudinal works is

needed to understand the effects of cyberbullying to teenagers overtime. Prevention efforts related

to reduce the effects of cyberbullying and its harms are also discussed.

The purpose of this write-up is to inform the effect of cyberbullying to teenagers and how it

affects teenagers and also inform the prevention of its effects.

Introduction:

Many people including adolescents/teenagers are affected of cyberbullying as it has more than

one definition, cyberbullying can be defined as “when the Internet, cellphones or other devices are

used to send or post text or images intended to hurt or embarrass another person” or as “a situation

when a teen is repeatedly ‘tormented, threatened, harassed, humiliated, embarrassed or otherwise

targeted’ by another teenager using text messaging, instant messaging or any other type of digital

technology.” It shows that cyberbullying shows the ugly “face” of the Internet. it has become

widespread today because of rapid development of technology and its role to our life because of

the internet and mobile phones as the two biggest systems of communication and it can be abused

with the help of the Internet and it is has been demonstrated a clear relationship between teenagers
involvement in cyberbullying and negative health indices. It has several negative effects on

individual or groups of people. Usually, it starts with a confusion on the part of the victim, feeling

hurt because of a person or a group of people has targeted them and insulted them for no other

reason and it makes communication difficult with people or make new friends. Teenagers who are

targeted via cyberbullying are affected by depression, anxiety, loneliness, and suicidal behavior

and the preparators cyberbully one another to boost their ego and for entertainment and it can occur

frequently toward a person repeatedly causing abuse and hostility and also it affects teenagers

mostly because cyberbullying makes one’s life into a very fragile state. Also it may rise to a level

of a horrific cyberharassment because of a death threat or a credible threat of serious bodily harm.

The origins of cyberbullying started when the advent of online sites and blogs gave the

perpetrators of cyberbullying a much bigger audience and most of the cyberbullying happens in

social media sites like Facebook as a lot of victims are often cyberbullied by sending mean

messages, posting nasty pictures or messages, and the effects can be ranged from simple to the

worst afflicted effect to any teenager. As it can be lasted as the victim being targeted by a cyber-

bully leading to a dissolution end to the victim.

Depression linked to Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying is linked to depression in teenagers. Social media platforms like Facebook and

Twitter. Name-calling, gossips and rumors, and circulating pictures on social media sites.

Facebook was the most commonly used platform to be cyberbullied with as social media use is

hugely common among teenagers and it can create mental health conditions to them as they feel

overwhelmed if a lot of teens are participating in the bullying and it can happen at all times and
the victim feels differently than others which they feel their life is hopeless and meaningless. They

lose interest in the things they enjoyed and they spend less time interacting with their family and

friends as thoughts of suicide can set in.

Anxiety linked to Cyberbullying

This occurs primarily because cyberbullying fades their self-confidence and self esteem. Plus

the stress of coping with cyberbullying on a regular basis erases their feelings and create negative

problems in their life as they feel alone and isolated and it is experienced because it can lead to

cutting off communication by turning off the mobile phone and they can feel like the bullying is

everywhere and the perpetrators can remain anonymous as it can escalates feelings fear and they

have no idea who is inflicting the pain although some cyberbullies choose their targets.

Anger linked to Cyberbullying

Sometimes victims of cyberbullying knows what is happening to them and they will be

provoked(triggered) and they plot revenge and fight back to the bully as it is dangerous to retaliate

back to the perpetrator as it will create a cycle between them as they will humiliated each other in

a loop and overwhelmed by anger then they have no idea who they targeting with as they exchange

mean words and comments and they’re harming themselves and can be linked to extreme feelings

of humiliation on a social media site.

Conclusion

Cyberbullying is a burning problem worldwide and it is a problem to teenagers since it emerged

and prevention efforts are keeping the effects at bay in ways such as avoiding arguments in a social

media platform like Facebook, take a break from using the Internet, blocking accounts of the

perpetrators and avoid being harassed by someone and words can be a hurtful to anyone but for

the writer himself some words are meaningless when used in delivering mean messages, comments

that are related to their profile and it is a waste of time to anonymously cyberbully someone they

targeted.

Based on this paper cyberbullying is a criminal offense that endangers the safety of Internet

users, cyber bullying needs to be prevented by every means. Cyberbullying is a growing issue

among parents that needs to be eliminated before it gets out of reach. Online crimes should not be

ignored, as the internet are the platforms of these problems and it needs to be regulated to hold

good morals. Cyberbullying affects children and teenagers causing several unnecessary deaths.

Preventing cyber bullying would minimize unnecessary death among teenagers.

Recommendation:

The parents should know about the problem and they should inform to their child about the

effects of being cyberbullied and know how to prevent it by maintaining a good safe surfing around

the Internet.