Volume : 3, Issue : 5, May - 2014

THE HARMFUL EFFECTS OF CYBERBULLING ON TEENAGERS–ACOMMONSTUDY

Dr. S. K. Dubey, Pooja Bector

Abstract :

A literature review of research pertaining to cyberbullying was completed.Findings indicate that cyberbullying and youthbullying is becoming more prevalent as students spend an increasing amount of time using technology that keeps them connected to people at all hours of the day. There are many different ways in which cyberbullies reach their victims, including instant messaging over the Internet, social networking web sites, text messaging and phone calls to cell phones. There are different forms of cyberbullying including, but not limited to, harassment, impersonation, and cyberstalking. It has been found that there are differences between not only the prevalence of cyberbullying between males and females but also the ways in which males and females cyberbully. Like bullying, cyberbullying is a serious problem which can cause the victim to feel inadequate and overly self–conscious, along with the possibility of committing suicide due to being cyberbullied. One such cases is included in this paper. There are numerous ways in which schools and parents can prevent cyberbullying and ways in which they can intervene if it has occurred. In this paper, I further describe the incidence of bullying, including gender differences, as well as characteristics of targets and bullies. Next, an outline of the short and long–term impact of bullying is provided. Finally, I discuss assessment issues, and effective interventions, both at the systems and individual levels. This article is intended to be an introduction to the subject with particular focus on issues of concern to psychologists. Therefore, many issues which could be discussed in much greater detail will only be iefly outlined with references to allow the reader to further explore a subject.