Cyberbullying in Schools Essay Example

How many times a day do you touch your phone and or end up on a social media app?(Rhetorical question) Technology and social media are swarming all over the internet every day. Whether it is a new trend or dance people all over the world can interact across multiple platforms. With the use of these platforms every day, cyberbullying is very common. This technology has created a way for children to bully each other in harmful ways. This could take place on or off school grounds; schools should implement a more useful way of dealing with these issues. Those affected by cyberbullying should report this to the schools because especially if the bully is someone that attends the school that the child experiencing the bullying, it can greatly affect the school environment and the mental health of the students involved. For schools to properly deal with this issue, all educators and administrators must work together to stop the cyberbullying that today’s youth faces. 

According to CDC studies, a significant increase in cyberbullying across platforms like instant messaging and social media went up from 8% to 11%.  (logos) Looking at those analytics and studies it doesn’t seem like a lot but that’s a lot to go up in the last two years. With more social media and instant messaging apps on the rise, this number of cyberbullying is sure to change drastically with time. During the pandemic, more kids have access to social media platforms. These platforms could pressure students into getting them so they can fit in. Kids then feel like they have to get the app because if they don’t have the new form of instant messaging or social media platform it makes them seem like they are less cool and popular than the other kids.  Schools should also call in kids more often to speak to administrators and or counselors about what’s going on with them rather than letting the kids decide to go see someone. Kids are not always able to talk to someone and doing this might build a better sense of communication and trust within the school.

 Schools must have the license to deal with cyberbullying issues whether on-campus or off-campus. These rules or disciplinary actions should be told to students and teachers to ensure that they are followed and known.  Schools have reported that cyberbullying has not been dealt with properly. This could lead the students to not trust the school and their teachers. As Someone who has since been cyberbullied and not spoken up about it, it's something that from my viewpoint should be looked at because children can be affected in more ways than one with the words people say. (Ethos)  

A plethora of cyberbullying incidents has ultimately led to children feeling left empty and at fault for the situation. In some cases, it has led to some kids taking their own lives. All over news articles and headlines can be found talking about how cyberbullying has led to children taking their lives and how parents are responding to it. Students who have at one point in their life been cyberbullied are 2 times more likely to attempt to take their own lives. The rates of suicide due to cyberbullying have nearly doubled since 2008 making it the second leading cause of death in individuals ranging from the ages of 10-34.(logos) Cyberbullying not only directly affects the kids but also affects everyone around them including parents, teachers, and other students. 

Some may argue that schools do not have the license to punish the kids for cyberbullying because the school is already filled with kids that have grave behavioral problems that did not begin in the classroom setting, and cannot be solved in the classroom alone.(counterclaim). As you can see, many cases show how this must be true but not always is that a sole factor. Some issues may start in the classroom but carry over to a digital setting which means that the schools can get involved. While some issues start at home, and can’t simply be solved right away it is important when things like this are brought into light that school speaks up and says something. Some children do not get the proper discipline or redirection from their parents. A simple small warning doesn’t affect them so they continue. The parents did not take into consideration that their child did not listen to help solve the problem. Just think about, would you want the school to be involved in the bullying that you face if you were the kid receiving it?  (rhetorical question)

These things need to be taken into consideration when realizing that schools should be more involved surrounding social media because, without careful consideration in the guidance of schools, more students may be affected in more ways than one. Roughly 10% of the teens and adolescents on any and all social media sites and or instant messaging have reported to have once been cyberbullied and or even threatened by the perpetrator. (Logos). These numbers speak for themselves when it comes time to address them. (Personification)  If schools were to look into this and deal with this more than maybe certain statistics such as the suicide rate due to cyberbullying would go down, and or the bullying rates would go down. (parallelism)