Gender Differences and Their Impact on Cyber Bullying - Research Paper Example

Gender Differences and Their Impact in Cyber Bullying As much as the internet is vital in connecting people there are numerous instances where it is misused. People use the internet and other related technologies to disorient and disorganize other people, and in some instances cause harm. This is done in a deliberate, predetermined and hostile manner which is known as cyber bullying. There are various causes of cyber bullying which depends on the people affected. Some people are bullied owing to their social economic level while others are bullied due to their gender. Nevertheless, cyber bullying is a menace to the youth especially in learning institutions (LI, 2005). Some students are adversely affected leading to lowered concentration in their course work. As such, they drop in school performance. This will be reflected in the overall grade where they will have a lower mean score. The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the prevalence of cyber bullying in relation to gender, and how this affects the youth. According to research conducted in many schools in the recent past it is evident that gender plays a significant role in cyber bullying (Dupper, 2013). Many of the victims are harassed due to their gender. According to the researches, it is easier to harass and bully someone of the opposite sex. Therefore, cyber bullying is prevalent when the bullies are of a different gender as they will have an easy time in approaching their victims. This is done by first of all using information and communication technologies (Magklara, Skapinakis, Gkatsa, Bellos, Araya, Stylianidis and Mavreas, 2008). These are effective methods that have been developing in the world with each passing day. With these devices, information flow from the bully to the victim is guaranteed. Therefore, the mode of communication is effective in pushing the harmful information from the relaying person to the victim. The effectiveness of these methods makes it a prevalent situation where the victims have to get the harmful information. Secondly, the bullies have reverted to hostile behavior and are deliberately harming other people, either in groups or individually (Caravita, Di Blasio and Salmivalli, 2009). When youths are in groups, it is easier to approach the victim. Apparently, when youths are in a group, they have the audacity of approaching their victims. In this situation, the youths in groups gang up to hurl harmful information to the victims. Since they are in a group, the victim will be intimidated by their numbers. For example, the harm inflicted to a victim by a group of youths is not on the same level compared to the harm inflicted to a victim by an individual. Therefore, the youths ganging up in groups intimidate the victim to greater lengths. In the same line, male youth are known to have more networks and groups as compared to girls. They form groups that are solid in their actions. As such, they will make a choice on the possible victims. They approach their victims in groups and execute their task. In this situation, they will plan for the initial intimidation of the victim. It is considered that males and boys have a higher rate of forming such groups as compared to females. According to recent research in schools, males have a higher rate of intimidating the females as compared to females intimidating males (Dupper, 2013). Therefore, it is an admissible fact that cyber bullying affects more females than males. Males make more friends during their entire school life, which generates into various cluster groups. These groups form a behavior, which is influenced by peer pressure. For example, groups of boys will ensure they fit in the group by doing the same activities over time. As such, they participate in some behaviors that could be a menace to others. In such times, they will consider disturbing other students as part of their day to day activities. In such incidences, they could end up disturbing other students. In this particular situation, they direct their activities to unsuspecting females. Since the unsuspecting females do not have an idea of the impending attacks, they have nothing to do to prevent it. As such, they will only encounter the situation when the cyber bullies attack. This makes the situation even worse. Current Knowledge of the Problem Cyber bullying is a problem that is prevalent and its rate has been increasing over time. Many people, especially females are affected with the problem in most cases. In many situations, they do not have protective measures to curb this menace. According to recent surveys, teachers have full information on school bullies and bullying in schools (Dupper, 2013). They have generated various strategies that are used to weed out bullying in schools and making a safe environment to all the learners. However, teachers have little information on cyber bullying and its effects (American medical association, 2003). This is heightened by the fact that many school teachers concentrate on the physical bullying. As such, they have not had ample time to deal with cyber bullying. In many instances, school teachers have protected school children from bullying as opposed to cyber bullying. Therefore, the problem is that school children are not reporting the cases of cyber bullying and teachers have minute information on the prevalence of cyber bullying. School children, especially girls are utterly protected from bullying by either males or other females. As such, cases of physical bullying have reduced. This has been achieved by induction of stringent measures that have been put in place. Therefore, school children do not bully their school mates as they have fear for the punishments (LI, 2005). However, they have found a better way of bullying their school mates. Cyber bullying is an easier way of bullying other school mates especially when they are of the opposite sex. In this case, female students are on the receiving end. In this situation, most of the teachers have been dealing with physical bullying. As such, their concentration has been strongly directed towards physical bullying. This is according to the sensitization that has been indulged in reducing the instances of bullying. In fact, female bullying in schools has been met with stringent punishment to the bullies. As such, the bullies have reverted to using cyber bullying in creating a menace (Rogers, 2010). It is not easy to detect cyber bullying, which makes it a preferred way of attack. It is considered that if the teachers shift their concentration to cyber bullying, the menace will be reduced. When the teachers apply stringent measures on the cyber malpractices, the perpetrators will be scared as they will not have the freedom to execute their victimization. Control measures have been put in place for physical bullying. This has been due to the prevalence of the menace in schools since time immemorial. Therefore, teachers have concentrated on making a different approach in ending the menace. However, cyber bullying is an emerging trend, where it gets complicated with change in technology (Sreekanth, 2009). As such, the perpetrators keep changing the way they attack the victims, which makes it uncontrollable. Since this is an emerging trend, teachers do not have any control measures in cyber bullying. Parents have information on physical bullying in schools and have openly stated their stand in finishing this menace. Therefore, the cases of bullying in schools are at reduced levels. However, most of these parents do not have a glimpse of information on the prevalence of cyber bullying. Therefore, they have little information on how their children are harmed by cyber bullying. In this situation, they do not have any protective measures to reduce the levels of cyber bullying. Therefore, the parents have little or no control, on cyber bullying. They have openly criticized the existence of physical bullying, but have not been vigilant on cyber bullying. As such, they are not in any way resisting the existence of cyber bullying. According to recent research, if parents come out to condemn cyber bullying, the instances would be minimized (Dupper, 2013). In addition to this, parents are more sensitive to female bullying than male bullying. However, they do not know that the same applies to cyber bullying, where most affected people are females. Gender is an issue in bullying, especially involving the youth. Youth in learning institutions have indulged cyber bullying, and it has taken a twist in relation to gender. Most of the intimidated victims are males, according to recent research (Davies, Davis, Cook and Waters, 2008). In this research, it is estimated that more females are the target for cyber bullies. Therefore, cyber threats are relayed to female at a higher rate than the cyber threats that are relayed to males. This has been proven to happen due to a number of reasons. A perfect reflection is that, boys are considered more techno-savvy than females. As such, males will be innovative in technology than girls. In such a situation, the males will have an upper hand in using the developing technology than females. Therefore, they will get to know how to intimidate the girls by using various ways. Cyber bullies have numerous ways of approaching their victims, especially when they are of the opposite gender. First, they have an option of sending emails. The males get email addresses from the female and send random emails. These emails are sent at an increasing rate, which is a menace. Secondly, they have an option of instant messaging. These are messages that are sent to unsuspecting females. Since they are “flash messages” the victims have no option other than reading the content. As such, the message is successfully relayed to the recipient. Thirdly, the males approach females in chat room. Apparently, males are known to be aggressive in starting a chat in a chat room (Willard, 2007). As such, the females will respond to this. After a while, the bullies decide to strike. Thirdly, bullies have mastered the art of using websites and gaming sites. These are entertainment sites where many people are known to visit. However, the bullies are also present in these entertainment sites. Lastly, bullies use digital messaging and sending images to the victims. It is considered that the male child in learning institutions is given more freedom as compared to girls. Females are controlled easily as compared to boys. Therefore, the males will use their freedom to execute their bullying activities. For example, males have more free time as compared to girls (Jansen, Veenstra, Ormel, Verhulst and Reijneveld, 2011). Since they have free time, they will use the free time effectively in bullying. This makes the female prone to cyber abuse than males. Though males are known to influence the rate of female cyber bullying, research shows that females are also involved in cyber bullying. Therefore, cyber bullying affects both males and females. Another issue that increases the prevalence of cyber crime is that males appear to be more aggressive and creative than females. In such instances, boys create numerous ways of intimidating females in learning institution and schools. This is situation that affects all youths in this stage. Problem or Purpose Statement There are a number of issues that are of concern. These issues are heightened by the prevalence of cyber bullying especially in relation to gender. This brings us to the question; is it right to bully someone? All people, irrespective of their gender have their rights. Therefore, the rights of the people should be respected. As such, males or females should not bully their counterparts in any situation. However, when cyber bullying is experienced, the rights of the victims are infringed. This is the root of all other concerns which include, rage, hatred, violence, poor performance and depressed youths Ethical Issues Student’s performance is an ethical issue that arises when cyber bullying is on the rise. Students’ performance will be affected when cyber bullying is immense. For example, when students are exposed to cyber bullying, they will lose concentration. As such, they will have to deal with the present issue that is affecting their life. While working on this issue, they will reduce their concentration in education. This leads to declining performance in many institutions. According to various researches conducted in schools, schools that have vehemently opposed bullying are recorded to have better performance than schools that do not address this issue. The same applies to cyber bullying (LI, 2005). When institutions address such an issue, the prevalence is lowered. As such, students and learners have ample time to concentrate on their education. This is a situation that affects all the youth. Therefore, reducing the prevalence of the issue will help many youth to address more critical matters than addressing the issue of cyber bullying. Cyber bullying has its consequences on the development of the youth. First, the victims have future expectations in relation to the incumbent situation. For example, they often think of a repeat of this particular situation. This affects their growth pattern as they will not have stable growth. Similarly, bullying, which includes cyber bullying is an activity that is recurrent. Therefore, bullies will grow to make it a habit. As such, they will continue intimidating other people. This affects the whole life of a person as they maintain the same behavior. Bullying has been known to affect the youth by heightening the stress levels. For example, when the youth are harassed by bullies in their daily life, they get a wrong perception of the bullies. As such, they will have negative attitude towards the bullies. In such situations, they will be stressed on how to deal with the situation. This leads to depression and stress. This affects their life as it demeans their approach towards issues. When youths are constantly, abused, they get irritated. As such, it changes their way of life. Violence is common practice among the youth, as they think it is a way of solving issues. In the case of cyber bullying, some youths will resort to violence, depending on the situation. This creates a scenario where youths want to relieve the situation by fighting and beating the bullies. This leads to rage and instances where victims are planning for revenge. In many instances, vengeful youths do more harm than expected. This leaves a situation where the youth engage in raging battles, whereas this could be avoided. For example, when the administration, teachers and parents are engaged in controlling this situation, it is almost impossible to have cyber bullying. Therefore, there will be no of any instances where the youth are planning violence and revenge against the bullies. Therefore, in maintaining a peaceful environment, the scourge should be minimized and prevented. However, the prevention of cyber bullying is not limited to a number of people. This is a situation that can be solved by a number of strategies. First, all teachers, administrators, parents and adults should be able to prevent the occurrence of cyber bullying. Secondly, there should be sensitization of cyber bullying in schools, learning institutions and in the society. When the youth have information about the prevalence of cyber bullying, they will have ways of dealing with the situation. Relevance to Social Work Practice Cyber bullying is an issue that affects the social life of the youth and its study and sensitization will contribute positively to the society. Therefore, it has relevance to the social work practice in a number of ways. First, when cyber bullying is controlled, there will be an improvement in overall performance of the youth in their learning processes (LI, 2005). For example, the youth will have full concentration on vital factors that affect their life. As such, learning in schools and other tertiary institutions will record an overall improvement. In such a case, most of the youth will have more time to deal with their education, rather than looking for solutions to deal with cyber bullying. Similarly, the victims of cyber bullying will be at peace and record an improvement in their education and learning activities. For example, when the victims have a fair ground in learning institutions, they will be prepared to deal with other serious issues. In most cases, when females are given a fair ground just like the males, they will record better results which will be improving with time. However, when most of the females are exposed to cyber bullying, they refrain from participating in some activities. As such, it lowers their esteem in competing with other learners in the learning institution. When cyber bullying is contained there will be reduced discrimination. Discrimination occurs when some people have limited access to some of the basic needs in a society. For example, when some females are exposed to cyber bullying, they will develop fear in accessing some internet sites. This will limit their access to information, which affects their self esteem. Both male and female will relate in a more appropriate manner, as they will get to meet each other without bullying. As such, people will develop a peaceful environment without rage. Similarly, there will be an environment that is free from violence. This prepares both female and male youth to achieve their goals in life through teamwork and without fear. References American medical association (2003). Relationship between bullying and violence among US youth. New York: American medical association. Caravita, S. S., Di Blasio, P., & Salmivalli, C. (2009). Unique and interactive effects of empathy and social status on involvement in bullying. Social Development, 18(1), 140-163. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9507.2008.00465.x Davies, B. B., Davis, E. E., Cook, K. K., & Waters, E. E. (2008). Getting the complete picture: combining parental and child data to identify the barriers to social inclusion for children living in low socio-economic areas. Child: Care, Health & Development, 34(2), 214-222. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2214.2007.00786.x Dupper, D. R. (2013). School bullying: New perspectives on a growing problem SSWAA workshop series. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Jansen, D., Veenstra, R., Ormel, J., Verhulst, & Reijneveld, S. (2011). Early risk factors for being a bully, victim, or bully/victim in late elementary and early secondary education. The longitudinal TRAILS study. BMC Public Health, 11(4), 440-446. LI, Q. (2005). Cyber bullying in schools: A research of gender differences. Canberra: University of Calgary. Magklara, K.,Skapinakis, P.,Gkatsa, T.,Bellos, S., Araya, R.,Stylianidis, S., & Mavreas, V. (2008). Bullying behavior in schools, socioeconomic position and psychiatric morbidity: a cross sectional study in late adolescents in Greece. (2012). Child & adolescent psychiatry & mental health, 6(1), 8-20. doi:10.1186/1753-2000-6-8. Rogers, V. (2010). Cyberbullying: Activities to help children and teens to stay safe in a texting, twittering, social networking world. New York: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Sreekanth, Y. Y. (2009). Bullying: An element accentuating social segregation. Education 3-13, 37(3), 233-245. doi:10.1080/03004270802349463 Willard, N. E. (2007). Cyberbullying and cyberthreats (book and cd): Responding to the challenge of online social aggression, threats, and distress. New York: Research Press. Read More