As the world turns to more technology innovation, our lives are also becoming digitalized. The Covid-19 pandemic has meant that we conduct most of our daily existences over the internet than ever before.
In general, this is a good thing. Digital technologies make our lives easier and facilitate business, communication, government, and much more. However, as is the case with most things, with the good also comes the bad, and one negative result of internet use is cyberbullying.
What is Cyberbullying?
As the name implies, cyberbullying is bullying in a digital space, such as on mobile phones, computers, tablets, etc., in arenas such as text messaging, social media, forums, online gaming, and more.
Even in 2022, bullying is still a problem for most people. 73 percent of students feel they were bullied in their lifetime, and 44 percent say it's happened in the last 30 days.
It should come as no surprise that cyberbullying has become a major issue. All that has happened is that an age-old problem has made its way into the digital world.
One could argue that cyberbullying is more damaging than traditional in-person bullying because it can happen anytime. The words people use to bully are in the digital space, so cyberbullying is more challenging to spot, meaning it often goes unnoticed.
To see how big of a problem this is, here are all the statistics about cyberbullying that you need to know:
Cyberbullying in 2022
Cyberbullying is a real problem in today's society. Consider that:
Sources: [1], [2], [3], [4], [5]
An Imminent Threat
These numbers show that cyberbullying is not some tiny problem experienced by just a select few individuals but is a widespread societal issue. Therefore, we all must understand cyberbullying, why it happens, how to stop it, and how to help victims.
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It's Not Just Children
Although a lot of the cyberbullying focus is on kids, mainly because this group is most vulnerable to the long-term impacts of cyberbullying, they are not the only victims.
Adults are often guilty of or subjected to cyberbullying. However, cyberbullying is usually called something else when done to adults, such as harassment or sometimes even stalking.
To give you an idea of how prevalent these problems are, sixteen percent of women and one in 19 men have been stalked at some point in their lifetime. Four in ten Americans have experienced some form of online harassment.
Also, consider that:
- A published post by The Sunday Morning Herald states that in Australia, around ten percent of adults admit to having been victims of cyberbullying.
- According to the data from Pew Research Center, in the U.S., 40 percent of adults have personally experienced some form of online harassment, and 75 percent of adults have seen cyberbullying around them.
These numbers are troubling. It shows that cyberbullying is pervasive and doesn't disappear as we age. Perhaps what it highlights the most is that being nice to one another is what our global society needs more than anything.
More Cyberbullying Statistics Everyone Should Know
At this point, it should be clear that cyberbullying is a significant problem in today's society. But where does cyberbullying occur?
To get a little bit deeper into the problems cyberbullying causes, look at the following data provided by Ditch the Label, one of the world's leading anti-bullying organizations.
They asked students to indicate on which social media platforms they had experienced cyberbullying, and here are the results:
The study also revealed some surprising statistics about the number of people that are perpetrators of cyberbullying. For example, they found that:
- 69 percent of people report having done something abusive towards others online.
- 15 percent of people admit to having cyberbullied someone else online.
These statistics are troubling because it suggests a general misunderstanding of precisely what cyberbullying is.
More specifically, it's likely these people who have admitted to doing something abusive towards others online actually engaged in cyberbullying. Still, because of a lack of awareness about this, they do not admit it.
Here are some more cyberbullying statistics to consider:
- According to StopBullying.gov, over half of students who identify as being LGBTQ have experienced cyberbullying at some point.
- Girls are more likely to be a victim of cyberbullying than boys. Overall, around 36 percent of girls have reported being cyberbullied compared to 26 percent of boys, according to a report from Pew Research Center.
- While a report from Florida Atlantic University states that 83 percent of those bullied online have also been bullied in person, and 69 percent who admitted to bullying online have also admitted to in-person bullying.
Why Are People Cyberbullied?
To tackle the problem of bullying and cyberbullying, it's essential to look at why people are cyberbullied. The graph below shows us some of the main reasons why people get attacked online:
Based on these details, we can see that people are bullied online primarily because of their physical appearance, status, and preferences.
The Impacts of Cyberbullying
The effects of cyberbullying can have a tremendously negative impact on the mental health and well-being of victims. These impacts are far more severe than "feeling bad" about yourself. They go deeper and touch more sensitive parts of the human psyche.
Victims can feel these effects in the short and long term, and they help point out why we should take cyberbullying so seriously.
Here is a rundown of some troubling statistics about the impact of cyberbullying:
- From the data of Cyberbullying Research Center, 64 percent of people who have been cyberbullied say it affects their ability to learn and feel safe at school.
- A Center for Disease Control study claims that students who experience cyberbullying are more likely to have trouble adjusting to school. They are also more likely to have mental health and behavior problems.
- A research study by Gini and Pozzoli, 2013 states that bullied students are twice as likely as other students to experience problems such as headaches and stomach aches.
- According to an article published by National Center for Education Statistics,19 percent of bullied students say the experience negatively impacted their feelings. 14 percent say it has negatively impacted their relationships with friends and family, and 9 percent reported a negative impact on their schoolwork.
What's perhaps more concerning, though, is the impact cyberbullying has on the one doing the actual bullying.
According to a study published in The Journal of Early Adolescence, cyberbullying can help improve a student's perceived popularity. This suggests that we, as a society, encourage this behavior by rewarding those who engage in it with higher social standing.
The Results of Cyberbullying
Below are other impacts that, according to students, were a result of the cyberbullying they had experienced:
- 25 percent of teens have had an online bullying experience that culminated in a face-to-face confrontation.
- 13 percent reported cyberbullying made them concerned about going to school the next day.
- 8 percent reported having physical altercations with someone because of something on a social network.
- 6 percent reported another student sending an instant message or chat to hurt their feelings.
- 4 percent reported having something put on a profile page to hurt their feelings.
- 3 percent reported receiving a nasty email from another student.
Mental Health Problems Stemming From Cyberbullying
To help you get a better idea about some of the impacts cyberbullying can have on mental health, consider the following findings from the Ditch the Label study.
In this survey, students who had been cyberbullied were asked to identify what issues they felt arose because of their cyberbullying experience. The results were:
With this survey, we can tell that most students who have experienced cyberbullying also experienced problems with their mental health, which is very alarming.
How Can You Tell If Someone Is Being Cyberbullied?
People who suffer from cyberbullying are unlikely to say anything about it; that is why it is crucial to know the detrimental effects of cyberbullying and the signs that someone is suffering. We can offer help wherein the victims are often too shy or embarrassed to ask for it.
According to the National Crime Prevention Center (NCPC), there are several behavioral changes that someone being cyberbullied may undergo. For example, they may:
- Become shy and withdrawn
- Became moody, agitated, anxious, or stressed out
- Act more aggressively towards others
- Protest more about going to school
- Get into trouble at school
- Skip school
- Experience a dip in academic performance
- Have stopped using the computer or other devices that connect to the internet
- Change in eating and sleeping habits. For example, they may begin experiencing nightmares
- Attempts self-harm or threatens suicide
- Suddenly started hanging out with a new group of friends
This is one of the biggest red flags because kids are connected to their devices. If you notice a significant change, you must ask them what they are experiencing.
Recognizing Cyberbullies
On the other side of things, it's essential to look out for some of the signs that someone is engaging in cyberbullying.
As shown by the statistics, more people engage in cyberbullying than you might think, and these numbers are based on those who admit it. There may be more people than the research suggests.
It's tricky to determine when someone is engaging in cyberbullying, but it's not impossible. Typically, children, or adults, who are engaging in cyberbullying will:
- Stop using their computer or phone when someone comes near them
- Look nervous or jumpy when online
- Be secretive about what they are doing online
- Spend an excessive amount of time on the computer
- Become angry or upset when internet privileges are taken away (this is more the case with children than adults)
If you see anyone exhibiting these types of behaviors, then consider investigating more and intervening where possible.
What Should You Do If You Believe Someone is a Victim of Cyberbullying?
As of 2021, around 81 percent of kids think that bullying is easier to get away with online. Part of this could be that 90 percent of kids who see cyberbullying ignore it.
However, 84 percent of students report having seen someone stand up to a cyber bully to tell them to stop what they are doing.
This suggests that only a small group of people speak up about cyberbullying, which needs to change.
As an adult, if you see a kid being cyberbullied, consider doing one of the following:
- Ask your child to go over their list of contacts on their phone and instant messaging apps so that you can know more about the people with whom they communicate.
- Talk to your kids about cyberbullying, so they know what it is and how to understand when it is happening.
- Emphasize to kids that they will not lose internet privileges if they are being cyberbullied. Believe it or not, this is the main reason kids choose not to speak up about cyberbullying, according to the NCPC.
- Raise the issue with teachers and school administrators to look for signs of bullying in school and address the problem in the best way possible.
- Reach out to your child's friends. An engaging bystander is a key component of fighting bullying, so those who must witness the abuse know what they are seeing and how to react.
Those being cyberbullied have options, too. Ensure kids know this by going over what they should be doing if they feel they are a victim. Some things you can do if you think you're being cyberbullied are:
- Tell someone you trust about what's going on so that you can get some help.
- Keep emails, texts, comments, etc., that could be evidence of cyberbullying.
- Don't strike back. Two wrongs don't make a right.
- Report the issue to the website. For example, Facebook and YouTube both have places where you can report cyberbullying in a safe environment.
Conclusion
As you can see, cyberbullying is a significant issue in every society worldwide, and it isn't something that only kids have to deal with. Everyone might experience these challenges too.
Hopefully, these statistics have helped you see how serious this problem is and what could be your role in addressing it. Keep an eye out in your digital communities, and if you see someone acting towards someone else in a harmful way, say something. You might just save their life.
FAQ
How can you help in preventing cyberbullying?
The most important thing is to stop yourself from being a perpetrator of cyberbullying. A lot of online behavior we may think is harmless can negatively impact others and be considered cyberbullying. Negative comments, insulting messages, mocking people online or their content, their appearance, their words, etc., whether we know them or not, can be cyberbullying.
In addition, it's up to us to hold others accountable when we witness cyberbullying behavior. If you notice someone engaging in cyberbullying, call them out and teach children to recognize and call out cyberbullying. Education about what it is and its negative effects is the best recourse to reduce the frequency of this behavior or prevent it altogether.
What country has the highest rate of cyberbullying?
While the United States has the highest reported incidence of cyberbullying, it is unfortunately far from being the only one. Worldwide statistics and facts about cyberbullying indicate that Brazil and India are similarly afflicted, and the three are the countries with the highest cyberbullying rate globally.
However, this phenomenon happens everywhere and is increasing in frequency and impact as social media becomes a bigger part of our lives and we spend more time online. Especially in the wake of the pandemic, vulnerable groups are particularly likely to get cyberbullied.
Who are the targets of cyberbullying?
Anyone can be the target of cyberbullying. If you regularly spend time online in any space where socializing is possible (social media, forums, comment sections), you have encountered or experienced cyberbullying.
That being said, the targets and victims of cyberbullying are primarily children and teens, especially girls and young women. Sexual minorities are also frequent targets, as are other minorities, including individuals who are disabled, have a mental illness, or religious minorities.
While cyberbullying can be and is often perpetrated by anonymous online strangers, it can also come from people you know, your peers, co-workers, etc., so aggressive behavior on their part should not be discounted.
Is cyberbullying a crime in the U.S.?
Presently, no federal laws designate cyberbullying as a crime in the United States. However, all 50 states have laws against bullying at large, except for Wisconsin and Alaska, which all have specific references to cyberbullying.
In addition, cyberstalking is considered a criminal offense and is covered by laws concerning stalking, harassment, and slander. But the law cannot be applied unless these crimes are reported, and if you look at how many cyberbullying cases are reported each year, it's clear that not many come forward about this issue.
Which movies are about cyberbullying?
In recent years, several movies have aimed to tackle the issue of cyberbullying. Cyberbully (2015), Cyber Bully (2011), Like.Share.Follow (2017) and Unfriended (2014) all follow similar stories of the genuine impact cyberbullying can have on the victims. Some of these are even based on actual events and depict real-life events or tragedies resulting from cyberbullying.
With cyberbullying statistics getting worse every day, we're bound to see this type of storyline again in the future, as social media has taken over our lives and is becoming a huge part of our children and teens' experience and upbringing.
