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Cyberbullying

Running Head: Cyberbullying

Solutions to cyberbullying among students of 63 Advanced Education Program,

National Economic University.

Nguyen Phuong Anh, Nguyen Le Bach, Vu Thi Linh Chi

National Economic University

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Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying has become a rising concern for both schools and global society in
the Internet era. Multiple studies have been conducted worldwide and reported that
cyberbullying has negative impacts on mental health and leads to many other
consequences. Cyberbullying has many characteristics, and its definition depends
on different countries. Also, the victims of cyberbullying vary from children to
adults, and they depend on each nation. Some examples include the difference in
the age of cyber-victims, definitions, laws, etc (Cong, Ngoc, Bahr, Luot, & Dat,
2018) (Ruiz, 2019). The present paper investigates the definition, characteristics,
and solutions of cyberbullying. It is hypothesized that although each nation has
different forms of cyberbullying, they all have some characteristics in common.
The following five literature reviews attempt to demonstrate and support this
hypothesis.  

In a research article by Cong et al. (2018), many researchers have defined

cyberbullying in different ways. Still, all the definitions have a similarity: They all
originated in the definition of traditional bullying. In general, in the word
“cyberbullying,” The term "cyber" refers to anything that has to do with computers
or the Internet. (Cong, et al., 2018). This study compared the definitions from
many researchers worldwide and showed no definition based on the Vietnamese
perspective in Vietnamese culture. Therefore, the goal of this study was to
formally define cyberbullying derived from the viewpoint of Vietnamese people
and appropriate with Vietnamese culture. One limitation to this study is that this
research uses qualitative research, which is limited in the number of people who
participated (about five students and five parents). Therefore, the result of this
research is not objective enough. 

The result in this study supported the hypothesis that there are seven typical
characteristics of cyberbullying in Vietnam and many other countries in Asia. The
first one is that it transmits negative, false, hateful, secret, and personal information
through electronic devices and applications indirectly. Second, cyberbullying
always intends to hurt the victim(s). Third, it is a repetition action and power
imbalance. Fourth, a victim(s) can be attacked anonymously or be faked identity
by the perpetrators, and these things may occur at any time of the day or night.
Moreover, the perpetrator can be an individual or group. (Cong, et al., 2018) The
result also indicated that these characteristics could be changed from culture to
culture. The perspectives of cyberbullying behavior are also different among the
groups of investigated subjects. Typically, they are psycho-educational experts;
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Cyberbullying

Psychologists, counselors; teachers; parents; and students. Each group shows their
knowledge and points of view about cyberbullying behavior. 

All of these results combined confirm the hypothesis that there are various aspects
of cyberbullying, which can be seen from many personal opinions. This variation
contributes to creating an overall knowledge about cyberbullying in Vietnam. One
limitation is that adults’ perspectives are quite different from the ones of students,
and the knowledge of experts is often quite academic and theoretical, which are not
practical for students. 

Next, the topic of attachment concerns the comparison between the existing
cyberbullying laws among selected ASEAN countries. In the article by (Ruiz,
2019) two questions were addressed. First, does cyberbullying have similarities in
the selected ASEAN countries? Second, what are the measures that might fit other
ASEAN countries’ needs. The focus of the study is to investigate the specific
characteristics of cyberbullying in six ASEAN countries then compare them to
suggest the most appropriate measures for each country. Moreover, this research
focuses on the law enacted to prevent cyberbullying in the countries investigated.
However, even though there is no explicit cyberbullying legislation that applies to
kids in this country, the Ministry of Education and Training has launched a
national education program called “ Building Friendly Schools and Active
Students” (Ruiz, 2019)

The results indicate that violence at school (including cyberbullying) increases

every year in ASEAN countries in general and in Vietnam in specific. Although
not all of the ASEAN nations examined have enacted a cyberbullying law that
applies to kids, some have implemented anti-bullying initiatives through
government and school efforts. However, no research was discovered that
measured efficacy or indicated school accountability for any monitoring. One
limitation of this study is that this study was only able to obtain a tiny amount of
information. As a result, this work strongly encourages future researchers to
undertake similar studies on cyberbullying among students in ASEAN nations to
gain a deeper understanding of the phenomenon and identify further potential
solutions that would aid the countries affected.
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Cyberbullying

Next, in the study by (Ben-Joseph, 2018), cyberbullying is considered

manipulating technology to inflict negative emotions onto another. It can occur in
online threats and mean aggressive or rude texts, tweets, posts, or messages to
harass or hurt someone. It can also include photos, messages, or pages that don't
get taken down, even after being asked to do so. Setting it apart from traditional
bullying, cyberbullying isn’t easily traceable since it is committed on the internet
where everyone can be anonymous, making it easier to carry out because the
bullying doesn’t happen face to face. Additionally, electronic content can be
challenging to remove and functionally permanent, so victims may repeatedly
experience one bullying incident. It can be agonizing for the victims whenever they
access their social devices and being reminded about the harassment, as well as not
being able to see how many people have seen the harassing  (Ben-Joseph, 2018)

According to a UNICEF survey, one-fifth of young Vietnamese are bullied online,

yet most do not know where to seek professional help. According to the Violence
Against Children study in 2019, 70% of young Vietnamese respondents were
unaware of any helpline or service for cyberbullying. This includes 1,788 people in
Vietnam, where 21% admitted to being victims of internet bullying (Sen, 2019).
Cyberbullying is on the rise to becoming a serious problem worldwide, with
students from the age group of 10 - 18 years old being its most common victims.
(Ben-Joseph, 2018) published a review, stating that the prevalence of
cyberbullying in the world ranges from 6.5% to 35.4%. Additionally, several
studies in recent years showed that the rate of bullying across various regions in
Vietnam ranges from 16.7% to 35.7%.

The victims of online bullying can vary depending on perpetrators or cultures,

most notably, people who are seen as different ( have an unconventional body
shape, have a disability ), people who seem unable to defend themselves, … Age
acts as the main potential factor in regards to victimization. This could be due to
the spontaneous nature of the younger generations and their increasing usage of
SNS (Social Networking Service), resulting in the highest rate of victimization
among adolescents. The rate of cyberbullying can also differ with educational
level. Particular research has shown an upsurge in cyberbullying rate with parents
who came from lower academic backgrounds as opposed to higher ones (Kalliope
Athanasiou, Richardson, Greydanus, Tsolia, & Tsitsika, 2018). Moreover, family
relationships or family structure also have an impact on adolescents undergoing
victimization since they have a vital role in youth development. The lack of
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Cyberbullying

parental bonding and communication can also lead to the victims’ inability to
speak openly about their experience of being bullied.
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Cyberbullying

Bibliography
Ruiz, R. M. (2019). CURBING CYBERBULLYING AMONG STUDENTS: A
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF EXISTING LAWS AMONG SELECTED ASEAN
COUNTRIES. International Journal of Social Sciences, 1286 - 1300.
Cong, T. V., Ngoc, N. P., Bahr, W., Luot, N. V., & Dat, N. B. (2018). Definition and
Characteristics of “Cyberbullying” among Vietnamese Students. VNU
Journal of Science.
Sen. (2019, 09 10). e.vnexpress.net. Retrieved from VN Express:
https://e.vnexpress.net/news/news/vietnam-youths-struggle-with-
cyberbullying-no-help-forthcoming-3978866.html
Ben-Joseph, E. P. (2018, 04). Cyberbullying. For teens.
Kalliope Athanasiou, E. M., Richardson, C., Greydanus, D., Tsolia, M., & Tsitsika, A.
K. (2018). Cross-national aspects of cyberbullying victimization among 14–
17-year-old adolescents across seven European countries. BMC Public
Health.