Cyberbullying How It s Harming Children And Adolescents

Cyberbullying: How It’s Harming Children and Adolescents Amanda was in 7th grade when her cyberbullying story began. One day she met a guy online who talked her into flashing him her breasts, a decision she regretted later. A year later, she got a message on Facebook from him that said â€Å"if you don’t put on a show for me, I will send your boobs† to everyone she knew. One day, her picture was revealed to everyone. Shortly after, she suffered from depression, anxiety and panic disorder. She also started abusing drugs and alcohol. She moved to another city, but the bullying continued, especially since the guy had made a Facebook page with her boobs as his profile picture for her new school friends to see. After that, she lost all of her†¦show more content†¦Doctors Sameer Hinduja and Justin Patchin defined cyberbullying as â€Å"willful and repeated harm to others inflicted through the use of computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices† (208). It is a serious problem amongst children and teens all ar ound the world. Many consider cyberbullying as merely expressing one’s thoughts which is considered freedom of speech. Many live in constant fear of what’s the next thing that’s going to be said about them. Although cyberbullying is considered freedom of speech and is therefore not breaking the law, it should ultimately be illegal because it causes low academic performance, depression and suicide in teens and young adults. Cyberbullying affects students’ ability to learn and concentrate in school which contribute to them having a low academic performance. UCLA psychology professor, Jaana Juvonen, warns that â€Å"students who get bullied run the risk of not coming to school, not liking school, perceiving school more negatively and doing less well academically. Any student who get bullied can become a low achiever†¦ it can paralyze students from concentrating on academics†¦researchers asked students to rate whether or not they get bullied on a four-point scale†¦the most-bullied performed substantially worse academically than their peers. Projecting the findings on grade-point average across all three years of middle school,