Cyberbullying And The Rosenberg Self-Esteem

Victims of cyberbullying are nearly twice as likely to attempt suicide than adolescents who have not been a victim of cyberbullying (4). This shocking statistic is just one example of how detrimental cyberbullying can be on its victims and, although not all the effects are as extreme as suicide, they can be devastating nevertheless. Up to sixty nine percent of adolescents have had their self-esteem significantly diminished as a result of cyberbullying (2), and according to StopBullying.gov, students who are cyberbullied are far more likely to avoid going to school than those who are not (6). In addition to that, a study by Dr. Michelle Hamm of the University of Alberta found that victims of cyberbullying have a greater likelihood of depression …show more content…
Morris Rosenberg, who developed the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, defines self-esteem as, “a favorable or unfavorable attitude towards the self” (5). This attitude is influenced and formed by input received from others, specifically their peers. Adolescents are particularly susceptible to outside influences during this period of their lives, and a significant source of this input is cyberbullying. In fact, thirty percent of middle school students were victims of cyberbullying at least two or more times in the past thirty days (5). The nature of cyberbullying, being based in technology, results in non-stop input, as adolescents are constantly online or plugged into their technology. Additionally, the anonymity that technology provides to its users can result in an increase in severity of the bullying verses face-to-face bullying. With such a high occurrence of cyberbullying in this age group and its increased severity, it is not surprising that this would have a significant impact on this population’s …show more content…
For example, ten recent studies examined depression’s relationship with social media victimization, and every single one of them discovered a correlation between the two (9). One of the reasons this correlation is so high may be associated with the fact that many kids suffer cyberbullying in silence (8). Michelle Hamm, a pediatric researcher at the University of Alberta states that, “Kids really are hesitant to tell anyone when cyberbullying occurs. There seems to be a common fear that if they tell their parents, for example, they’ll lose their Internet access.” Additionally, cyberbullied adolescents most often believe that nothing can prevent or even reduce the cyberbullying they are experiencing (7). This really speaks to how much of a problem cyberbullying is.
As devastating as the previous effects of cyberbullying are, nothing is quite as horrible as when cyberbullying leads an adolescent to commit suicide. Each of the effects discussed above can contribute to the sense of desperation and despair that accompany suicidal thoughts. It is evident that many teens do not have the emotional or psychological experience to deal with the effects of cyberbullying and, given that so many teens don’t let anyone know that the bullying is occurring, they also do not have access to professional support. Approximately twenty