Cyberbullying is a prevalent crisis in the world that has come from increased access to the internet and electronic devises. Cyberbullying is continuous exposure to intentional aggressive behavior through electronic devices (Simmons & Bynum, 2014). Other scholars regard cyberbullying as the use of phones, computers, or other electronic devices to inflict harm on others either directly or anonymously. Cyberbullying is an extension of traditional bullying that is more dangerous and most prevalent among teenagers, women and LGBTs in the developed countries.

Although there are federal laws and ethical guidelines that aim at curbing the cybercrimes such as bulling, there are significant reported cases of bullying every year. The prevalence may be associated with the vastness of cyberspace, which enables people to communicate at any location globally (Young, 2020). Twenty-eight percent of high school teenagers in the United States are reported to have been bullied in school (Simmons & Bynum, 2014). A study in brazil finds that cyberbullying is prevalent among the minority population of teens who have access to electronic devices (Vieira, Rønning, Mari & Bordin, 2019). Cyberbullying is among the crimes listed under online harassment and is considered a criminal act over various laws of states and nations. It entails sending messages either in voice, videos, or text concerning or to someone for malicious purposes. Effects of cyberbullying are both physical and mental, which makes it a dangerous crime of the 21^st century.

Cyberbullying is dangerous since it has extreme potential to inflict physical and mental harm. The actual intention of cyberbullies is to harass, humiliate, threaten, or belittle someone (Thompson, 2016). Thompson finds that most cyberbullying victims suffer from depression, low self-esteem, anxiety and in extreme cases, they may end up with suicidal thoughts or act (2015). Notably, such consequences are harmful to a victim’s health, and they compromise their ability to live a relatively better life. Studies have found that besides the health-related impacts, victims tend to isolate to avoid shame or are afraid of their bullies (Simmons & Bynum, 2014). Students may feel embarrassed to attend classes, and workers may be embarrassed to attend to their jobs, or loss of opportunities. This mostly happens when the cyberbullying involves leaking or a person’s secret information. In that perspective, cyberbullying is highly associated with the lack of interest for school or dropouts in the United States teenage population (Simmons & Bynum, 2014). Besides, it leads to violence, deliquesce behaviors, and other forms of bully and revenge crimes. Hence, cyberbullying is a dangerous act that causes physical and mental harm.

Cyberbullying is an extension of traditional bullying. Notably, cyberbullying is a crime of the 21st century, since the internet facilitates it. Traditional bullying has the same aim as to inflict harm on others through an intentional demean, belittle, harassment, and other actions that humiliate people. Mostly, traditional bullying happens person(s) to person (s) unlike cyberbullying, which happens in the cyberspace. According to Vieira, Rønning, Mari & Bordin (2019), both traditional bullying and cyberbullying are associated. From the study, both are considered as maltreatment of victims or community violence that lead to deficits in emotional regulation capacity and physical harm such as injury. Besides, traditional bullying among teens happens in the same techniques such as out of supervision, which is synonymous to the cyberbullying, since cyberbullies mostly tend to hide their identity (Simmons & Bynum, 2014).

Both crimes result in similar psychological distress such as anxiety and low self-esteem. However, cyberbullying is the most dangerous since it is not limited by physical distance or time. Bullies require internet and an electronic device to terrorize their victims (Thompson, 2016). Also, cyberbullies may not realize the harm they cause to the victim since they are not physically present to assess the impact. Therefore, some tend to continuously bully the victims, causing devastating or extreme detrimental impacts (Vieira, Rønning, Mari & Bordin, 2019). In contrast, traditional bullies see the impact they inflict on someone. Therefore, cyberbullying may be considered a hybrid of traditional bullying that is extremely effective in causing harm.

Most victim cases of cyberbullying are among teenagers, LGBTs and women in developed countries. In many studies, the prevalence of cyberbullying is among teenagers. The rate of teenagers may be attributed to the irrational use of electronic devices by teenagers. While there is a need for studies concerning the high rate of bullying on women than men, Young (2020) reports that female feminist and LGBT categories are most bullied in the United States. Also, in low- and middle-income nations, the rate of cyberbullying is significantly low compared to traditional bullying (Vieira, Rønning, Mari & Bordin, 2019).  The study hypothesizes that the low rate is associated with the limited access and use of the internet or electronic devised.

To sum up, cyberbullying is a hybrid of traditional bullying, that is dangerous and more effective. It is caused by bullies who continuously inflict harm on victims in the cyberspace. Both categories are related in the techniques used by bullies and the harm they cause. Also, most victim cases are among teenagers or female victims and LGBTs.

 

References

Simmons, K., & Bynum, Y. (2014). Cyberbulling: Six Things Administratirs Can Do. Education, 134(4), 452-456. Retrieved from Cyberbullying: Six Things Administrators Can Do

Thompson, T. (2016). Cyberbullying Creates Dangerous Stress and Anxiety. In S. Hinduja, & J. Patchin, Does the Internet Increase Anxiety? Gale, a Cengage Company.

Vieira, M., Rønning, J., Mari, J., & Bordin, I. (2019). Does cyberbullying occur simultaneously with other types of violence exposure?. Brazilian Journal Of Psychiatry, 41(3), 234-237. doi: 10.1590/1516-4446-2018-0047

Young, C. (2020, April). How Bad Is Online Harassment? Retrieved from Reason.com: https://reason.com/2020/03/22/how-bad-is-online-harassment/