LIVED EXPERIENCES OF CYBERBULLYING

VICTIMS: A Phenomenological Study

VILMA S. FERNANDO
BNHS Junior High School
INTRODUCTION:
Bullying in the past was just part of ordinary lives of children
and teens. It may be considered as a way of teasing or just making
fun of a person. And over time, everybody seemed to get over it and
moved on with their living. But with the proliferation of technology at
present, bullying invaded private spaces and is no longer just found
in school grounds. Due to ease of access to internet, cyberbullying
came into being.
Cyberbullying is, the use of cellphones, instant messaging, e-
mail, chat rooms or social networking sites such
as Facebook and Twitter to harass, threaten or intimidate someone.
It can involve acts such as making threats, sending provocative
insults or racial or ethnic slurs, gay bashing, attempting to infect the
victim's computer with a virus and flooding an e-mail inbox with
messages.
 In the Philippines, 80% percent of teenagers aged 13 to 16 have
been cyberbullied through social media, according to a 2015 survey by
child-care nonprofit Stairway Foundation Inc. The survey also showed
that 30 percent of children aged 7 to 12 and 40 percent of 13 to 16 were
aware of peers who endured cyberbullying. But It was also found out
that 3 out of 10 children aged 7 to 12 were bullied through threats, two
were oppressed through photo editing, one were humiliated or had their
private conversations exposed, and three were either excluded or
impersonated through fake accounts.
Though the government and other agencies tend to this problem,
a number of studies still show that cyberbullying is in fact a serious and
growing problem locally, nationally, and globally, due primarily to
advances in technology and the widespread ownership of technological
devices among youth, adolescents, and young adults. (Yardi &
Bruckman, 2011)
 The impact among victims of this abuse manifests within students
in the form of negative psychological, emotional, and social relationship
problems (Blair, 2003;Juvonen & Gross,2008; Patchin and
Hinduja,2006). Moreover, the abuse often results in poor academic
performance by student victims (De Hue, Bolman, & Vollink,2008;
Delaney-Black et al., 2002;Van der Kohl, 2003; Wong et al.,2007) and
oftentimes leads some victims to become cyberbullies themselves
(National Crime Prevention Council, 2010).
And since cyberbullying continues to ruin teen’s lives, there is a
need for research that explores the experiences of students to be able
to strengthen existing DepEd programs and advocacies and find other
ways to deal with cyberbullying.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS:

The following research questions will guide this

phenomenological study in an effort to determine what cyberbullying
looks like when it occurs to teenagers in public high school. Also, the
study will attempt to lend understanding how cyberspace create
conflict in a school environment.

The specific questions this study sought to answer are:

1. How do teenagers describe their experiences on the issue of

cyberbullying?
2. What were their experiences?
3. What coping strategies were employed?
4. What realization do victims have to these experiences?
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK:

Social Constructivism

Creating a subjective meaning of their own lived

experiences and could be manifested to understand the lived
experiences of the participants who experienced cyberbullying,
and how they experience it through their own words.
METHOD:

A phenomenological approach is going to be applied in this

study to understand the experiences of adolescents who were
victims of cyberbullying.
Brian’s (2011) research identified that several of her study
participants had been victimized by incidences of cyberbullying
because of their obesity. Furthermore, her study found that while
cyberbullying incidences were hurtful to all participants, the
study subjects interpreted the meaning of these actions in varied
ways.
Hirst (2010) used interpretive phenomenological analysis in
a study she conducted to explore the experience of attempting
and surviving a suicide attempt.
SOURCES OF DATA:

One credible source of data that are needed to be collected

are initial reports in the guidance office this S.Y. 2016-2017.

Furthermore, recorded face-to-face interviews with the

participants/victims, family, adviser/teachers, friends, peers and
classmates as supplemental sources of information.
INSTRUMENT:

Unstructured interview questions will be the instrument for

this study. This is in attempt to delve deeper into the lived
experiences of the victims, their feelings toward these
experiences and their realization after the experience.
DATA GATHERING PROCEDURE :
First, The researcher shall seek permission from the authority
concerned for the conduct of this study. In addition, parental consent
as well as consent from the participants themselves will be issued to
ensure privacy and confidentiality of the information gathered.
Then, unstructured interview will be conducted individually. This
will provide opportunity for participants to open up and disclose
information without fear. The interview questions are open-ended,
which will allow participants to honestly express their experiences
with cyberbullying.
As part of the triangulation process, focus group
discussion/sessions will be conducted to interviews with the
participants’ families, peers, friends, adviser/teachers and classmates

These data will be analyzed and interpreted.

DATA ANALYSIS:

Interview data from unstructured interviews will be

transcribed and analyzed using open-coding and thematic
analysis to identify emergent themes and patterns. Open coding
will be used to categorize relevant groups (family, peer pressure,
social media use, etc.)
REFERENCES:

• Takumi, R. From Humiliation to Threats: 80% of young teens in

PHL experience cyberbullying –survey, GMA news online.
Retrieved from
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/lifestyle/parenting/560886/
80-of-young-teens-in-phl-experience-cyberbullying-
survey/story/#sthash.9k10jWTn.dpuf

• Manzi-Schaed, D. (2012). 500 million frenemies: A

phenomenological study of prevalence and perceptions of
female and male students as it relates to cyberbullying social
networking websites. Theses and Dissertations. Paper 488
REFERENCES:

• Miller, P. (2011). A Qualitative Study on the Experiences Black

Adolescent Females Have with Cyberbullying in Urban High
School Environment. Education Doctoral paper 2.
Retrieved at http://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/education_etd/2

• Kiriakidis,P.,P. Lakes, DeMarques, (2013). A case Study of

Student to Student Cyberbullying in One High School, Revista
Romaneasca pentru Educatio Multidimensionala, Volume 5,
Issue 2. December pp. 101-118.