CYBER BULLYING: HOW PHYSICAL INTIMIDATION

INFLUENCES THE WAY PEOPLE ARE BULLIED

Asubiojo Ayomide
Department of Computer Science
Faculty of Basic and Applied Sciences
Elizade University, Ilara-Mokin
March, 2017
 Table of Content
Abstract ………………………………………………………………………………........ (4)
Keywords …………………………………………………………………….…….…....... (4)
Chapter One
Introduction…………………………………………………………...………………....... (5)
1.0 Definition……………………………………………………….……..……………(5)
1.1 Background…………………………………………………………………………(6)
1.2 Statement of the study……………………………………………………………....(6)
1.3 Purpose of study………………………………………….…....................................(6)
1.4 Significance of study………………………………………….………………..…...(6)
Chapter Two
Review of Literature…………………………………………..……...…………….......…. (7)
2.0 Prevalence of Cyber bullying………………………………………………………. (7)
2.1 Types of people who are victims…………………………………………...............(7)
2.2 The relationship between bully and victim………………………………………… (8)
2.3 Effects of Cyber bullying……………………………………………………………….. (8-9)
2.4 Victims coping techniques………………………………………………………….. (9)
2.5 Forms of Cyber techniques………………………………………………………….. (10)
Chapter Three
Methodology……………………………………………..…………………...................… (11)
3.0 The Research Question…………………………………………………………….... (11)
3.1 Research Method…………………………………………………………………… (11)
- Sample Selection…………………………………………………………. (11)
- Procedure………………………………………………………………… (11)
3.3 Research Survey……………………………………………………………………. (12)
- Questionnaire Design……………………………………………………… (12)
3.4 Data collection/Analysis………………………………………………………… (12)
3.5 Project area………………………………………………………………………….. (14)
3.6 TimeLine/Data field activities…………………….…………………………………. (14)
Financial Budget…………………………………………………………………………… (15)
Chapter Four
Discussion and Recommendation…………………………………………………...…...... (16)
Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………….….... (16)
Acknowledgement……………………………………………….………………...….….... (16)
References……………………………………………………………….………….....….... (17)
Abstract
Cyber bullying has become an international public health concern among adolescents, and as
such, it deserves further study. This paper reviews the current literature related to the effects of
cyber bullying on adolescent health across multiple studies worldwide and provides directions
for future research. A review of the evidence suggests that cyber bullying poses a threat to
adolescents’ health and well-being. A plethora of co-relational studies have demonstrated a
cogent relationship between adolescents’ involvement in cyber bullying and negative health
indices. Adolescents who are targeted via cyber bullying report increased depressive affect,
anxiety, loneliness, suicidal behavior, and somatic symptoms. Perpetrators of cyber bullying are
more likely to report increased substance use, aggression, and delinquent behaviors.
Mediating/moderating processes have been found to influence the relationship between cyber
bullying and adolescent health. More longitudinal work is needed to increase our understanding
of the effects of cyber bullying on adolescent health over time. Prevention and intervention
efforts related to reducing cyber bullying and its associated harms are discussed.
Keywords: cyber bullying, adolescent health, prevention, intervention
CHAPTER ONE
Introduction
1.0 Definition: Cyber bullying is when someone uses technology to send mean,
threatening, or embarrassing messages to or about another person . It can include texting,
instant messaging, and posting on social media and gaming websites.

Cyber bullying can be anonymous, which can sometimes make it even worse. It also has a
wider audience, and can spread quickly. Finally, targets of cyber bullying often feel like
they can’t get away from the bullying. If someone is bullying you at school, when you
leave for the day it’s over. But cyber bullying can follow you home, and continue all
night.

Imagine a classmate posts a photo of themselves online. Someone else makes a mean,
mocking comment about it. Soon, that photo has been shared, liked, reposted – even made
into a meme. Thousands of people have seen it – even people the target doesn’t know.
That’s why cyber bullying can be extra hurtful: it’s public, it spreads quickly, and it’s
24/7.

Since the beginning of time people have always had to deal with bullies. Just like
anything else, however, things tend to evolve with technology. With the evolution of social
media and technology some adolescence as well as adults are simply unable to escape
harassment from their peers in school and in the workplace. This social phenomenon is what has
come to be known as cyber bullying. According to Willard (2004) there are eight different forms
of cyber bullying, which include Flaming (online fights), Harassment (sending vulgar messages),
Denigration (posting gossip), impersonation, outing (sharing people’s secrets), trickery (tricking
someone into sharing secrets), exclusion, and cyber-stalking.
The platforms for this to occur have become countless, from well-known social media
sites like Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr, to smaller sites that allow you remain anonymous such
as Yik-Yak and ask.com. The days are gone of having to be the biggest meanest kid in the
schoolyard to hurt others. Now it doesn’t matter your size, age, gender, or social standing if you
want to bully someone. People can now create their own anonymous personas or simply continue
to bully others online after they have left school or work.
There have been several instances in the news over the last few years of people who have
taken their own lives due to the constant ridicule from their peers. Because of this researcher
have started to take notice of this new social issue and have performed numerous studies
analyzing different aspects of cyber bullying such as the types of people who bully, the
prevalence of cyber bullying, and the effects on the victims, but one thing that hasn’t been
studied is whether or not the lack of physical intimidation effects people likelihood to become
cyber bullies.
1.1 Background
Elizade University is located in Ilara-Mokin in Ondo state. It has close to 2,500 students as of
today. Correspondingly to what I have noticed and been reported about is that the rate at
which cyber bullying has increase in the University is actually appalling. The growth of this
cyber bullying has vastly or extremely or increasingly common among the student of Elizade,
thus, a survey approach is needed to particular know how physical intimidation influence the
way people are bullied and how to reduce this behavior. In this regard, there is a high rate of
cyber bullying in this University which has influenced other students to be doing the same
behavior.
1.2 Statement of the problem
The problem that needs to be solved about Cyber bullying in Elizade University community is to
provide services to school districts, schools and society in a variety of ways by

1. Training of administrators and staffs to recognize and respond.

2. Reviewing policies and procedures related to cyber bullying, and offering
recommendations for improvements.
3. Training of students with the skills to prevent and stop cyber bullying (and other forms
of peer mistreatment and violence)
4. Organize parents’ workshops which create their awareness of the problem and signs of
cyber bullying and other forms of mistreatment.
5. Educate parents; inform them of district policies and state or other laws, and provide
them with tips and tools for preventing, recognizing and responding

1.3 Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study is to explore some of the different variables that influence people to
become cyber bullies
1.4 Significance of the Study
The objective of this study is to:
1. Analyze the demographics of cyber bullies and determine whether or not there is a
physical influence on this growing trend.
2. Effect and trauma, it brings to its victims as well as the different form of Cyber bullying
3. We will also examine the different techniques cyber bullies employ as well as the
techniques that victims use in order to cope with the harassment.
4. This study is going to include extensive research into the motivations to cyber bully as
well as its influence on the aggressors and victims and the relationships between the two.
 CHAPTER TWO
Literature Review and Study
2.0Prevalence of Cyber bullying
Cyber bullying is something that is has become a new social phenomenon in today’s
society. It can often times leave students unable to escape their bullies and leave them feeling
alone and helpless. Faucher, Jackson, and Cassidy (2014) performed a study on 1925 students
across four Canadian universities that found 24.1 percent of students had been the victims of
cyber bullying over the last twelve months. These shocking numbers show that nearly one in
every four people have been the victims of this phenomenon. This statistic is interesting however
because when compared to studies that were done amongst younger age students you see that the
numbers are drastically different. Wegge, Vandebosch, and Eggermont (2014) found that among
1,458 Students of age 13-14 year old, that considerably fewer students reported being cyber
bullied. This is very similar to what Vanderbosch and Van Cleemput (2009) found among 2052
students in the 12-18 ranges which concluded that 11.1 percent of students had been victims of
cyber bullying. This research concludes that cyber bullying appears to be more prevalent in
students as they get older. Wegge et al. (2014) also noted that 30.8 percent had been victims of
traditional bullying.
This raises the question as to why it seems to be less prevalent among younger students.
Is it possible that they simply don’t have as much access to the tools of cyber bullying that
students at the university level have, or they possibly aren’t as technologically advances as their
older peers? It continues to raise questions about the issue of cyber bullying as well as what
classifies the perpetrators as well as what are their reasons for harming others.
2.1The types of people who bully. An important factor when analyzing cyber bullying is
trying to understand the types of people who are the aggressors. The first thing that needs to be
discussed when analyzing this is the simple matter of gender when it comes to who is generally
the aggressor. Slonje and Smith (2008) found that when it comes to cyber bullying males are
more often than not the aggressors with males being reported as the cyber bully far more often
than females. Slonje et al (2008) also found that 36.2 percent of students were unaware of the
gender of their aggressors. This is intriguing because for one it is the same percentage as the
number of males who bullied, but most importantly because it shows that over 1 in 3 students
don’t actually know who is bullying them, which adds to the fear and stigma that is related to
cyber bullying and not being able to escape the perpetrators.
2.1The types of people who are victims. Researchers have also conducted various studies on
the types of people who are cyber bullied, or what is often referred to as “cyber-victomology”.
Abeele and Cock (2013) conducted a study, which concluded that the gender of victims varied
greatly depending on the form of cyber bullying. Abeele et al. (2013) found that males are more
likely to be on the receiving end of direct cyber bullying while females are more likely to be the
victims of indirect cyber bullying such as online gossip among peers. These findings appear to
remain true to social norms where males are viewed as more confrontational and females are
often stereotyped as gossipers.
While not many studies look at the gender of the victims many studies do research things
such as the characteristics of the victims. Faucher et al. (2014) found that there were numerous
reasons that people felt they were the victims of cyberbullying such as their personal appearance,
interpersonal problems, as well as simply having discrepancies about their views. Davis, Randall,
Ambrose, and Orand (2015) also conducted a study about victims and their demographics, which
looked at the reasons people, were cyber bullied. Some of the results in the Davis et al. (2015)
study addressed other reasons for being bullied in which they found that 14 percent of victims
had been bullied because of factors such as their sexual orientation.
These are all very important because it fits the profile of the traditional bully that many
people envision but it shows that it transfers over into the cyber world as well. This leads on
further questions about the relationship between the two and how the cyberbullying is
influencing where and how the harassment is continuing.
2.2 The relationship between bully and victim. The relationship between aggressor and victim
is also something that has been heavily research among professionals. Beran and Li (2007)
conducted a study that involved 432 middle school students and concluded that just under half of
the students had been victims of cyberbullying as well as traditional bullying. This is true across
multiple studies. Wegge et al. (2014) also concluded that people who were bullied in traditional
manners had a much higher likelihood to become victims of cyberbullying. Another interesting
relationship between bully and victim is that studies have also shown that people who are victims
are likely to become aggressors in the online world. Beran et al. (2007) confirms this by stating,
“Students who are bullied through technology are likely to us technology to bully others”.
Faucher et al. (2014) also found similar results claiming that male and female students decided to
bully people online because they were bullied first.
Research has also been done that looks at how the bullies find their victims. Wegge et al. (2014)
studied the perpetrators preferences in victims and found that 27 percent were in the same grade,
14.2 percent were in different grades and a staggering 49.6 percent were not schoolmates of the
bullies. This evidence somewhat contradicts that of the other studies that state victims are
generally bullied at school and at home because it shows that nearly half of the bullies prefer to
bully people they don’t go to school with and possibly have do not know at all. This continues to
build and add to the idea of cyberbullying in that it allows bullies to create their own personas
and images in order to try and intimidate and influence others without actually providing a
physical intimidation factor.
2.3 Effects of Cyberbullying
The first part of this literature review focused on the demographics of the bullies and
their victims, but now we will focus on the lasting effects and the trauma it brings to the victims
as well as the different forms of cyberbullying. While the platforms used are different the lasting
effects that the bullying has on the victims are very similar. Faucher et al. (2014) concluded that
one of the main effects that cyber bullies had on university students was that they were unable to
accomplish some of their school assignments. While most people think that the effects of
bullying to be simply depression or low self esteem, this study brought light to a more different
unexpected issues. Beran et al. (2007) also found similar responses from victims of
cyberbullying claiming that they often didn’t achieve the same marks in school and had lower
concentration. These findings indicate that the lasting impact that a cyber bully has on their
victims is often more harmful than what most people can see on the surface.
Pieschl, Porsch, Kahl, and Klockenbusch (2013) found that cyber victims generally were
less distressed during the second confrontation with a cyber bully. This interesting finding
indicates that victims of cyber bullies may actually become desensitized to the aggression over
time lessening the effects of the bullying.
2.4 Victims coping techniques. When being faced by a bully it is important that victims learn to
cope and move on from their experiences in order to prevent them from suffering in their
personal and professional life like some of the victims in previous studies. Davis et al. (2014)
conducted a study on victim coping techniques where they broke the techniques into two distinct
categories, which were behavioral and cognitive strategies. Davis et al. (2014) found that 74
percent of participants preferred behavioral strategies and of those 74 percent, 69 percent of
those people found the strategies to be effective. These behavioral strategies included seeking
social support, making a creative outlet, or ignoring and blocking the bully. Because of the
growing trend of cyberbullying there have been people who have developed different programs
to help raise awareness for cyberbullying as well as offer help to the victims. One of these
programs is known as Cyber program 2.0. Garaigordobil and Martinez-Valderrey (2015)
conducted a study testing the effectiveness of this program and found that it was effective in
decreasing the amount of traditional as well as cyberbullying, but also and more importantly it
raised empathy among classmates towards the victims of these actions. This is a big step in
combating bullying because peers are constantly influencing each other. If the general consensus
among the class is that bullying is not funny and not right because they empathize with the
victims than it can go a long way in changing the social norm. If the attention is not longer given
to the bully by classmates and victims it could potentially cut back on the frequency of this act.
With that being said it raises the question instead of trying to cope, why not just remove
you from the situation all together and not gives the bully what they desire? Arntfield (2005)
discussed the risk associated with using social media and concluded that “intrinsic rewards that
were not tied directly to winning as much as they were to fantasies of power, celebrity, sexuality,
and elevated social status that came with participating, win or lose.”. This conclusion is one that
is very accurate and relevant to the way adolescence as well as university level students think in
today’s society. The fact of the matter is in order to fit in and be considered “cool” amongst your
peers you need to be on social media to understand many of the things that are talked about
amongst students. Whether it be trending hash-tags, viral videos, or popular memes these are all
things that are commonly shared and talked about between peers. While students may run the
risk of being bullied on these sites, they also run the risk of being bullied for not knowing the
newest updates in our culture, it is truly a viscous cycle.
2.5 Forms of cyberbullying. Cyberbullying gives the bully a much larger spectrum to choose
from when it comes to how exactly they want to intimidate their victims which may be why it is
often easier for them to carry out the act. Of all the different ways to cyber bully Faucher et al.
(2014) found the most common platforms for cyberbullying to be social media, text messaging,
and email which were used to bully students about half of the time followed up by blogs forums
and chat rooms which were 25 percent. This is no surprise that social media is the most common
platform for cyberbullying because it can allow for the bully to remain completely anonymous to
your average victim. This allows people who may not fit the mold of your average bully to create
a fake account and build their own persona in order to bully others. Multiple studies also address
a critical factor of using social media or the Internet to bully others, that is, the photos or hurtful
comments, can remain in cyberspace virtually forever. Davis et al. (2014) mentions how they
received viewed several responses that talked about “how their traditional bullying experience
would have been magnified if they had occurred in today’s digital era”. Faucher et al. (2014) also
talk about how cyberbullying has a longer “shelf life” than your average bullying. This plays
such a huge role because with the aggressive material on the internet it can often be revisited and
the pain can constantly be brought back to light for the victims making the experience that much
more traumatic.
Social media is very prevalent among cyber bullies but there is also extensive research
done on cell phones and the role they play in the act of cyberbullying. Abeele et al. (2013)
studied various aspects of mobile phone bullying and found that the most prevalent type was
gossiping via text message, followed by gossiping over the phone, and concluded with
threatening others over text message. Abeele et al. (2013) also found that girls were more often
than not the perpetrators of gossiping while boys made slightly more threats via cell phone. This
numbers tend lean towards the stereotype of females being more of gossipers and males
generally being more aggressive and physical. This is also interesting because shows that that
society’s stereotypes appear to remain true even in a cyber world.
CHAPTER THREE
Methodology:
3.1 The Research Question
RQ1: How does the lack of the physical intimidation effect people’s inclination to cyber bully?
3.2 Research Methods
If I were to conduct this study I think the best way to do so would be by a combination of
quantitative and qualitative methods. I would choose to use survey research as well as focus
groups in order to study these behaviors and why they happen as opposed to traditional bullying.
By using survey research, I would be able to uncover whether or not people are actually inclined
to cyber bully due to physical factors and the focus groups would be beneficial in trying to
understand why people become cyber bullies. By using the two different types of research it also
will allow for the study to be more diverse and look at different angles of cyberbullying, which
will result in having a better understanding of this phenomenon.
Sample Selection
I would choose to use a convenience sample. The age range for my case study would be around
15 to 20 year old. I reached out to Elizade University Students who were willing to participate in
the study based on the number of Students in Elizade University between the Faculty, hall of
residence, University center, and the sport arena. I would like to have five hundred survey
responses from about one thousand volunteers for focus groups. I would allow students to
participate in both aspects of the study if they are interested.
Procedure
For my study, it will be important to base a 7-8 question survey on more than simply if a student
is a cyber-bully or how often they bully others but rather physical aspects of the bully. The
survey would be completely anonymous and would ask questions about whether they have cyber
bullied someone before followed up with questions about gender, name of their school, how old
was the person, the gender of their victims. For the focus groups, I would split the participants up
in groups of 3-4 based on age and gender. I would focus on questions about why they may or
may not be inclined to bully others online. I would then combine the data I collected and use it in
order to answer my research question.
3.3 Research Survey of Cyber bullying
Questionnaire Design

Questions to ask Suggestion Question Additional Suggestions

Type
Have you cyber bullied someone before? Open minded test
What gender was the person you Open minded test
bullied?
How old was the person? Open minded test

What’s the name of your school? Open minded test

Why do you or not be inclined to bully Open minded test

others online.
How was the victim’s body type Open minded test
Name of your University?

3.4 DATA COLLECTION/ANALAYSIS

Cluster Samples

Example
Population All the people in
Elizade
Groups(strata) [Age 1,500 students in
and Gender] Elizade
Obtain a simple 1,000 students from
random sample possible 1,500 people
Sample Every person in the
1,000 selected
students

I will take a case study of Elizade for the frequency distribution and the age I want to study
would be 15 to 20-year-old.
Frequency Distribution
TABLES

Age 15 16 17 18 19 20
Frequency 200 200 100 150 150 200
Cumulative 200 400 500 650 750 950
Frequency

Total Frequency= 1,000 students

Cumulative Frequency = 3,450

Graph

Age
250

200

150

100

50

0
15 16 17 18 19 20

Age
Pie Chart

15 years 16 years 17 years 18 years 19 years 20 years

In my survey coming from the response of the people who volunteered to tend to my
questionnaires, I found out that out of about 95 percent of 1000 Students in the Elizade
University has in one way on the other have been victim of cyber bully. And also, about 70
percent of the same 1000 Students have in one way or the other has perpetuated the act of cyber
bullying to a victim especially through hash and abusive comments on social media.
Cyber bullying has no age barrier, but people who suffered from cyber bullying the most are
teenagers between the ages 13 to 20 years of age. This is because most people within this age
range have low self-esteem about themselves as they are still in the process of self-discovery.
Thus, parents of teenagers should be aware of cyber bullying and the possible long time effect on
their kids.

3.5 Project Area

My survey research was carried out in Elizade University, Ilara-Mokin, Ondo State.
Timeline/Data field Activities

ACTIVITY Day Day Day Day

1 2 3 4
Work execution (6th March –9 th March, 2017)
a) Information gathering about the Topic
b) Data gathering and evaluation
c) Work development
d) Review and corrections
e) Submission of project

Financial Budget

Equipment Description of Equipment Cost of Equipment

Free Map tools Used to find out the estimated N100,000
population inside that area
People Counter This is a device that is used to N1,000,000
measure the number of
people that transverse a
certain passage or entrance.
Censor Survey This is a way of collecting N10,000
information( through survey
report, questionnaires,
sample)that you hope
represent the views of the
whole community or groups
4.0 Discussion and Recommendation
Cyber bullying is one of the most disturbing problems that we face in Elizade. Not only can it
completely destroy one’s self confidence, dignity but it can also lead to certain disastrous
implications like suicide, depression. Cyber bullying, on surface might seem as something not
very threatening but I think it as harmful as other pathetic activities on the internet since it results
in certain predicaments, as mentioned above, that might influence lives. Hence, I am of the
opinion that it has to be taken seriously.
Government should establish consistent rules of behavior and law about cyber bullying
School and districts may have anti-bullying policies in place as a result of those laws
People should prevent communication from a cyber bully
Parents to teach their kids to not pass along cyber bullying messages to friends and families

4.1 Conclusion
Cyber bullying has been a major problem in Elizade and become extremely
common among their student. This bullying can actually lead to serious of consequences for the
victim like depression, suicide, hurt mentally and psychologically.
So, it is important for the government to pass anti-cyber bullying laws into effect, the
University to provide adequate supervision and monitoring of student use of technology,
establish effective responses to report of cyber bullying by anyone, educate students and staff
members about what types of behavior constitute cyber bullying and how the school district’s
policies apply to them and finally school should develop clear rules and policies to prohibit the
use of school technology to bully others.

4.2 Acknowledgement
I want to acknowledge Almighty God for the knowledge and strength. Also, my appreciation
goes to my seminar guide Dr. Aregbesola, for his proper guidance, other faculty members for
giving an opportunity to learn and present this project and also to the Students who has
contributed through their response in my survey questionnaire. If not for the above-mentioned
people, my seminar would never have been completed successfully. I want to say thank you and
continue will continue bless you
ASUBIOJO AYOMIDE
(STUDENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE)
4.3 References

Abeele, M., & Cock, R. (2013). Cyberbullying by mobile phone among adolescents: The role of
gender and peer group status. Communications: The European Journal of Communication
Research, 38(1), 107-118. Doi:10.1515/commun-2013-0006

Arntfield, M. (2015). Toward a Cybervictimology: Cyberbullying, Routine Activities Theory, and

the Anti-Sociality of Social Media. Canadian Journal Of Communication, 40(3), 371-388.

Beran, T., & Li, Q. (2007). The relationship between cyberbullying and school bullying. Journal
of Student Wellbeing, 1(2), 15-33.

Davis, K., Randall, D. P., Ambrose, A., & Orand, M. (2015). ‘I was bullied too’: stories of
bullying and coping in an online community. Information, Communication & Society, 18(4),
357-375. doi:10.1080/1369118X.2014.952657

Faucher, C., Jackson, M., & Cassidy, W. (2014). Cyberbullying among University Students:
Gendered Experiences, Impacts, and Perspectives. Education Research International, 1.
doi:10.1155/2014/698545

Garaigordobil, M., & Martinez-Valderrey, V. (2015). Effects of cyberprogram 2.0 on 'face-to-

face' bullying, cyberbullying, and empathy. Psicothema, 27(1), 45-51.
doi:10.7334/psicothema201478

Pieschl, S., Porsch, T., Kahl, T., & Klockenbusch, R. (2013). Relevant dimensions of
cyberbullying — Results from two experimental studies. Journal Of Applied Developmental
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Slonje, R., & Smith, P. K. (2008). Cyberbullying: Another main type of bullying?. Scandinavian
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Vanderbosch, H., & Van Cleemput, K. (2009). Cyberbullying among youngsters: profiles of
bullies and victims. New Media & Society, 11(8), 1349-1371.
doi:10.1177/1461444809341263

Wegge, D., Vandebosch, H., & Eggermont, S. (2014). Who bullies whom online: A social
network analysis of cyberbullying in a school context. Communications: The European
Journal Of Communication Research, 39(4), 415-433. doi:10.1515/commun-2014-0019

Willard N, 2004, ‘An educator’s guide to cyberbullying and cyberthreats’,

<new.csriu.org/cyberbully/docs/cbcteducator.pdf> viewed September, 2015.