Suicide as a result of online bullying

Suicide as a result of online bullying

Online bullying is also referred to as cyberbullying. It is bullying that is carried out via digital devices like computers, cellphones, and tablets. It can take place via text messages or social media and gaming websites where participants can communicate live and share information with one another in real-time. Online bullying involves sending or posting negative, harmful, private, or any unnecessary information about the subject. This act ends up shaming and humiliating the victim, which in turn may result in humiliation, low self-esteem, and sometimes depression. Cyberbullying is frowned upon, and when it is taken too far, it turns into unlawfulness, and it is considered criminal behavior. Some individuals end up taking their own lives after experiencing online bullying humiliation. As a result, this paper seeks to answer the following question; How do the prevailing trends of online bullying link to suicide incidents among young adults?

According to recent research, young people and children are more vulnerable to imposing self-harm on themselves or have suicidal thoughts with regards to experiencing online bullying. It has been established that there are connections between online bullying and several internalizing difficulties (Bonanno & Hymel, 2013). Though, debate arises as to whether this connection has a bearing to traditional means of bullying. The research established that cyberbullying has influence, leading individuals to suicidal thoughts and depression. Statistical analysis was undertaken in Canada, where 339 adolescents between grade 8 and 10 were evaluated with regard to cyberbullying. It was established that cyberbullying for the victim, and the bullying contributed to suicidal thoughts and depression relatively way much worse compared to traditional forms of bullying, which were physical, verbal, and rational. Hence due to the increasing technological accessibility, it is essential to address and create awareness concerning cyberbullying (Bonanno & Hymel, 2013).

Due to the prevalence of cyberbullying in recent years, the connection between cyberbullying to suicide and psychological problems has been given attention. Suicidal tendencies have been connected to viewing certain web content. A research was conducted in Europe among individuals between 11 years and 16 years who had access to the internet. The report obtained from the evaluation indicated that cyberbullying and viewing particular web content contributed to suicidal thoughts and tendencies to harm themselves personally. Cyber bully-victims were also found to be more vulnerable to committing suicide upon watching suicide relate to web content on the internet. These findings depict the impact of online bullying on suicidal rates among young adults (Görzig, 2016).

A few years ago, on 4 January 2012, a fifteen-year-old girl called Amanda Diane Cummings committed suicide. The adolescent from Staten Island died due to injuries she sustained the week after she jumped in front of a bus in an attempt to kill herself. At the time of the accident, she had a note with her, which explained the bullying she experienced from her classmates. These classmates made fun of her; they threatened her and stole her belongings. While she was in the hospital, her peers, instead of sending her good messages of hope, they continued posting insensitive comments on her Facebook page. This case is a representation of all the online bullying incidents that lead to death by suicide (Kulbarsh, 2012).

In another study conducted in Toronto, Canada, 94 youth suicide cases were analyzed. Their ages were roughly 16 to 17 years old, and 70% of the total were male. Bully was recorded from 6 incident, and cyberbullying had no bearing in the incidents. The common reasons were parental conflicts, romantic issues, academic failures, and engagement in crime. The study showed that the rising cases of youth suicides are influenced by psychological, social, and biological factors where bullying is just but one of them. This study was done to do away with the notion that the rising cases of bullying are influenced solely by bullying (Sinyor, Schaffer & Cheung, 2014).

References.

Bonanno, R., & Hymel, S. (2013). Cyber Bullying and Internalizing Difficulties: Above and Beyond the Impact of Traditional Forms of Bullying. Journal Of Youth And Adolescence, 42(5), 685-697. doi: 10.1007/s10964-013-9937-1

Görzig, A. (2016). Adolescents’ Viewing of Suicide-Related Web Content and Psychological Problems: Differentiating the Roles of Cyberbullying Involvement. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, And Social Networking, 19(8), 502-509. doi: 10.1089/cyber.2015.0419

Kulbarsh, P. (2012). Bullycide: Suicide as a Result of Bullying. Retrieved 24 November 2019, from https://www.officer.com/command-hq/technology/computers-software/administrative-software/article/10611621/bullycide-suicide-as-a-result-of-bullying

Sinyor, M., Schaffer, A., & Cheung, A. (2014). An Observational Study of Bullying as a Contributing Factor in Youth Suicide in Toronto. The Canadian Journal Of Psychiatry, 59(12), 632-638. doi: 10.1177/070674371405901204