Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying occurs when an individual deliberately uses digital media to communicate false, embarrassing or hostile information about another person. It is the most common online risk for all young people, and it also poses a peer to peer risk (Richards, Caldwell & Go, 2015, para. 6). Cyberbullying comes hand in hand with social media, unfortunately. When you choose to post something online, there is the opportunity for others to comment, whether this be positive or negative, it has the potential therefore, to affect an individual.

                                 Eckerd, Marcia & D, Ph. (2019). Cyberbullying: Parents Beware. [Digital image]

A study into young people’s use of digital and social media, ‘The Net Children Go Mobile’ study in 2014 found that while 12 % (a minority) of 9 to 16 year olds had experienced cyberbullying, it had impacted negatively on their mental health. This triggering reduced confidence and self-esteem, and therefore probable higher risk of depression (Firth, 2017, P19). Currently, a significant number of children are obsessed with social media, infatuated with reading each other's posts to know what is happening with their peers and young people often like to post online to get their friends’ attention. Other risks posed by social media include sending or posting abusive or threatening messages, creating and sharing embarrassing photos or videos and hijacking online identities or creating a fake profile to damage another’s reputation etc (Firth, 2017, P19). This kind of damaging behaviour can be extremely detrimental to a young person’s mental wellbeing. Middle childhood is, a hypersensitive time for children, they are maturing, becoming susceptible to hormones and they develop a desire to have their own privacy whilst the lines of separation with parents begin to form and become clearer (Leham, n.d, para.4).  This conversely is where the root of the problem lies. Wanting to be private and not wanting to share every detail of their personal life with parents and family members, means ultimately if cyberbullying does occur, it often isn’t discussed, and so the child keeps the information to themselves and families are often unaware of the problem. If a child was to receive threatening messages or embarrassing photos or videos, they could feel helpless, depressed and very isolated because they are ill-equipped to handle the situation alone. Overall while there are several benefits to the use of social media, cyberbullying has emerged as a potential harm, raising questions regarding its influence on mental health (Hamm, M.P, Newton, A.S, & Hartling, 2015, para. 5).