The Knowledge and Prevalence of Cyberbullying in a College Sample

Abstract

Cyberbullying is a new type of bullying of which many children and teens are falling victim. Cyberbullying involves harming another person through use of the internet or texting. The purpose of the current studies was to examine the knowledge and prevalence of cyberbullying in a sample of college students. Participants were asked to report about technology use, past and present instances of bullying (traditional and cyberbullying), as well as respond to questions concerning the consequences of cyberbullying. While college students seem aware of what cyberbullying involves, instances of cyberbullying in college appear to be minimal. Although college students have access to many technologies, the majority do not seem to engage in bullying through the internet. However, those individuals who are cyber bullies are also likely to be victims of cyberbullying. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed. Cyberbullying is really just kids being mean to other kids online because they feel that their actions on the internet have no consequences in real life. Most children/teens don’t have the guts to bully someone in the traditional sense because there are instant repercussions whereas they feel that they can “get away” with cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is no different than traditional bullying; it lowers self-esteem and self-worth.