Aspects of Children Bullying - Essay Example

Children Bullying Number] Bullying has been an age old problem in schools. Be it primary, middle or high schools, nearly every child has to go through the point where other fellow students, who are usually more powerful than the victim, resort to bullying for various motives. With the widespread use of the Internet and other technologies, in the past two decades, a new form of bullying has cropped up – Cyber bullying. Cyber bullying is the use of technology to deliberately and repeatedly harm an individual or a group of individuals. Today, cyber bullying normally occurs via the internet, mobile service and text messaging. Most of the times, especially in schools, cyber bullying is done with the intention of socially alienating the victim from the rest of the peers (Li, 372). Cyber bullying goes one step further and also involves the use and distribution of text messages and pictures of a sexual nature. The social media is often used to publicize such images and subsequently, request sexual favours (Varjas et al., 270). Cyber bullying has increased to such an extent that and become so menacing that formal laws were passed in various countries to put a stop to this activity. Cyber bullying not only makes life uncomfortable for the victims, but also causes psychological problems, especially for school kids, teenagers and even for adults at times. Numerous researches have been conducted to study cyber bullying and to understand how it affects individuals. As a result of these studies, it was found that cyber bullying victimization rates were 28.7% in November 2009 (Donegan, 35). The popularity of social media has led to the rise of websites like Facebook and Twitter. According to a 2010 study, the most commonly used technologies by teenagers are cell phones and internet. This shows that these two technologies are the primary mediums which are used for cyber bullying. The research analyzed in this paper is a study conducted by Mishna et al., published in 2010. The research studies the phenomenon of cyber bullying in 2186 middle and high schools. Following numerous researches conducted on this topic, this research was conducted to study how the students, especially the victims, react to cyber bullying, which technologies are most commonly used for cyber bullying and what psychological impact do events like these have on the victims and the witnesses. Even though the phenomenon of cyberbullying is relatively new, various researches are being conducted on this topic and laws are being passed making cyberbullying illegal. This goes to show how recurrent this phenomenon is and how important the psychological repercussions of cyberbullying are. A 2006 online survey revealed that there are various forms of cyberbullying prevalent today. They range from being ignored, name calling and disrespect to more serious forms – threatening, spreading rumours and being picked on (Li, 375). The need for research in this field of study arose from the fact that cyberbullying victims often deny any emotional or psychological effects. Two different studies conducted by Cyberbullying Research Center showed that irrespective of their gender feelings of anger and frustration are common amongst victims. A similar result was obtained for middle and high school students. However, elementary school students reported feelings of sadness following bullying events (Donegan, 36). As opposed to prior studies, Mishna et al. conducted the study in a diverse student sample from Grades 6, 7, 10 and 11 in an urban setting. Unlike other investigations, which usually address the effects of cyberbullying on the victims, this study investigated the impact of both bullying other and being bullied in school. This helped the investigators gain an inside view on both sides of the story and thus, be able to define the effects and intensions of cyberbullying better. The research was conducted in schools in a large Canadian city. Students from Grades 6, 7, 10 and 11 were chosen as sample from this study. A total of 2186 students were chosen from various different schools across the city. The schools were randomly selected from various regions of the city. All of the students were given identical questionnaires; the terminology was altered to suit the age of the participants. The students were asked about the various different forms of cyberbullying and how many types have they witnessed. They were also asked if they have been the victims of such events in the past 3 months. The results of this research conformed to the results of the prior studies. Around 50% of the students reported cyberbullying incidents over the past three months. Name calling was the most common form of cyberbullying. It accounted for about twenty seven percent of the total incidents. This was followed by spreading rumours (twenty two percent), threatening (eleven percent), unwelcome sexual content (ten percent) and sexual requests (nine percent) (Mishna et al., 365). Most of the students reported that following a cyberbullying incident they felt anger, fear and embarrassment; however, there were very few who reported these incidents to their parents or teachers. Cyberbullying created doubts in the victims’ minds about their physical appearance, race, religion, gender and sexuality. As opposed to the victims, around thirty three percent of the students reported cyberbullying a peer over the past three months. The reasons for cyberbullying were the same as reported by the victims of these incidents. It was also found that in middle school there wasn’t a significant difference in the cyberbullying incidents experienced by both males and females. However, in high school, mostly females were cyberbullied. It was also found that females share more information with their friends via the internet, as opposed to their male counterparts. The results of this research were in accordance with the results of prior studies as well. A similar study conducted by Li (378), stated that most of the victims of cyberbullying felt upset, frustrated and angry as a result of the menace they had to endure publically. Very few victims tried to take revenge. Most of the students from the sample chose not to tell anybody and to go on with their lives. One of the important findings of this research was the dependency of today’s youth on technology. For youth today, it is virtually impossible to do without the cellular and internet services. These technologies are not only sued to communicate and keep in touch, but also to study and games. Even though the internet has provided the youth with a medium which helps them stay connected, very few knew about how to protect themselves and their information online (Varjas et al., 271). Cyberbullying has become a menace in schools today. Schools, which are supposed to be a safe haven for students, are now indirectly becoming a source of pain and embarrassment for cyberbullying victims. If cyberbullying is allowed to continue in institutions it can have an adverse effect on the minds of the students. As a result of the stress caused by cyberbullying, the victims can feel problematic emotions which can in turn lead to deviant and questionable behaviour (Donegan, 36). The stress caused by bullying can manifest itself into the minds of the victims. This can lead to alarming behaviour on the victims’ part. Many victims turn to antisocial behaviour, all the while trying to find an outlet for their frustration. Cyberbullying not only affects the victims but also the bullies themselves. According to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, sixty percent of the male bullies end up committing crimes as adults. Most of the victims turn to cyberbullying to let out their frustration, thus starting the cyclical process (Donegan, 36). This shows exactly how detrimental cyberbullying and bullying can be not only for the victims but for the bullies themselves. The increase in cyberbullying events signifies the need for intervention in schools so that the students can be protected. In order to put an end to cyberbullying, schools should take the initiative to educate students, teachers, parents and families about what cyberbullying actually is and how it harms the students. This way parents can be attentive if their child behaves in an extraordinary way. Most of the parents do not know how to deal with their kids who are victims or are cyberbully. Parents often do not pay attention to such incidents and let them pass by. Thus, it is the school’s responsibility and crucial need to educate parents and explain how important the issue of cyberbullying is and how detrimental it can be for their child’s health. The school should educate parents on how to recognize the signs of being bullied through the attitudes of their children. Most of the students do not report cyberbullying events to the school authorities because of the fear of becoming victims or becoming centre of attention to more bullying. The students need to realize their responsibilities and report such incidents. The students need to be taught about how technology can be misused and how they can protect their respective information online from prospective bullies and abusers. Works Cited Donegan, R, “Bullying and Cyberbullying: History, Statistics, Law, Prevention and Analysis”, The Elon Journal of Undergraduate Research in Communications, 3(1): 33-42, 2012. Retrieved from https://www.elon.edu/docs/e-web/academics/communications/research/vol3no1/04DoneganEJSpring12.pdf Li, Q, “Cyberbullying in High Schools: A Study of Students’ Behaviors and Beliefs About This New Phenomenon”, Journal of Aggression Maltreatment & Trauma, 19(4): 372-392, 2010. Retrieved from http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/10926771003788979 Mishna, F. et al. “Cyber Bullying Behaviors Among Middle and High School Students”, American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 80(3): 362-374, 2010. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1939-0025.2010.01040.x/pdf Varjas, K. et al, “High School Students’ Perceptions of Motivations for Cyberbullying: An Exploratory Study”, Western Journal of Emergency Medicine, XI(3), 269-273, 2010. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2941365/pdf/wjem11_3p269.pdf Read More