RESEARCH QUESTION: HOW IS CYBERBULLYING AFFECTING

MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS IN THE US

TOPIC: CYBERBULLYING, MENTAL HEALTH

CENTRE NO: VN240
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Introduction
This research paper will talk about cyberbullying causing serious mental health
problems in the world and in the United States specifically. Despite the benefits,
opportunities from the internet, there have been problems with harmful online
activities such as cyberbullying. According to the US, 88% of teenagers have
access to devices, 45 % said that they are “nearly constantly” online. Throughout
this topic, this research paper will discuss:
1)The danger of cyberbullying.
2)Give statistics and facts.
3)How it is affecting mental health issues, suicidal rates.
4)Why and how we could stop or prevent cyberbullying around the world and the
US.

Global perspective
Around the world, about 37% of teenagers from 12 to 17 have been bullied online
and 30% happen more than once. Girls have a higher chance than boys to deal with
perpetrators of cyberbullying. 15% of teen girls are victims of 4 different kinds of
abuse online, compared with 6% of boys. (11 Facts About Cyberbullying, 2021)
In mobile games, 34 percent of British teenagers have witnessed bullying.
(Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking).¼ teenagers the age of 14
that experienced cyberbullying say that the motivation is a sexual orientation,
internet activity, or appearance.. (Statista). All information is from Security, 2020.
Consequences:
 ● Victims could have anxiety, depression, and other stress-related conditions.
Experience cyberbullying regularly can increase stress, losing happiness and
satisfaction,increasing worry. (Gordon, 2021)
● Low Self-Esteem. Cyberbullying often happens where the victims are most
vulnerable. Victims are often people who are not confident with their
appearance, religion, genders,...As a result, they often start to doubt their
own worth and value. (Gordon, 2021)
● Self-Harm. Sometimes, victims deal with their strong emotions by hurting
themselves. For example, cutting, burning themselves (Gordon, 2021)

National perspectives
Approximately 53% of adults in the US have reported they are constantly dealing
with cyberbullying, with 37% of online harassment, receiving physical
threats(22%), sexual harassment(18%), being stalk online (18%), and sustained
harassment(17%). (A Majority of Teens Have Experienced Some Form of
Cyberbullying, n.d.)
Except for the consequences that this research paper has talked about. There are
other consequences:
● Academic Issues. Victims of this may lose interest in school, they often skip
class. So that they can avoid seeing their bullies, because they may feel
humiliated or embarrassed.
● Suicidal Thoughts. Since facing the internet, they would feel hopeless and
sad and they will think that suicide is the only way to escape from reality.
Facts about cyberbullying in the US that may show how this problem is affecting
the US badly. According to the research center survey, 59% of teens have
personally dealt with at least 1/6 type of online abuse in the U.S.(A Majority of
Teens Have Experienced Some Form of Cyberbullying, n.d)
This is a chart showing the types of bullying that occur the most.

Different perspective
The rate of cyberbullying is not the same globally. For example, Africa and
America, they will have a different rate of cyberbullying since the rate of internet
interactions is not the same. Moreover they are serious problems and could lead to
an increase in suicidal rate. No matter where in the world, cyberbullying should be
prevented and stopped.

Source evaluation
1.American SPCC. Impact of Cyber Bullying - American SPCC. Retrieved 4
February 2021, from https://americanspcc.org/impact-of-cyberbullying/. They put
individuals and organizations together as America's Voice for Children to
strengthen the way kids are represented, safe and handled. This website provides
information to address the impact of cyberbullying on mental health problems on
US citizens. Moreover, this information has helped this research paper to point out
the danger of cyberbullying.

2.Pew Research Paper. ANDERSON, M. (2018). Retrieved 4 February 2021, from

https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2018/09/27/a-majority-of-teens-have-
experienced-some-form-of-cyberbullying/.A non-partisan inquiring agency, the
bench research facility informs the general public regarding the problems,
attitudes, trends of the planet. It conducts surveys of public opinion, longitudinal
studies, in social science.
This website provides graphs and information for the national parts, giving
statistical facts about teenagers in America.

3. Unicef.Cyberbullying: What is it and how to stop it. Retrieved 4 February 2021,

from https://www.unicef.org/end-violence/how-to-stop-cyberbullying. UNICEF
works in over 190 countries and territories to save the lives of children, protect
their rights, and help them achieve their potential. This website is reliable and not
biased because UNICEF is a famous organization and the research paper is written
by many famous professors. This website is really important since it gives
information about how to prevent or stop cyberbullying, they also make activities
on many different platforms like Snapchat, Instagram aim to stop or prevent
cyberbullying.
This chart is about cyberbullying rates around the world.

Action plan
1. Nowadays social apps have developed and has different benefits, try using them
to protect your information from leaking:
- Private settings: Instagram
- Block: Instagram, Facebook,...
- Unfriend: Facebook
2. If you're a victim of cyberbullying the fastest solution is staying away from
social media and not responding to all the threats and avoid interactions.
(according to REVE).
3. The second solution is reporting your problem to nearby police stations, to your
parents or the school office, there will be laws to punish those actions.
4. Overall we cannot make social media safe, we can't make the internet how we
wanted. So to prevent all of those from happening, the best way is that we stay
friendly and harmless on social media.
 Conclusion
From this research paper point of view, cyberbullying is still happening and
happens at a higher rate due to the development of social media. Harmful things
happen online and lead to a higher rate of mental health problems. ( Gordon 2021).
After all, is said and done, cyberbullying is still occurring and with a higher rate, it
leads to serious mental health problems not only in the US but worldwide.
Likewise, this research paper has mentioned, we can't make the internet how we
wanted, the best way is to stay friendly, harmless online.

References
ANDERSON, M. (2018). A Majority of Teens Have Experienced Some Form of
Cyberbullying.
Retrieved 21 January 2021, from
https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2018/09/27/a-majority-of-teens-have-
experienced-some-form-of-cyberbullying/

Impact of Cyber Bullying - American SPCC. (2021). Retrieved 21 January 2021,

from https://americanspcc.org/impact-of-cyberbullying/

Livingstone, S. Cyberbullying: What is it and how to stop it. Retrieved 21 January

2021, from https://www.unicef.org/end-violence/how-to-stop-cyberbullying

11 Facts About Cyberbullying. (2021). Retrieved 21 January 2021, from

https://www.dosomething.org/us/facts/11-facts-about-cyber-bullying

Sharma, K., n.d. Effective Ways to Stop Cyberbullying - What Parents Need to
Know!. [online] REVE Antivirus. Available at:
<https://www.reveantivirus.com/blog/en/effective-ways-stop-
cyberbullying>[Accessed 21 January 2021].