Cyber Bullying
The Impact Of Cyber Bullying On Young People’s Mental Health
The overall aim of the project is to understand the impact of cyber bullying on the mental health of young people aged 12-18. I wanted to explore:
- The links between cyber and other forms of bullying
- How aware parents are about cyber bullying
- What schools do to monitor and deal with cyber bullying
- Whether cyber bullying affects the way in which young people use technology
- Whether increasing use of technology, and new technologies, make cyber bullying worse
- Why bullies might choose cyber bullying as opposed to other methods
- Whether there were any differences in experiences of cyber bullying
The key points from the literature:
- Cyber bullying has some shared characteristics with traditional bullying such as repetition, power imbalance and intention.
- Cyber bullying is also different to traditional bullying because it is anonymous, rapid and victims cannot escape from it.
- When young people are involved in sending nasty text messages and emails about another young person they might not be aware of the potential harm they are causing to them.
- Bullying in all forms can have a negative effect on a young person’s mental health.
What is traditional bullying?
“Repetitive, willful or persistent behaviour intended to cause harm, although one-off incidents can in some cases also be defined as bullying; Intentionally harmful behaviour, carried out by an individual or a group; and An imbalance of power leaving the person being bullied feeling defenseless. Bullying is emotionally or physically harmful behaviour and includes: name-calling; taunting; mocking; making offensive comments; kicking; hitting; pushing; taking belongings; inappropriate text messaging and emailing; sending offensive or degrading images by phone or via the internet; gossiping; excluding people from groups and spreading hurtful and untruthful rumours.”(House of Commons 2007:7-8)
What is cyber bullying?
The overall aim of the project is to understand the impact of cyber bullying on the mental health of young people aged 12-18. I wanted to explore:
- The links between cyber and other forms of bullying
- How aware parents are about cyber bullying
- What schools do to monitor and deal with cyber bullying
- Whether cyber bullying affects the way in which young people use technology
- Whether increasing use of technology, and new technologies, make cyber bullying worse
- Why bullies might choose cyber bullying as opposed to other methods
- Whether there were any differences in experiences of cyber bullying
The key points from the literature:
- Cyber bullying has some shared characteristics with traditional bullying such as repetition, power imbalance and intention.
- Cyber bullying is also different to traditional bullying because it is anonymous, rapid and victims cannot escape from it.
- When young people are involved in sending nasty text messages and emails about another young person they might not be aware of the potential harm they are causing to them.
- Bullying in all forms can have a negative effect on a young person’s mental health.
What is traditional bullying?
“Repetitive, willful or persistent behaviour intended to cause harm, although one-off incidents can in some cases also be defined as bullying; Intentionally harmful behaviour, carried out by an individual or a group; and An imbalance of power leaving the person being bullied feeling defenseless. Bullying is emotionally or physically harmful behaviour and includes: name-calling; taunting; mocking; making offensive comments; kicking; hitting; pushing; taking belongings; inappropriate text messaging and emailing; sending offensive or degrading images by phone or via the internet; gossiping; excluding people from groups and spreading hurtful and untruthful rumours.”(House of Commons 2007:7-8)
What is cyber bullying?