I. Introduction about cyber bullying.

A. Significance of the study.

Cyberbullying on social media is linked to depression in teenagers, according to new research

that analyzed multiple studies of the online phenomenon. Victimization of young people
online has received an increasing level of scrutiny, particularly after a series of high-profile
suicides of teenagers who were reportedly bullied on various social networks.

There is plenty of talk about cyberbullying but few actually dont know how detrimental it
can be. Cyberbullying is a digital form of bullying done over the internet. This includes
actions such as being called fat, stupid, wanna-be, loser, ugly, freak or fake, harassing others.
It can lead to physical actions that sometimes cause serious injury or loss of life. In recent
years it has gotten vicious and dangerous among teens and adults. Many feel there has not
been enough action taken to reduce or prevent such behavior. Yet, sometimes people may not
realize exactly how cyberbullying gets it start.

This study is significant because it aims to provide school leaders and policy makers with
information on how to proactively create policies that decrease the prevalence and negative
effects of cyberbullying. School officials are still struggling on how to properly intervene
when made aware of instances of cyberbullying, and a great deal of that struggle centers
around their hesitance to take action on behaviors that do not occur on the school.

B. What is cyber bullying

Cyber Bullying is bullying that takes place over digital devices like cell phones, computers,
and tablets. Cyber bullying can occur through SMS, Text, and apps, or online in social media,
forums, or gaming where people can view, participate in, or share content. Cyber bullying
includes sending, posting, or sharing negative, harmful, false, or mean content about someone
else. It can include sharing personal or private information about someone else causing
embarrassment or humiliation. Some cyber bullying crosses the line into unlawful or criminal
behavior.

Cyber bullying can include such acts as making threats, sending provocative insults or racial
or ethnic slurs, gay bashing, attempting to infect the victim's computer with a virus and
flooding an e-mail inbox with messages. If you are a victim, you can deal with cyber bullying
to some extent by limiting computer connection time, not responding to threatening or
defamatory messages, and never opening e-mail messages from sources you do not recognize
or from known sources of unwanted communications. More active measures include
blacklisting or whitelisting e-mail accounts, changing e-mail addresses, changing ISPs,
changing cell phone accounts and attempting to trace the source. Because the use of mobile
and online communications has grown so rapidly and the crime is relatively new, many
jurisdictions are deliberating over cyber bullying laws. However, the crime is covered by
existing laws against personal threats and harassment. In some cases, it may be advisable to
inform the local police department or consult an attorney. It is not recommended that you
retaliate in kind because such behavior can lead to heightened attacks, or even civil actions or
criminal charges against you.

II. Examples of cyber bullying

A. Online threats

An online threat is any threat that uses the World Wide Web to facilitate cybercrime. Web
threats use multiple types of malware and fraud, all of which utilize HTTP or HTTPS
protocols, but may also employ other protocols and components, such as links in email or IM,
or malware attachments or on servers that access the Web. They benefit cybercriminals by
stealing information for subsequent sale and help absorb infected PCs into botnets. Online
threats pose a broad range of risks, including financial damages, identity theft, loss of
confidential information/data, theft of network resources, damaged brand/personal reputation,
and erosion of consumer confidence in e-commerce and online banking. It is a type of threat
related to information technology (IT). The IT risk affecting has gained and increasing impact
on society due to the spread of IT processes.

For examples, in September 2008, malicious hackers broke into several sections of
BusinessWeek.com to redirect visitors to malware-hosting websites. Hundreds of pages were
compromised with malicious JavaScript pointing to third-party servers. In August 2008,
popular social networking sites were hit by a worm using social engineering techniques to get
users to install a piece of malware. The worm installs comments on the sites with links to a
fake site. If users follow the link, they are told they need to update their Flash Player. The
installer then installs malware rather than the Flash Player. The malware then downloads a
rogue anti-spyware application, AntiSpy Spider.
B. Posting unwanted pictures or messages

Once electronic messages or pictures are made public, containing them becomes very
difficult. Video or pictures can be passed between mobile phones either by a local wireless
connection (which allows free messages to be sent between devices that are close to each
other), sent by text to other phones, uploaded to websites, or posted to public video hosting
sites. Most young people are aware of Happy Slapping, a term which has been used to refer
to physical assaults that are recorded and circulated, usually via mobile phone. The
Department for Children Schools and Families (DCSF) does not promote the use of this term,
although it recognises that its popular currency has at least allowed discussion around this
form of cyberbullying to begin to take place. The term is inaccurate and misleading, and risks
minimising serious and illegal incidents of physical assault. People who record attacks can be
actively engaging in cyberbullying. Circulating images of attacks can also be a form of
harassment, and will certainly compound the harm of the original attack.

III. Effects of cyber bullying

A. Depression

Researchers have discovered a strong link between bullying and depression. Depression is an
illness that is not totally understood, and may have a variety of causes, but it is clear that it
can have a relationship to bullying. Both bullies and their victims are more likely to suffer
from depression than youth who are not involved in bullying. This connection can be long-
lasting; people who are bullied as children are more likely to suffer from depression as an
adult than children not involved in bullying. Depression can have a number of serious effects
on a persons life. The link between bullying and depression can also extend to other
problems, like low self esteem, anxiety, high rates of school absence and physical illness.

The studies covered a variety of social sites, but Facebook was the most common between
89 percent and 97.5 percent of the teens who used social media had a Facebook account.
Seventeen of the 36 studies analyzed looked at how common cyberbullying was, and the
researchers found that a median of 23 percent of teens reporting being targeted. About 15
percent reported bullying someone online themselves.
Two studies examined the prevalence of so-called "bully-victims," meaning teens who both
bully others and are bullied. Research on offline bullying shows these kids to be most at-risk
for mental health problems. One study found that 5.4 percent of teens were bully-victims,
while the other reported a prevalence of 11.2 percent.

B. Suicide or kill he/her self

There is a strong link between bullying and suicide, as suggested by recent bullying-related
suicides in many countries. Parents, teachers and students learn the dangers of bullying and
help students who may be at risk of committing suicide. There are some example of this
effect, first is showing signs of depression, like ongoing sadness, withdrawall from others,
losing interest in favourite activities or trouble sleeping or eating. Second, talking about or
showing an interest in death or dying. Third, engaging in dangerous or harmful activities,
including reckless behavior, substance abuse, or self injury. Fourth, giving away favourite
possessioms and saying goodbye to people. Next, saying or expressing that they cant handle
things anymore. Last but not least, making comments that things would be better without
them.

IV. Solution to stop cyberbullying

A. Take immediate action

First is attempt to identify the cause. Some bullies start out as a friend, an ex or
someone else you know well. If it seems possiblle to have a reasonable discussion with the
person, cosideer asking him or her to stop. Have the conversation in person, not through
email or text. Keep in mind there may not always not be a reason for cyberbullying or one
that is straightfoward. Sometimes people lash out on others because of their own insecurities.
In case it is not yor fault. If you dont know who the bully is or if you are being bullied by ag
roup of people, attempting to talk it out probably wont work. You may need to take a stronger
action.

Next, change your account settings. Prevent the person from finding a new way to
contact you by limiting the amountof personal information you make available online. Take
the following measures to protect yourself. Consider changing your screen name and other
online identification. If you have been using the same screen name for years, the bully may
able to find a way to continue harassing you by posing as someone else. Eliminate the
possibility by changing your screen name, as well as your profile picture and other
information that makes you easy to find online.create new accounts. If you fear someone else
is impersonating you, iit might be necessary to create new accounts so that the person is no
longer able to pretend to be you. Notify your friends and family that you have new email
address, social media page and so on.

Last but not least, you have to save the evidence. File away every email, text, instant
message, web address and other evidence you collect from the bully. Record the time and
date that each message was sent. Having as much information as possible about the bullys
behaviour will help you determine how to stop his or her behaviour.

B. Additional advice for parents

Know that youre lucky if your child asks for help. Most young people dont tell their
parents about bullying online or offline. So if your childs losing sleep or doesnt want to go
to school or seems agitated when on his or her computer or phone, ask why as calmly and
open-heartedly as possible. Feel free to ask if it has anything to do with mean behavior or
social issues. But even if it does, dont assume its bullying. You wont know until you get
the full story, starting with your childs perspective.

Work with your child. There are two reasons why youll want to keep your child
involved. Bullying and cyberbullying usually involve a loss of dignity or control over a social
situation, and involving your child in finding solutions helps him or her regain that. The
second reason is about context. Because the bullying is almost always related to school life
and our kids understand the situation and context better than parents ever can, their
perspective is key to getting to the bottom of the situation and working out a solution. You
may need to have private conversations with others, but let your child know if you do, and
report back. This is about your childs life, so your child needs to be part of the solution.

More than one perspective needed. Your childs account of what happened is likely
completely sincere, but remember that one persons truth isnt necessarily everybodys.
Youll need to get other perspectives and be open-minded about what they are. Sometimes
kids let themselves get pulled into chain reactions, and often what we see online is only one
side of or part of the story.
CONCLUSION
Cyberbullying is a big problem in many teens world today. It is one of the many ways in
which teens are being bullied and it is causing problems for many teens and even their
families and loved ones. Kids have killed each other and committed suicide after being
involved in a cyberbullying incident. It may even be a bigger problem than we know. The
information I found online from the experts says that 1 in 3 teens are cyber bullied.

Parents, law enforcement and educators all need to take caution with watching over children
in order to prevent cyberbullying. If everyone comes together including educators, law
enforcement and the biggest role, the parents, then cyberbulling can be stopped. The next
time these 12 to 17 year olds log onto the internet, maybe they wont be affected by cyber
bullying if everyone begins to work together.