CHAPTER 4

Presentation, Analysis and Interpretation of Data

Cyberbullying is on the rise with the advance and availability of technology at our fingertips.

This chapter will include a summary of the first two chapters of this paper- limitations of this

study implications for future research and implications for practice. Summary of Noteworthy

Results This literature review addressed three research questions: the prevalence and forms of

cyberbullying differences between males and females when it comes to cyberbullying and

prevention and intervention techniques for cyberbullying. A cyberbullying study by the National

Crime Prevention Council and Harris Interactive Inc. found that 43% of the 824 middle school

and high school-aged students surveyed in the United States had been cyberbullied in the past

year (cited in Moessner, 2007). There are many preventative actions that school districts and

parents can take in order to reduce cyberbullying, however, the difficult part is getting

administrators on board and convincing them that cyberbullying is a real and growing problem.

According to a study conducted in 2008 by Hinduja & Patchin, females are as likely, if not more

likely, to be involved in cyberbullying in their lifetime (Hinduja & Patchin-2008). This is

believed to be due to the nature of cyberbullying~ and the anonymity that the internet provides.

According to Willard (2006) there are many ways that schools, parents and students can help

prevent cyberbullying and intervene when cyberbullying has occurred. Willard suggests steps

that schools can take which contain elements of increasing awareness of cyberbullying concerns,

empowering educators, students, parents, and community members with knowledge of how to

prevent and respond to cyberbullying. 22 and effective supervision and monitoring of online

activities (Willard, 2006). In addition to Willard's proposed steps, there are many other programs
available to schools and communities that have been found to prevent cyberbullying and

intervene when it does happen.

1. Nearly 43% of children have been bullied online. 1 in 4 has had it happen more than once.

2. 70% of students report seeing frequent bullying online.

3. 68% of teens agree that cyber bullying is a serious problem.

4. Over 80% of teen use a mobile phone regularly, making it the most common medium for

cyber bullying.

5. 81% of young people think bullying online is easier to get away with than bullying in person.

6. 90% of people said they have ignored online bullying. 84% have seen others tell cyber bullies

to stop.

7. Girls are twice as likely as boys to be a victim or perpetrator of cyber bullying.

8. Bullying victims can be up to 9 times more likely to commit suicide.

9. Only 1 in 10 victims will inform a parent or trusted adult of their abuse.

10. About 58% of children admit that someone has said something mean or hurtful to them

online. More than 4 out of 10 say it has happened more than once.

The Effects of Cyber Bullying Cyber Bullying can start as a very minor form of bullying which

usually happens face to face primarily at school. This is then escalated to a different level by the

bully carrying it online. This can create a lot of pressure on the victim as hey have no escape,

even when they are in the safety of their own home the bully can still contact them. This can then

soon takes its toll and the effects start to show.

1. The victim can start expressing that he/she doesn't want to go to school
2. Where the victim is feeling under pressure it can effect their concentration as this is always on

their mind so the victims grades and performance at school can start to drop dramatically

3. As the student doesn't feel safe at school he/she can start skipping school to make sure they

don't see their bully

4. The student can start complaining of illness. This can either be from the stress of being bullied

that it can make them physically and mentally ill or as an excuse so the don't have to go to

school.

5. The victim can then start to act out by becoming interested in the use of alcohol and drugs.

This could be used as a cry for help for parents and friends to see that their struggling or a way to

escape from the hell that their living. When cyber bullying really starts to take its toll the effects

can get incredibly worse then not wanting to go to school and can vary from depression, self

harm, anorexia, bulimia and at the worst case suicide. Cyber bullying is now one of the main

sources of suicidal for teenagers. One of the examples of this was the death of Megan Meier.

Megan had always struggled with depression and mental illnesses but became very worse when

she started using Myspace. Megan became to give a lot of her trust to a boy called josh who she

didn't know but started to have a very trusting relationship with the boy who complimented her

and treated her different to the how the boys at school did. But this started to go awfully wrong

in October 2006 when josh and the whole of Myspace started to turn on her. she felt completely

betrayed as her friends started to create bulletins so the whole of Myspace could vote on how fat

she was. After josh sending her a final message saying how horrible and worthless she was and

why doesn't she just end her life, she then when upstairs and hung her self in the closet. Her

parents soon found out that josh was actually a fake account created by a family of one of
Megan's ex friend. Who were fully aware of Megan struggling from depression and suicide

thoughts and acted upon this by bullying her.

6 Examples that uses for Cyber Bullying

1.Facebook

2. Twitter

3. Instagram

4. Ask Fm

5. Chat rooms

6. Youtube

From the research that we have come across, we have realised that cyber bullying is a much

bigger problem then we all think. When you see the facts and how many people actually suffer it

becomes a lot more really. There needs to be a lot more awareness out there so we all know how

to stop cyber bullying so it doesn’t become worse. Also we believe that teachers and parents

need to know the effects of cyber bullying so they see if their student or child is suffering and

how to help them so the situation doesn’t get worse. Also there should be a lot more campaigns

out there to stop cyber bullying forever there isn't much awareness out there so people don’t

realise what a problem it is. You don’t realise until you actually research it and find out how

many suicides have happen because it or how many teenagers and children are becoming

depressed because of people online. In conclusion cyber bullying needs a lot more attention

because when you are at school getting bullied people don’t have as much confidence to say the

nasty things that they do online also if it happens at school the bullying stop there but now with
cyber bullying it carries on when you are safe at home so the victim never has any escape so

that’s why it gets so severe. So we all need to stop and realise the reality of cyber bullying and

how dangerous it can be.