Free Essay Example on Cyber Bullying

Introduction

Cyberbullying is a form of harassment, usually on the internet and social platforms. These bullying behaviors may include posting unverified information, making sexual harassment remarks, exposing someone's personal information, and issuing threats (Koehler et al., 2018). Modernization and communication technology have propelled the practices of bullies. Online communication has no set rules to protect its users from cyberbullying, and therefore, these offenders can anytime and anywhere. Cyberbullying has shown adverse effects on the Victim compared to the face to face bullying.

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Cyberbullying is associated with more psychological torture. With teenagers and adolescents being the most affected, cyber victimization has resulted in anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, and the victims begin to show suicidal behaviors (Obermaier et al., 2016). A study into Incident Severity and Bystander Interventions, willingness to help in the event of cyberbullying, socio-demographic variables with cyberbullying, and Victim Blaming in Cyberbullying were done on 284 German-speaking individuals.

Victimization

Many individuals usually experience bullying as bystanders. They are typically present when the victimization is taking place. They may take place in the bullying or not. However, the Majority of the bystanders do not intervene but rather speculate at a distance, hence a high risk of severe and increased victimization. Victim blaming is also a significant factor in addressing cyberbullying. Many bystanders feel that what is happening to an individual is their sole responsibility (Obermaier et al., 2016). Victim blaming is considered a form of moral disentanglement. Moral disengagement promotes inhumane traits like ignoring people during emergencies.

An insight into socio-demographic variables such as age, gender, and education levels demonstrated the most vulnerable groups. Adolescents and teenagers are the most affected in terms of age because they tend to participate in many social platforms. Studies show no gender differences in cyberbullying victimization (Koehler et al., 2018). Both boys and girls are vulnerable.

Conclusion

In conclusion, prevention measures and sensitization is necessary on the consequences of cyberbullying. Online bullying should be added to in-school prevention programs to educate vulnerable teenagers and school. Creating awareness of the harmful repercussions will prevent future occurrences.

References

Koehler, C, & Weber, M (2018) ”Do I need to help?!" Perceived severity of cyberbullying, Victim blaming, and bystanders' willingness to help the Victim.Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 12(4), article 4.
https://doi.org/10.5817/CP2018-4-4

Obermaier, M., Fawzi, N., & Koch, T. (2016) By standing or standing by? How the number of bystanders affect the intention to intervene in cyberbullying. New Media & Society, 18, 1491–1507. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444814563519.