Opinion Essay Cyberbullying at Schools
Opinion Essay Cyberbullying at Schools
Opinion Essay Cyberbullying at Schools
almost any social group. Compared to traditional face-to-face bullying, electronic harassment
gives the bullies additional advantages, such as anonymity and the victim's lower protective
ability. As Marzano and Lizut claim, "The Internet gives perpetrators new and powerful
means to harass their victims" (8). It is essential to combat all forms of bullying in legal and
social scopes, but, considering the peculiar nature of cyberbullying, efforts should be taken to
The percentage of harassment through social networking sites, chat rooms, texting, or
reported cases of bullying among school students. According to Lee et al., the studies of 2016
reported the rate of cyber victimization as 41 %, comparing to 15 % in 2015 (12). The main
reason for this tendency is that cyberbullying does not require applying physical strength and
close physical presence. The perpetrators use their familiarity with social media, anonymity,
and the victim's inability to escape. Moreover, it is more difficult for parents and teachers to
spread this awareness among the children who may unwarily become participants. The
tendency to raise this issue in the scientific and public scopes has positive dynamics. Smith
and Berkkun demonstrate an "exponential increase" of the research during the last 15 years
(qtd. in Baldry et al. 8). As the legal protection of cyberbullying victims is valid in the USA,
it is vital to detect harassment cases. For this purpose, parents and teachers should cooperate
to create trustworthy relationships so the child can ask for help from adults. Creating such
relationships can decrease the probability of bullying as parental support "can buffer the
relationship between experiences in bullying and maladjusted behaviors, while negative
associations can increase this relationship" (Lee et al. 13). That is why high emotional
support from parents and peers is necessary to combat bullying before it has occurred.
As the number of cyberbullying cases increases, it is worth noticing that children tend
to inform adults more about the harassment acts where they are victims or bystanders. One
can interpret this tendency as the result of awareness rising work done by scientists and
public writers. The problem is being vividly discussed, which is the first and crucial step to
tackling it. When ignored, bullying can lead to catastrophic outcomes as the connection
between higher rates of depression and anxiety and refusal to go to school and a decline in
academic performance, are observed (Sathyanarayana et al. 3). When informed about the
consequences of bullying, people are more eager to take action against it as they realize that
the children's future and their current well-being are in their hands.
In the USA, most of the states have legal documents concerning bullying. Besides,
cyberbullying is a specific issue complicated by the ubiquity of the Internet and the
attention to its nature. The task of any teacher, parent, or other not indifferent people is to
promote knowledge of the issue among each other and children. In addition to this, it is also
cooperation.
Works Cited
Lee, Jungup, et al. "Face-to-face Bullying, Cyberbullying, and Multiple Forms of Substance
Use among School-Age Adolescents in the USA." School Mental Health, vol. 10, no.
Marzano, Gilberto, and Joana Lizut. Cyberbullying and the Critical Importance
2019.
Consequences.” Indian Journal of Psychiatry, vol. 60, no. 1, 2018, pp. 3-5.