Cyberbullying is as common as offline bullying. There are just as many kids shouting “I hate you” to a child outside of their home when their parents are out, as there are kids texting it via a mobile or online. This essay shows how cyberbullying is a very common event and gives some numbers to back up this idea.
Around 43% of children are bullied at least once online, and that number is increasing due to the Internet being more readily available. The only reason the number is not higher is because it leaves written evidence that one child is persecuting another. Over a quarter of cyberbullied children have had it happen more than once.
Only 43% of children have been bullied online, but over 70% have seen it happen to other people as the bullying often happens in public-online areas. Over 58% of kids say that they have had someone say something nasty to them online. This number is probably higher, as interviewed children are likely to forget incidents that did not have a massive negative effect on them.
Over 90% of children say that when they see cyber bullying happen that they ignore it and take no action either way. This includes people who are being bullied themselves. Cyberbullying is perpetrated more by girls than boys, which means there are also more female victims. Social media is more heavily dominated by women than by men, which is probably why cyberbullying is done more by girls than boys on a two-for-one basis.
Only 10% of cyberbullying victims go to an adult about it. This may be because they are too afraid of any repercussions, although it is probably because they think the parent or adult will not be able to do anything about it. Most boys and girls will not tell adults about it because they are embarrassed. Boys are not supposed to be phased by such matters, and young girls often want respect from their parents, and exposing that they are unpopular is often undesirable. Added to which, most children feel that they have a firm grasp on their own life and do not need their parents or their help.
Suicide rates are between 2 to 9 times higher with children who are being bullied. The number changes depending upon which country and which state you are in. Places such as Canada have a frighteningly high teen suicide rate, whereas Britain has a very low teen suicide rate. Although, Britain does have a very high teen pregnancy rate (which may explain what their teens do instead of feeling depressed).
Conclusion
As you can see by the numbers on this essay, cyberbullying is a very big problem, especially amongst young girls. What can be done about this is unknown, as only one in ten children will tell an adult about being bullied online or via a mobile. Only when interviewed anonymously will children be more candid about bullying and cyberbullying. Online monitoring is too hard to do completely, and is immoral, so what can be done about cyberbullying is unknown.
