Cyberbullying among adolescents and teenagers is defined as the purposeful and repetitive harm done by one or more peers in cyberspace as a result of using digital devices and social media platforms. Cyber-stalking, profile impersonation, and dating sites assault have been ranked as the most prevalent forms of cyberbullying activities in recent years. Children and teenagers between the ages of 11 and 20 account for almost two-thirds of all Internet users worldwide (Gabrielli et al., 2021). However, the negative aspect associated with this influx of young internet users is that they may bully or be bullied by others online, regardless of their perceptions and awareness about it.
Although cyberbullying research is in its nascent stages, the prevalence of this vice among adolescents has transformed into a public health concern that is intimately affecting the behavior and mental health development of adolescents. It has exhibited devastating effects on different areas of their lives, including violation of their personal space and the onset of mental health problems among them (Beyer & Lazzara, 2019). Bullies in virtual contexts, on the other hand, continuously explore new avenues for cyber harassment with no geographical constraints. The section below compares the adversity of cyberbullying to that of physical bullying.
Cyberbullying may have a greater impact than conventional physical bullying since abusers can operate through pseudo-accounts and easily contact their victims at any time. Additionally, victims bullied via online platforms have higher chances of developing anxiety, stress, and depression compared to those of physical bullying (Pichel et al., 2021). They may suffer self-esteem issues at school and truancy in case their encounter goes viral. Therefore, cyberbullying is a worldwide issue that demands stronger international cooperation to address it. The two sources are fit for this discussion post based on two main criteria. These are academic content relevance (they both address bullying among adolescents) and their publication year (they were both published within the last three years).
References
Gabrielli, S., Rizzi, S., Carbone, S., & Piras, E. M. (2021). School Interventions for Bullying–Cyberbullying Prevention in Adolescents: Insights from the UPRIGHT and CREEP Projects. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(21), 11697.
Pichel, R., Foody, M., O’Higgins Norman, J., Feijóo, S., Varela, J., & Rial, A. (2021). Bullying, cyberbullying and the overlap: What does age have to do with it? Sustainability, 13(15), 8527.