Causes and effects of cyberbullying among students

Nguyễn Thị Thu Trang

Nguyễn Thị Thảo Linh, MA

November 22, 2023

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Causes and effects of cyberbullying among students

Have you ever bullied someone while you were still a student? I believe that many

of us have at least once committed an act of bullying because the initial acts of bullying

only stemmed from jokes among friends. With the rapid development of technology,

bullying has become an even bigger concern with new forms emerging. While online

communication and interaction are wonderful technological advances for humanity, they

are also breeding grounds for cyberbullying behaviors. Previously, bullying was limited to

direct impacts and did not have a community scale. However, with cyberspace, the

opportunities for anonymous bullies to act publicly on platforms have increased. Social

media, gaming forums, and public websites have become places for cyber bullies to carry

out their acts with the witness, supervision, and even support of other people. other use.

Schools have become one of the most alarming environments with a terrible outbreak of

cyberbullying in recent years (Due et al., 2005). So why has cyberbullying become a

concern not only for schools but also for researchers? The article below explores the causes

and effects on students who are victims of online bullying, highlighting the reasons for this

special concern.

Cyberbullying can originate from two groups of causes: subjective causes, which

belong to the person who bullies or is bullied, and objective causes, which relate to

influencing factors.

The first cause of cyberbullying is personality traits, which fall under subjective

causes. According to ŞAHİN (2012) and Kokkinos et al. (2016), emotional vulnerability,

conscientiousness, and openness were the strongest predictors of being a bully or a victim

of cyberbullying. Emotional instability or loss of emotional control can lead to anxiety,

stress, impulsivity, loneliness, and vulnerability. This trait is often seen in students who are

still developing both physically and mentally. Emotionally unstable individuals may seek

comfort in the online world, which can make them vulnerable to becoming bullies or
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victims of cyberbullying. This can be expressed through feelings of vulnerability and

sensitivity in victims of cyberbullying and aggressive behavior in cyberbullies. On the

other hand, individuals who are conscientious, responsible, thorough, and diligent are also

at high risk of becoming victims of cyberbullying. Their good nature and sense of

responsibility may make it difficult for them to ignore or tolerate cyberbullying. However,

intervening in such actions to protect victims can also make them targets of bullying.

Conversely, individuals with a lack of responsibility, reputation, and poor image are likely

to become bullies out of a desire to balance their self-image by criticizing someone online.

Moreover, extroverted and open personalities are often more visible in cyberbullies.

Extroverted and sociable people tend to express themselves strongly both in real life and

online, which makes them more likely to comment or judge others online. With internet

space, their behavior can quickly spread and engage millions of users in cyberbullying. To

sum up, certain personality traits can significantly impact whether someone becomes a

cyberbully or a victim of cyberbullying in online spaces.

Education level is also a subjective cause that plays a role in the formation of

cyberbullying individuals with poor education are at a higher risk of both perpetrating and

becoming victims of cyberbullying (Holfeld & Grabe, 2012; Kowalski et al., 2014;

Vazsonyi et al., 2012). Education is a reflection of an individual's awareness of societal

issues, including cultural issues in the digital world. Lack of knowledge and skills to use

the internet correctly can lead to users falling into trouble in cyberspace. People with low

education levels have a limited understanding of the impacts of cyberbullying, making

them more likely to bully or criticize others online. Moreover, they are also at a higher risk

of becoming victims of cyberbullying due to their lack of knowledge and skills to protect

themselves.

Besides subjective reasons, objective reasons also have an important influence on

cyberbullying. Parenting style is the first important objective cause affecting

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cyberbullying. Students are still under the control of their parents, so it is not difficult to

understand that parents play an important role in shaping their children's behavior. Parents

who regularly communicate with their children, support them, and understand their lives

have a lower percentage of children who become victims of cyberbullying (Aoyama et al.,

2012; Taiariol, 2011; Wade & Beran, 2011). On the other hand, parenting styles can also

reflect the parents' personality and behavior towards their children and others around them.

Children are believed to be a reflection of their parents, and therefore, parents who show

love and affection towards their children contribute to nurturing love in them and prevent

them from feeling isolated. In contrast, parents who are less interested in or connected to

their children's lives can cause them to become distant from their relatives, making it

difficult for parents to intervene promptly if their child becomes a victim of bullying.

Additionally, parents who adopt a civilized approach to raising their children by avoiding

violence and vulgar language can help them develop positive personality traits.

Conversely, children who grow up in an unhealthy environment may also experience

negative influences, such as violent behavior or harsh language.

Anonymity in cyberspace is the next objective cause of online bullying.

Anonymity makes online harassment more appealing to internet users, which consequently

increases the level of cyberbullying (Aricak et al., 2008). Unlike traditional bullying,

cyberbullying is facilitated by the anonymity of the users. In cyberspace, users can easily

hide their true identities by creating unlimited virtual identities. This makes it easy for

bullies to openly criticize, harass, or judge their victims without fear of being reported.

Besides, cyberbullying acts are also public and involve the participation of many other

users. The anonymity of cyberspace gives the cyberbully a feeling of greater power over

the victim, resulting in excitement and a desire to engage in online bullying. Additionally,

those who are the targets of these attacks often find it difficult to resist and thoroughly deal

with the bully. If left unchecked, they may become victims of cyberbullying.
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The quality of life is also a cause that affects cyberbullying. Students who have a

low level of satisfaction with their living standards are more likely to become cyberbullies

(Livazović & Ham, 2019). Quality of life can be measured by economic or material

adequacy, and dissatisfaction with living standards can cause negative emotions such as

low self-esteem, stress, and anger. These negative emotions can drive individuals to turn to

cyberspace as a way to relieve their stress. One way to do this is by attacking others to feel

a sense of superiority.

Although cyberbullying takes place in virtual spaces where identities can be easily

fabricated, it has a direct impact on the real lives and real identities of virtual users. Many

children believe that all problems related to the virtual world will end when they stop

accessing the internet. However, borrowing open platforms like social networks to make

outrageous jokes can allow bullying to spread into the real world. With an unreliable level

of security, the user's true identity can often be discovered, which can lead to online

bullying turning into school bullying. Even in cases where identity is protected, engaging

in forms of cyberbullying can still have serious consequences on victims' mental health,

physical health, academic performance, and relationships.

Psychological illnesses in students are the first effects of cyberbullying. As

discussed by Arseneault, Bowes, and Shakoor (2010), being the ringleader or the victim of

excessive online teasing can "independently" impact children's psychological problems.

This shows that cyberbullying is the direct cause of negative changes in children's

psychology or thinking without any other influencing factors. Unlike physical bullying

which leaves visible evidence, cyberbullying can cause indirect, hostile impacts on social

networks that can result in lasting mental damage. This can have profound consequences

long into the future. Furthermore, this form of cyberbullying can be persistent throughout

the day due to unlimited internet use, which can result in children being bullied, teased, or

humiliated at any time. With an undeveloped psychological constitution, constant sudden

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attacks can also cause students to fall into a state of psychological instability with

understandable negative emotions such as anxiety, fear, and even becoming self-conscious

because they believe what the bully says. For example, in the case of a female student who

was the victim of negative comments about her body on social networks, she had such

negative thoughts that she went on a hunger strike, used weight loss pills, or even tried to

commit suicide. It is worth noting that students facing online bullying may choose not to

share it with parents and teachers responsible for intervention. It can lead them to have to

bear all the heavy psychological consequences in an unprepared state. Not intervening at

the right time also causes the victim to suffer frustration and mental torment for a long

time, thereby forming serious psychological illnesses in children. Victims of online

bullying are at a higher risk of developing depression, hyperactivity, anxiety disorders, and

loss of control compared to regular students (Price et al., 2003; Kaltiala-Heino et al.,

1999). Depression or emotional disorders in children can be considered the most severe

manifestations of affected mental health. These diseases can harm students' thinking,

which can cause them to doubt their existence and the meaning of real life. Over time,

these harmful thoughts can develop into foolish actions toward themselves in the future.

Cyber violence also contributes to negative effects on students' physical health.

Persistent psychological problems lead to excessive fatigue in the victim, thereby causing

the student's physical health to seriously decline. Indirect attacks through electronic

communication can cause children to experience prolonged insomnia, constant stress, and

loss of control over their behavior such as bedwetting (Brown, Birch & Kancherla, 2005;

Williams et al., 1996). Students' health can be damaged by these negative effects, thereby

leading to susceptibility to related diseases. For example, long-term insomnia can cause

serious physical weakness in children, directly affecting their natural development.

Depending on the severity, victims of cyberbullying may also face other problems such as

nightmares, weight changes, metabolic disorders, or even increased blood pressure. These
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are all typical manifestations of stress and anxiety not only in children but also in adults.

The close connection between mental and physical health shows the serious impact of

online bullying on the development of victims, who are students and do not have full social

awareness. In addition, loss of behavioral control in students can lead to bad habits such as

alcohol and drug use or self-harming actions such as hunger strikes, cutting, or other

dangerous behaviors, which are conducted in an unstable emotional state.

Cyberbullying has also been shown to have negative effects on students' academic

performance. Academic achievement is an expression of a student's ability to concentrate

as well as his or her attitude toward his or her work. According to Lacey and Cornell

(2011), students who are bullied don't want to go to school and they consistently receive

lower grades than their peers who are not involved in the bullying behavior. The feeling of

being criticized and teased by malicious jokes in cyberspace has created a real feeling of

anxiety when they go to school and face relationships with friends and teachers. Students

may not only be afraid of going to school but even receiving knowledge can make them

repel, which has a direct impact on the decline in scores of victims of bullying. A bad

physical condition cannot create the best learning conditions for students when their brain

and health do not allow them to participate in learning activities. Reduced friendship

relationships also impact the ability to learn in class when friends are also important

sources of knowledge. In particular, the concerns of bullying victims are not only learning

but also how to deal with virtual bullies. Furthermore, receiving low scores is also the

reason why the victims' scores are increasingly low, as the scores also reflect their failure

and weakness at work. All of these influences have formed the feeling of boredom with

school, the desire to drop out of school, and the poor academic performance of

cyberbullying victims.

The relationships of victims of cyberbullying are also negatively affected. The

psychological damage inflicted on them creates a barrier between the victim and society,
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making it difficult for them to connect and communicate with others. Bullied students do

not have good relationships with friends and school staff and they also experience related

problems (Brown, Birch & Kancherla, 2005; Williams et al., 1996). Being subjected to

cruel jokes for a prolonged period can cause victims to develop negative feelings about

themselves, leading them to withdraw from relationships with family and friends. This is

because they may feel insecure and believe that people around them look down on them

and exclude them from conversations. Furthermore, victims can start to feel criticized even

when someone is simply looking at them. This situation can continue for an extended

period, causing the victim to feel inferior in relationships and lose valuable connections.

In addition to negative impacts on victims, cyberbullying also leaves serious

consequences that are somewhat similar to those of online bullies in all four aspects

physical health, mental health, academic performance, and relationships. According to

Ttofi (2001), these negative effects can even last until the people involved become adults.

These students will have to grow up in unstable psychological and mental health

conditions The effects of cyberbullying can prevent those students from developing

themselves, which directly affects their own future or even society in the future.

Cyberbullying can be considered a negative consequence of the rapid expansion of

social networks in recent years. It has truly become a new social problem as it contributes

to worsening the community's internet culture. Students, the future generations of the

country, who have grown up with social networks, are also directly affected by this bad

behavior. The causes of bullying mostly come from the person participating in the bullying

and they are also the ones most affected. Families and schools need to promote their roles

in developing and promptly preventing this negative behavior. At the same time, students

are the key to solving the problem by raising awareness of online use so they can help

themselves or their friends when encountering any signs of online bullying.

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