Supporting Teen Victims of Cyberbullying
Written By: Nathan Gennaro, Clinical Trainee at ACS, On-Campus Counseling Program
AS TEENAGERSfrequently engage with technology and social media, it is important to consider how the use of these tools may affect their mental health. Social media offers teens access to education, opportunities to connect with others, and ways to explore new hobbies. While these platforms can be extremely beneficial for their development, it is also important to recognize the distress they can cause.
While many people are likely familiar with the term ‘cyberbullying’, it may be difficult to precisely define what cyberbullying is, as well as how to prevent and cope with cyberbullying.
What is Cyberbullying?
As defined by Renee Garett and her research team at UCLA, cyberbullying is online aggression where a sender uses digital media with an intent to harm a victim. Usually, these bullies leverage some sort of power imbalance to harm their victims (age, social status, physical strength, and anonymity). Cyberbullies often display these acts of aggression repeatedly, using a computer, mobile phone, or other electronic device.
How Do We Spot Cyberbullying?
Cyberbullying can be spotted in a few different ways. Here are a few examples to help you and your teen spot them.
Harassment: Sending or posting mean messages repeatedly with the intention to hurt or humiliate someone. Harassment can be quite humiliating for the victim, and may lead to negative mental health outcomes. Teens can protect themselves as best they can from harassment by blocking the bully, reporting the messages, and seeking support from trusted adults.
Fake Profiles: Creating accounts meant to impersonate the intended victim. These fake profiles often misrepresent someone’s identity and damage their reputation. If you find these fake profiles, please report them!
Stalking: Repeated and unwanted attention that leads to someone feeling unsafe. If someone you know is being stalked online, blocking the stalker, limiting your information on social media platforms, and reporting the behavior could be ideas to help prevent these behaviors.
Doxxing: Sharing someone’s personal information online without the permission of that person. Doxxing can possibly lead to the victim fearing for their own safety, as well as being the target for harassment. Being careful of what you share online is the best way to prevent your information from getting out.
Exclusion: Leaving someone out of group chats and online activities. This is one of the less obvious forms of cyberbullying but can be extremely damaging as well. Exclusion can hurt, especially if the teen feels a sense of isolation or rejection. To combat exclusion, teens can try to include others and to speak out about people actively excluding others.
How Can We Support Our Teens?
In a study at Georgia State University in 2012, researchers suggested implementing reactive coping and preventive coping strategies.
Preventative coping is a strategy that takes steps towards decreasing the likelihood of being cyberbullied. These strategies include directly addressing social issues with peers and trusted adults and increasing securities measures. Increasing security measures might look like having strong password protection, limiting any identifying information that might be sensitive, and knowing what are safe websites to use.
If cyberbullying is currently taking place, teens can try reactive coping strategies. One idea for a reactive coping strategy would be to confront the bully with the help of an adult. Teens may also try avoiding the social media platforms where they are experiencing cyberbullying. Some young teens may even be able to find their own comfort in accepting bullying is a part of life. Some teens may also learn to justify reasons for why the bullying they are experiencing should not bother them. Lastly, the researchers recommended seeking social support, either from close friends, family members, or adults. Receiving emotional support may help encourage teens to confront the bully in the best way they see fit, as well as provide a pillar for victims to lean on. Being a victim can be extremely challenging for people of all ages. By supporting those around us, we can promote an environment that will help teens cope with the difficulties of cyberbullying.
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References
Garett, R., Lord, L. R., & Young, S. D. (2016). Associations between social media and cyberbullying: A review of the literature. mHealth, 2, 46. https://doi.org/10.21037/mhealth.2016.12.01
Parris, L., Varjas, K., Meyers, J., & Cutts, H. (2012). High school students’ perceptions of coping with cyberbullying. Youth & Society, 44(2), 284-306. https://doi.org/10.1177/0044118X11398881