Cyberbullying

Abstract
Cyberbullying refers to the use of electronic means or digital technology to harass, intimidate, or cause harm. While much attention focuses on childhood cyberbullying, adult cyberbullying also occurs and may be referred to as cyberstalking or cyber-harassment. Cyberbullying in all its forms is remarkably common and prevalent, and may become more so as technology progresses and proliferates. The effects of cyberbullying can be drastic, including suicide or identify theft. The law does not always offer substantial protection against cyberbullying, although in some cases civil and/or criminal charges may result in serious repercussions for the perpetrators. Education and awareness helps prevent cyberbullying, but there are also means of preventing cyberbullying using the very same technology used to perpetrate it. While it may be impossible to prevent all types of cyberbullying, it is certainly possible to empower children and inform schools about how to create a culture of safety and support. To prevent and mitigate the problems associated with cyberbullying, parents and peers also need to play an active role and rely on a multitude of strategies. 
Introduction
The advent of digital technology has made it so that traditional forms of bullying have gone online. While cyberbullying by definition lacks direct physical aggression, it may accompany it. Cyberbullying bears most of the marks of traditional bullying, and is characterized by power imbalance in the social contract (Englander, Donnerstein, Kowalski, et al., 2017). Some teasing is inevitable online, but when digital technology is used to harass or hurt another person in any way, it can cause tremendous psychological harm and even result in lifelong consequences. 
Parents, teachers, and school administrators may be only tacitly aware of the problem of cyberbullying without really realizing how to recognize it, how to prevent it, and how serious it can be. In many ways, cyberbullying is easier to pull of than traditional bullying. For one, the perpetrator can hide behind a cloak of anonymity if desired, which could not happen in face-to-face encounters. In one survey, 81% of teens admit that bullying someone online is “easier to get away with” than physical or in person bullying (“11 Facts About Cyberbullying,” n.d.).
Second, the smartphone has practically become an appendage for many young people. The person will invariably be exposed to the bullying behaviors because they are so difficult to avoid. Third, cyberbullying can go viral. Unlike face-to-face incidents, the messages or images that bullies use to harass or intimidate will be visible by exponentially greater numbers of people than would be possible with traditional forms of bullying. By the same token, the malicious content may linger in cyberspace for years, haunting the victim—as well as the bully. 
The law has yet to evolve consistent methods of preventing or responding to cyberbullying because it is a complex issue. Unless the cyberbully used racial slurs or made overt threats, it would be possible to claim the right to freedom of speech. Another issue is related to how the victim of cyberbullyign reacts. Some students are remarkably resilient psychologically and socially and do not allow cyberbullyign to bother them. Yet a large number do not have robust emotional, social, or cognitive coping skills. Even when cyberbullying comes across as seemingly mild or harmless, it can leave long-term repercussions for the child’s social life and even influence the ways parents and teachers perceive that child. Cyberbullying certainly needs to be taken seriously, and considered more as a signal that the culture’s norms of teenage socialization need to change.
Definition of Cyberbullying
Cyberbullying takes many forms but is fairly easy to define. It refers to deliberate attempts to harm a person using digital technology. Cyberbullying can include verbal abuse, threats, or damaging a person’s reputation by spreading rumors or circulating graphic imagery and other multimedia. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services refers to both relational aggression and verbal aggression. Relational aggression includes the indirect acts, such as spreading rumors or multimedia files that embarrass or shame. Verbal aggression is more direct: saying hateful or mean things to a person. Misinterpreting the tone of a person’s message should not be considered cyberbullying, but merely proof that digital methods of communication do lack features that convey emotion well such as tone of voice or body language (Enough is Enough, n.d.).. Therefore, it is important to distinguish between actual cyberbullying and simply poor netiquette. Some definitions of cyberbullying limit it to children and adolescents. Hirsch  (n.d.), for example, claims that by definition cyberbullying “occurs among young people,” and that adult cyberbullying should be referred to as cyberstalking or cyber-harassment (p. 1). However, not all adult forms of cyberbullying can be classified as stalking or harassment; some forms are more akin to bullying in that the intent is to demonstrate or maintain social dominance by belittling, demeaning, insulting, or shaming another person. 
Statistics and Prevalence of Cyberbullying
Cyberbullying is very common, affecting as many as 43% of all young people, with 1 in 4 reporting regular online bullying (“11 Facts About Cyberbullying,” n.d.). Most of the research on cyberbullying does focus on the youth population, but an estimated one out of every six adults experiences cyberbullying (Hirsch, n.d.). Most of the aggregate data show that aleast one in every four children experience cyberbullying (Hirsch, n.d.). The highest prevalence of cyberbullying occurs in middle school, where almost one in every three students experiences it. The vast majority of students—70%--admit to being witnesses to cyberbullying (“11 Facts About Cyberbullying,” n.d.).
Cyberbullying can occur in any digital domain including texting and social media. The most common means of perpetrating cyberbullying is on the smartphone (“11 Facts About Cyberbullying” n.d.). The smartphone makes it especially easy to commit cyberbullying because it is easy for a young child with already poor impulse control to compose negative messages or social media posts or harass another student.  Also, because children do check their phones a lot, the victims of cyberbullying would be exposed more frequently, therefore causing more harm. Only one in ten children will report the cyberbullying incident to an adult (“11 Facts About Cyberbullying,” n.d.). The unwillingness of most children to report cyberbullying actually makes it difficult to estimate its actual prevalence, and also makes it difficult to prevent. 
Cyberbullying Laws
Unfortunately, the law has yet to evolve clear protections against cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is often dealt with as a civil rather than a criminal issue (“Cyberbullying Laws,” n.d.). Most laws related to cyberbullying tie it in with traditional bullying, if bullying is dealt with at all. Only about half of the states have laws that specifically address cyberbullying as part of broader anti-bullying or anti-harassment laws (“Cyberbullying Laws,” n.d.). However, when individual cases are brought to court, they may result in either civil or criminal convictions. Penalties will vary tremendously depending on the circumstances, ranging from school suspension to jail time. 
One of the difficulties in passing laws against cyberbullying is that much of what is actually cyberbullying could tbe protected as freedom of expression, so long as there was no actual harm done to the victim. Of course, psychological harm is difficult to quantify even though it is often just as deleterious as physical harm. It may also be challenging to prove the effects of cyberbullying, and equally as difficult to draw a direct causal relationship between the bullying and the consequences. For instance, a person who was bullied online and then committed suicide may have already suffered from severe clinical depression.  In other cases, the connection between the cyberbullying and the consequences may be more direct and therefore easier to prove in a court of law. For example, if a cyberbully circulated an incriminating photograph of a person who later lost their job because of it, the victim could potentially sue for damages. The Netflix drama 13 Reasons Why addresses the challenges inherent in using litigation to address cyberbullying.
Risk Factors
Nearly everyone is at risk for cyberbullying, including those who are “well connected socially,” (United States Department of Health and Human Services, n.d.) However, being a girl may be the single greatest risk factor. Girls are twice as likely as boys to be victims of cyberbullying—and are also twice as likely to be perpetrators (“11 Facts About Cyberbullying,” n.d.). The data on gender and cyberbullying seem to parallel traditional patterns of bullying in which girls use verbal abuse more often than physical abuse. 
Another risk factor for cyberbullying is being perceived of as “different” in any way, or labeled a social outcast (United States Department of Health and Human Services, n.d.). Being bullied can itself be a risk factor for becoming a bully—as the act of bullying may serve as an artificial means of the bully gaining back his or her sense of power. Peer pressure does play a role in cyberbullying, as groups of kids typically goad on the bully, join in on the behavior, or at least offer tacit support through silence or refraining from standing up for the victim (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, n.d.). 
Recognizing Warning Signs
Teachers, parents, and peers may not know how to recognize the warning signs for cyberbullying. This is especially true if the child already has mental health issues. However, avoidant behavior such as being socially withdrawn, not showing interest in social activities, may be a sign the person has been harassed online. Another warning sign would be changes to online behaviors. Suddenly being anxious when the phone beeps, or being reluctant to go online at all could be signs that cyberbullying is taking place. 
Changes to academic performance could also be a sign something is wrong, and that something could be cyberbullying. Similarly, a child whose eating or sleeping patterns changed might be struggling with the issues related to cyberbullying. Cyberbullying has effects that spill over into other areas of the person’s life, so any sudden shift in personality or social patterns should be called into question. 
Examples of Cyberbullying
Cyberbullying takes on numerous forms. Social media may be the easiest means to instantly and quickly spread vicious rumors about the target, exposing the victim to public shaming. Facebook and other social media sites facilitate bullying because of how easy it is to share text, images, or videos of people online. Those multimedia files may be genuine or adulterated; in many cases it does not matter so long as the content harms the person’s reputation. Sharing sexually explicit content online is a pervasive form of cyberbullying. The images could be real or not, but the end result is the same. 
Social media is not the only way to commit cyberbullying. Therefore, parents or teachers should also find out if the person is being harassed via text message or other means such as online forums. Other examples of cyberbullying include gaining access to the victim’s social media account and then posing as that person to post the malicious content. Pretending to be another person could also be a form of cyberbullying. For example, a cyberbully could pretend to be the object of the person’s affection and arrange a fake date only to humiliate the individual. Adults experience cyberbullying in different ways, too, such as insults to a person’s credentials in online forums or blogs to destroy a reputation, arguing senselessly in online forums (trolling), or slandering the person using a blog or social media. 
The Effects of Cyberbullying
The effects of cyberbullying will vary from person to person. Psychological and social effects are generally the most common, including low self esteem, social isolation, poor performance in school, negative outlook, and the development of psychological disorders (Gladden, Vivolo-Kanter, Hamburger, et al., 2014). In extreme cases, the cyberbullying may drive the child to consider or commit suicide. “Bullying victims are 2 to 9 times more likely to consider committing suicide,” (“11 Facts About Cyberbullying,” n..d). The victims of cyberbullying are unequivocally at a higher risk for suicidal thoughts, attempts, and completed suicides than their non-bullied peers (Hirsch, n.d.). The effects of cyberbullying can damage other aspects of the person’s life, leading to identity theft and other security breaches.
According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services (n..d), the people at the greatest risk for experiencing adverse mental health, behavioral, or academic outcomes as the result of cyberbullying are actually those that are both victims and perpetrators. Perpetrators of cyberbullying may experience unforeseen consequences, including scars on the permanent record, suspension of social media accounts, fines, or criminal charges. If the cyberbullying involved sharing sexual content, the person could also be labeled as a sex offender (“Cyberbullying Statistics,” n.d.).
How to Prevent Cyberbullying
Preventing cyberbullying involves a team effort, in which multiple stakeholders take part to reduce its prevalence and alter the social norms among adolescent youth. The family, the school, and any community or faith-based organizations need to play a role. Even the private sector can play a role by stigmatizing the acts of bullying and supporting potential or current victims. As the United States Department of Health and Human Services (n.d.) points out, schools with anti-bullying campaigns need to get even their ancillary support staff involved: people like the cafeteria workers and bus drivers who see the children every day and observe social interactions. Schools need to create a “culture of respect,” which means taking the smallest acts of verbal aggression seriously (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,” n.d.). 
Schools could also have an anonymous tip line or other means by which students can report instances of cyberbullying without ijmplicating themselves. Children also need to be taught effective coping skills that build resilience and empower them to stand up to cyberbullying. Cyberbullying can be made socially unacceptable when peers unite together to shame bullying behavior. 
Silence perpetuates cyberbullying, both on the part of victims and also witnesses. Not reporting cyberbulling is exactly what the cyberbully wants—as the cyberbully can be viewed as a type of terrorist. Silence signifies fear, shame, or cowardice. Yet most children are afraid to report the behavior because of their even greater fear of social repercussions like embarrassment or appearing weak.Only one in ten children will report cyberbullying (“11 Facts About Cyberbullying,” n.d.). Teaching children to report and celebrating peers who report would make a huge difference in the school culture. Reporting it is a sign that the child is not intimidated, and is willing to stand up to the bully using whatever means necessary. Reporting it may also reveal that the bully was attacking others, too, and therefore the act of reporting could end up preventing further harmful behaviors. Research shows that parents who talk openly with their children about cyberbullying help mitigate the effects of bullying and increase the child’s resilience (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, n.d.).
Parents may want to consider blocking the bully from their child’s social media or address book. Alternatively, parents may consider limiting the child’s online time or temporarily suspending online time. The child may learn to rely more on other means of self-empowerment and to ignore the harmful messages causing them psychological pain. Children also need access to supportive social networks, which could even include formal support groups for the victims of bullying. The child may also channel their feelings into blog posts and help other victims of bullying to create a supportive social landscape.
Conclusion
Parents, teachers, and community organizations need to take cyberbullying more seriously. Although cyberbullying is typically discussed in terms of teenagers, it can also occur among adult populations. Therefore, the workplace should cultivate a culture of safety that prevents cyberbullying and responds to incidents immediately. Cyberbullying may reflect underlying problems in the culture related to being overly tolerant of the patterns of teenage socialization or misunderstanding the right to freedom of speech.