Ross 1

Marlee Ross

Prof. Flores

English 1101-555

25 Nov 2019

Cyberbullying: A Virus Infecting Society

A group of friends walked home on a Friday after school. The girls, excited for a

sleepover, began their night by going on their phones. They apparently are known as the

“losers” at school and are made fun of a lot. One of the girls opened up Instagram and noticed a

“1” by her direct message button. It was from one of the popular girls, saying, “Looks like lunch

will be fun for you tomorrow. Be ready, you loser.” The girl immediately felt anxiety come on, but

never reported this incident to her friends, which in reality, many cybervictims are known to do.

Cyberbullying is widely known, and researchers have finally found out why many people

choose to bully. Most people agree that it’s very cruel. Although, there are obviously many

cyberbullies out there that don’t. The list for why bullies torment is long, and the effects are

lasting on the victims. Cyberbullying is frightful for our society, but it stems from a loss of

empathy, one of the many reasons why teens choose to bully others online, and it has long-

lasting effects on its victims; however, fortunately, there are ways to help those who are stuck in

these painful situations.

Bullying has been studied for many decades, but cyberbullying has recently become

more popular with all the social media: Instagram, Snapchat, etc. According to Psychology

Today: “It is a significant and growing problem, with reports specifying that up to 50 percent of

school-aged children experience bullying via technology.” Cyberbullying has gradually grown at

very high rates. This statistic indicates that cyberbullying has gradually grown at very high rates

even more than in school or outside of school physically, verbally, or relationally. It is affecting

over half of school-aged children, and there is most likely more cyberbullying to come with new

technology such as Apple watches, iPhone XRs, iMacs, iPads, etc.

 Ross 2

Why would a person want to harm others? Cyberbullies often choose to take a part in

cyberbullying because they have less empathy. Psychology Today states that “In a large study,

40 percent of students who engaged in online bullying reported not feeling anything after

bullying online, while only 16 percent of the cyberbullies reported feeling guilty.” This statistic

adds that many cyberbullies don’t have sympathy for the victims they choose to “prey” upon. It’s

all about what the cyberbullies need to do to fulfill their ego, making them have power over

others.

Another reason students bully is to try and fit in with the popular crowd. Cyberbullies

want to be included, and in order to do so, they have to go to great lengths to be funny or prove

they are worthy. Those lengths may involve but aren’t limited to: sending mean texts, making

threats, harassing people online, etc. Some people try really hard to fit in and do unthinkable

things in order to do so.

A final possible cause is that people who participate in violence or abuse substances,

such as drugs, are on the spectrum for cyberbullying. Psychology Today once again states that

“Adolescent cyberbullies have been found to engage in other problematic behaviors as well. For

example, they have been found to be more likely to engage in substance abuse and have

higher levels of participation in school violence.” Doing drugs too often can cause more and

more chemicals to enter kids’ brains. These chemicals are toxic and mess up teens’ normal

brain flow. Drugs and chemicals can affect teenagers potentially even more by causing them to

have frequent outbursts and typically a mix of emotions that vary from frustration to anger.

Cyberbullies also don’t typically have parents monitoring their social media and checking their

devices, so kids think they can get away with how they choose to act, such as harassing others,

making cruel remarks to someone, judging others, being aggressive with words, etc.

Just as there are a variety of causes for cyberbullying, there are also a variety of effects

on the victims that range from depression, poor academic performance, suicide, and self harm.

According to Psychiatry Research: “After adjusting for gender and age, the present results show
 Ross 3

a 148% (OR=2.48, 95% CI [1.99, 3.09]) likelihood increase of suicidal ideation on adolescents

with cyberbullying victimization.” The suicide rates continue to increase from 2000 to 2019.

Because the suicide rates are getting very severe, some people in Hong Kong wanted to take

action. In this particular source, a mediation analysis tested adolescents to see what

preventions could result from suicide and depression. Many who tested this figured that life

satisfaction and family relationships could help ease the tension between the effects of

cyberbullying that the victims have to deal with. The main point the researchers wanted to get

across was how serious the suicide rates are in Hong Kong and how deadly the effects are from

cyberbullying.

Cyberbullying effects are very serious among the victims. According to Scientific

American, the author states that “Cyberbullying and depression went hand-in-hand, the

researchers report today (June 22) in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.” Depression is not in any

way, shape, or form a positive. On the other hand, regular face-to-face bullying can relate to

something very harmful to our society too, in which Pappas states that “Regular, face-to-face

bullying during the teen years may double the risk of depression in adulthood, and bullying's

effects can be as bad or worse than child abuse, studies show.” Worse than child abuse or just

as bad? It’s painful to think about, but it’s most certainly true and possible considering all of the

cyberbullies that are searching the web and sites daily to prey on their next victims. This is

getting more severe day after day, but cyberbullies still continue to bully for a multitude of

reasons, some we may never even fully understand.

Although many people continue to get cyberbullied everyday, they do not get through

this alone. There are ways to help victims, and thankfully those ways have improved over the

years by the help of courageous people and organizations willing to take a step forward.

According to Agosto and other reputable researchers, they state: “Researchers generally agree

that educating young people is key to increasing their online safety and privacy, and this is

particularly true for cyberbullying prevention.” One could also assume from this fact that
 Ross 4

librarians will focus on setting up types of interventions and classes involving the topic of

cyberbullying. According to Agosto and other researchers, they also state that, “Interventions

must focus on positive concepts like healthy relationships and digital citizenship rather than

starting with the negative framing of bullying.” Starting out calm in the beginning will help people

feel a little at ease, especially because they are talking about such a severe topic. The primary

focus of these group-like interventions are to inform people about positivity and give them

confidence. Everyone deserves to feel worthy, especially for those in the situation of being

cyberbullied very often.

There are also other ways to help those being victimized by cyberbullying. In this

particular source, it’s on much simpler terms. According to Referral and Support, they state:

“Key principles here include reassuring them that they have done the right thing by telling

someone; recognising that it must have been difficult for them to deal with; and reiterating that

no-one has a right to do that to them.” Another way Referral and Support alludes to is “It is

essential to advise the young person being bullied not to retaliate in any way or reply angrily to

any of the messages or emails.” It’s important to have as much support as possible because no

one should have to handle cyberbullying alone in any given situation. Online associations with

the support of cyberbullying have been prominent in our society for decades. These

establishments genuinely are willing to support those who need it.

Maybe the next time you see cyberbullying on the news, this essay can help you see the

real effects of what cyberbullying has done and continues to do. That way, you can see visually

why many teens and adolescents around the world choose to bully others online, the effects

cyberbullying has on the victims, and ways to help those who are stuck in these cruel situations.

Sometimes, the news can to go great lengths enough. People suffer from it everyday, even

when you may not know it. That’s why it’s important to be kind to everyone and use the internet

and social media in a respectful manner. Cyberbullying is gradually increasing. Maybe by

reading this, you can encourage and spread kindness the way it should be.
 Ross 5

Works Cited

Agosto, Denise E., et al. “Cyberbullying and Teens What YA Librarians Can Do to

Help.”Young Adult Library Services, vol. 10, no. 2, Winter 2012, pp. 38–43.

GaleAcademicOnefile,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lih&AN=73183894&site=eds-live.

Chang, Qingsong, et al. “Cyberbullying and Suicide Ideation among Hong Kong Adolescents:

The Mitigating Effects of Life Satisfaction with Family, Classmates and Academic

Results.” Psychiatry Research, vol. 274, Apr. 2019, pp. 269–273. ScienceDirect,

doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2019.02.054.

“How to Support Victims of Cyberbullying.” Referral and Support | ReachOut Schools,

schools.au.reachout.com/articles/how-to-support-victims-of-cyberbullying.
 Ross 6

Pappas, Stephanie. “Social Media Cyber Bullying Linked to Teen Depression.” Scientific

American, 23 June 2015,

www.scientificamerican.com/article/social-media-cyber-bullying-linked-to-teen-depress

ion/

“Why Do Some Kids Cyberbully Others?” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers,

www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-wide-wide-world-psychology/201304/why-do-s

ome-kids-cyberbully-others.