Effects of Cyberbullying

Effects of Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying can cause numerous psycho-emotional effects in both the victims and the perpetrators. The victims tend to suffer from anxiety, depression, and other stress-related disorders. Prolonged cyberbullying makes a person disinterested in continuing academic activities, which has a detrimental effect on performance at school. Often, the victims of cyberbullying feel helpless and do not ask their families for help (Sticca and Perren 743). Rising distrust among family members reduces the quality of their relationships. In addition, both victims and perpetrators suffer from psychological difficulties and face an increased risk of committing suicide.

Signs of Cyberbullying

On-time delivery!

Get your 100% customized paperdone in as little as 1 hour

Let’s start

Cyberbullying is hard to spot because its signs and symptoms differ from one case to another, and can often be confused with other socio-psychological disorders. Some of the signs include those familiar to regular bullying, that being emotional distress, depression, and avoidance of school-related activities. Changes in mood, appetite, and sleep patterns are visible. Children become more secretive and hide their digital life. Other signs include avoiding electronic gadgets and getting nervous in their presence (Aboujaoude et al. 12). That sign is rarely found in other disorders and can point out to the instances of cyberbullying.

Interventions for Prevention

Some of the more effective measures for the prevention of cyberbullying involve either blocking the bully’s access to the victim’s profile page and contact list. Otherwise, it is recommended to limit the child’s access to gadgets and social media. Safety measures for children surfing the internet can prevent access to violent and harassing sites, but the majority of cyberbullying happens on the relatively benign platforms like Facebook. The best way to spot cyberbullying in early stages is being close to one’s child.

Conclusions

The Internet is a dangerous place to leave children in unsupervised. It is important to control the child’s behavior online and be capable of recognizing the first signs of cyberbullying before it becomes a serious healthcare issue. In order to prevent cyberbullying, children and parents alike must be aware of effective interventions, as well as means of avoiding bullies online.

Works Cited

Aboujaoude, Elias, et al. “Cyberbullying: Review of an Old Problem Gone Viral.” Journal of Adolescent Health, vol. 57, no. 1, 2015, pp. 10-18.