Bergeron 1

Laiken Bergeron
Professor Jean Coco
English 1001
30 November 2016
Audience: Parents
Cyberbullying Causing Mental Health Problems
Preface1. Whats working well?
I found good articles that back up my thesis and help my argument. I think that my conclusion is
strong. I may need to add more when I find more research, but overall I think it is good. I like my
introduction. I think it is a good way to open my essay.
2. What needs work?
I need to write more pertaining to my audience. I need to focus on parents more and how this
essay can affect them. I need a lot more research.
3. What roadblocks do you face?
Finding research that is necessary for my paper is kind of difficult. I think I need to move from
the databases to the internet to find more interesting information.
4. What do you want to focus on in the conference?
I want to focus on my introduction paragraph and make sure it is the best it can be.
Three QuestionsHow can I improve my paper? How is my introduction paragraph? Are my sources trustworthy?
What would you improve upon in the draft if you had two more weeks?

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I would just keep finding more research and more suicide cases to raise more awareness to the
parents. I could also go from the bullyers perspective.
What have you learned from writing an inquiry research paper?
I have learned to use databases and to take advantage of the resources that I have at LSU. I have
learned how to properly cite artifacts and to write an annotated bibliography.
Region 8 News reported on September 26, 2009 that a teenage girl, Sarah Lynn Butler,
received a Myspace message saying that she was easily forgotten and that no one would miss her
because she a nave and stupid little girl. She left a suicide note saying that she could not
handle what others were saying about her anymore. On that day, Sarah hanged herself. Sarah was
popular in school. She had just gotten crowned homecoming queen. Her mom said she was
always laughing and cutting up with friends. Sarahs mom often checked Sarahs Myspace page
to make sure that everything was appropriate on there. Then, Sarah started to receive harsh
messages talking about rumors that she was slut. After Sarahs mom noticed these, Sarah deleted
her mom on Myspace. Now her mom is raising awareness to other parents saying that if they see
anything at all that is harsh or inappropriate to act on the problem and find a solution early before
its too late(Young). The pain that Sarahs loved ones most likely went through is unfathomable,
and it was all caused my cyberbullying. Cyber bullying has the effect to cause someone to take
their own life. Suicidal thoughts are linked to having a mental health issue.
Cyberbullying is the form of bullying that takes place on the internet. It can happen on
any social media platform, email, or blogs. The bullys purpose is to tear another person down
for themselves can feel better usually by being anonymous. Cyberbullying often shows more side
effects than the typical face-to-face bullying. Internet bullying has been proven to affect the teens
mental health more than anything else. Depression, sadness, and even suicidal thoughts that

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sometimes lead to suicide come from cyberbullying. Teens already have so much to worry about:
School, friends, family, a job, and so much more. It is a big transition age for them mentally and
physically. Do you really think the act of cyberbully should also be added to their plate? Parents
may not even realize the extent of danger that comes from cyberbullying because they did not
deal with this when growing up. Studies show that nearly 25% of teens have experienced being
bullied on the internet. This is a number that will just keep growing if people, especially parents,
are not educated on the topic and help to stop this problem. So, the question is: How is
cyberbullying affecting the mental health of teens?
In the Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, a survey was assembled on teens that
focused on the study of the frequency of cyberbullying and was assisted by the Pediatric
Emergency Department(PED) for psychiatric assistance. The experiment was also performed to
examine the connection between cyberbullying and suicidal acts. The teens in this experiment
had been cyberbullied, and they were suggested by the PED. The variables of the trial included,
substance abuse, psychiatric history, diagnosis, and type of bullying. There were 805 patients
in 24 months. Cyberbullying took place within 13.5% of the patients. That means roughly 105
patients were affected greatly by cyberbullying. They were observed for having more emotional
and physical abuse. Suicidal acts were present in more than two thirds of the patients, mostly
women. In the United States, the cases for mental health problems have increases yearly, and
15% of these cases are from having been affected by cyberbullying (Nasreen 470). This may not
seem like a huge number, but the number just keeps rising, and with the right prevention
measures that number could start going down. The mental health of teens could be salvaged and
preserved. Imagine what the world is going to be like 20 years from now. To what extent will this
bullying be?

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Fox 17 News reports that a 13-year-old girl named Zoe Johnson committed suicide over
cyberbullying on Facebook. Zoes mom said that her daughter had been dealing with this
bullying and developed depression from it, but she finally reached her breaking point and
committed suicide on July 6th, 2015. Most adolescents do not say anything if they have been
cyberbullied. Most teens are embarrassed to even admit they are a victim of this. The American
Association of Suicidology reports that in the past few decades, the suicidal rate between 10-14
year olds has grown by 50%. Zoes mom shares that she just wants other parents to become
aware, and if she could go back in time she would monitor Zoes Facebook more cautiously
(Sidorowicz). Parents need to pay close attention to their children. Look for any signs of
depression, changes in behaviors, or daily appearance. Just noticing the first signs of being taken
advantage of could save your childs life.
An experiment was performed on teenagers focusing on if family dinners had any affect
with their mental health and if the cyberbullied were experiencing mental health problems. The
study showed that teens who did sit down with their family for dinner were less affected with
cyberbullying and had less mental health issues. The most reported mental health problem was
depression, suicide attempts, and prescription drug misuse. In the past year, 18.6% experienced
at least once being cyberbullied. Cyberbullying is also more common with girls than with boys.
Teens being cyberbullied had two times more of a tendency to get drunk, vandalize, get into
physical fights, and have thoughts of suicide. More than three times as much as non-bullied,
teens who were bullied had extreme amounts of anxiety, more than three times the odds ratios of
binge drinking, high anxiety, self- harm, and suicide attempt and more than four times the odds
ratios of misusing prescription drugs and over-the-counter drugs. Knopf writes, Even after
controlling for exposure to face-to-face bullying, cyberbullying was found to be related to every

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mental health and substance use measure, suggesting that prevention of cyberbullying is a
legitimate focus of interventions (Knopf 4-5). These are stone facts that cyberbullying can have
an effect on teens like nothing before. You may wonder what are ways bullies can bully on the
internet, and here are some examples.
According to the Psychiatric Times, Domains or types of common electronically
aggressive behaviors include hostility (e.g., insults, threats), humiliation (e.g., posting an
embarrassing picture), obsessive monitoring or control (e.g., intrusive texts), deception (e.g., use
of a fake profile to interact with another), and exclusion (e.g., un-friending) (Roberts 24). These
are different ways that a person feels when being bullied on the internet. There are tons of ways
bullies can bully. They use the thought of being hidden on the internet, so, maybe they feel like
they can do whatever. The bully is not face-to-face when bullying. This makes the person being
bullied feel alone and ganged up on. It is much easier to walk away if being bullied in person
than to get away on the internet. Cyberbullies are the reason that teens are having more and more
mental health issues. The internet is supposed to be a great place, and still is for the most part,
but when teens start to feel exclusion and humiliation, they can start to develop serious health
problems, mostly in their mind.
According to Cyberbullying.org, today, 30 states have laws against cyberbullying, and it
will not be long before the last 20 states hop on board. In Louisiana, someone guilty of
cyberbullying could be paying $500, a six-month jail period, or both. Cyberbullying is as serious
as robbery or any other crime. Some states do not have a cyberbullying law because these laws
would be too similar to laws regarding stalking and harassment, and other states want to leave
the cyberbullying topic to the schooling systems, but that is just not good enough (Patchin).
Serious measures need to be taken within every state to ensure that the right discipline is given

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with something so serious that is leading to suicide in teens. It is obviously an important and
serious topic if teens are developing serious mental health problems over it. I think that before
long, every state in the U.S will have a law against cyberbullying.
Cyberbullying is one of the leading causes of mental health in teens. Whether it be
depression, sadness, or suicidal thoughts, cyberbullying influences teens in ways that parents
have never thought about before. Parents, you all are not used to growing up in this generation of
technology, where teens connect with the world with the touch of their screen. They can say
whatever they want on these social media sites, but who is going to be the one to change this?
According to these experiments, it has been proven that teens have great amounts of stress over
the internet bullies, and there are also serious suicide cases over this. The topic of cyberbullying
should not be taken lightly, which is why it needs more awareness. All parents need to know that
this is taking place every day. Have you ever wondered if your child is being talked down to?
Have you ever checked up on your childs social media sites? Have you noticed your child has
changed negatively? Cyberbullying could be the cause of this, and today could be the day to put
a stop to it.

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Works Cited
Knopf, Alison. "Cyberbullying Linked To Mental Health Problems In Teens; Protective Factor
Seen In Family Dinners." Brown University Child & Adolescent Behavior Letter 31.1
(2015): 4-5. Academic Search Complete. Web. 27 Oct. 2016.
Patchin, Justin W. "The Current State of Cyberbullying Laws." Cyberbullying Research Center.
N.p., 26 Nov. 2015. Web. 28 Nov. 2016. <http://cyberbullying.org/the-current-state-ofcyberbullying-laws>.
Ramos, Michelle C., and Diana C. Bennett. "Cyberbullying: Who Hurts, And Why." Psychiatric
Times 33.1 (2016): 20-25. Academic Search Complete. Web. 11 Nov. 2016.
Roberts, Nasreen, et al. "Pediatric Emergency Department Visits For Mental Health Crisis:
Prevalence Of Cyber-Bullying In Suicidal Youth." Child & Adolescent Social Work
Journal 33.5 (2016): 469-472. Academic Search Complete. Web. 11 Nov. 2016.
Sidorowicz, Josh. "Mom: Cyber Bullying Killed My Daughter." Fox17. N.p., 21 July 2015. Web.
28 Nov. 2016. <http://fox17online.com/2015/07/21/mom-cyber-bullying-killed-mydaughter/>.

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Young, Yolanda. "Online Teasing Leads to Teen's Suicide." - KAIT Jonesboro, AR. N.p.,
2009. Web. 10 Nov. 2016. <http://www.kait8.com/story/11566204/onlineteasing-leads-to-teens-suicide>.

Articles
All of these are the full article.
Summaryhttp://web.b.ebscohost.com.libezp.lib.lsu.edu/ehost/command/detail?sid=51404b92-098b-4f77824b-84fa5b513b5b%40sessionmgr120&vid=8&hid=128
Paraphrasehttp://www.kait8.com/story/11566204/online-teasing-leads-to-teens-suicide
Summaryhttp://web.b.ebscohost.com.libezp.lib.lsu.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=51404b92-098b4f77-824b-84fa5b513b5b%40sessionmgr120&vid=13&hid=128
Summaryhttp://cyberbullying.org/the-current-state-of-cyberbullying-laws
Summaryhttp://fox17online.com/2015/07/21/mom-cyber-bullying-killed-my-daughter/