Cyberbullying and Its Harmful Effects on Teens
Cyberbullying and Its Harmful Effects on Teens
Teens have nowhere to hide. Cyberbullying is increasing alongside of advances in technology. Most teens now have access to electronic communications and the Internet, making them easy targets for cyberbullying. Cyberbullies are using e-mail, cell phones and the Internet to cause emotional harm, harass, threaten, ridicule, and exert control over their victims. Additionally, cyberbullied teens are committing suicide at an alarming rate. Cyberbullying must be stopped; it poses psychological trauma and health risks, affects social interpersonal skills, and can ultimately cause suicide. A Cyberbully is able to breach every part of its victim’s life, and keeping teens safe in cyberspace will be a challenge that parents, educators, and law enforcement officers must face and defeat.
To begin to understand why cyberbullying poses a risk for psychological trauma, as well as other health risks to teens, one must understand a teens’ brain, which is a work in progress. Teens lack fully developed judgment and impulse controls until they transition from childhood to adulthood. The brain’s frontal lobe (involved in making judgments and plans) is slower developing than the brain’s limbic system (associated with emotions and drives), which causes increased emotional stress, and emotional storms. Teens lack fully developed judgment and impulse controls until they transition from childhood to adulthood. “During the early to mid-teen years, self-esteem falls and, for girls, depression scores often increase” (Myers 85). Teens are often impulsive, irritable, uncommunicative, rebellious, risk-takers, sleep-deprived and friend-oriented. At any one time teens can be experiencing one or more of these conditions, not thinking before acting, as well as not considering consequences before taking risks (Hopkins). Teens who are cyberbullied experience depression, anxiety, difficulty concentrating and often want to miss school. Teens who receive
Teens have nowhere to hide. Cyberbullying is increasing alongside of advances in technology. Most teens now have access to electronic communications and the Internet, making them easy targets for cyberbullying. Cyberbullies are using e-mail, cell phones and the Internet to cause emotional harm, harass, threaten, ridicule, and exert control over their victims. Additionally, cyberbullied teens are committing suicide at an alarming rate. Cyberbullying must be stopped; it poses psychological trauma and health risks, affects social interpersonal skills, and can ultimately cause suicide. A Cyberbully is able to breach every part of its victim’s life, and keeping teens safe in cyberspace will be a challenge that parents, educators, and law enforcement officers must face and defeat.
To begin to understand why cyberbullying poses a risk for psychological trauma, as well as other health risks to teens, one must understand a teens’ brain, which is a work in progress. Teens lack fully developed judgment and impulse controls until they transition from childhood to adulthood. The brain’s frontal lobe (involved in making judgments and plans) is slower developing than the brain’s limbic system (associated with emotions and drives), which causes increased emotional stress, and emotional storms. Teens lack fully developed judgment and impulse controls until they transition from childhood to adulthood. “During the early to mid-teen years, self-esteem falls and, for girls, depression scores often increase” (Myers 85). Teens are often impulsive, irritable, uncommunicative, rebellious, risk-takers, sleep-deprived and friend-oriented. At any one time teens can be experiencing one or more of these conditions, not thinking before acting, as well as not considering consequences before taking risks (Hopkins). Teens who are cyberbullied experience depression, anxiety, difficulty concentrating and often want to miss school. Teens who receive
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