According to a recent study on young teens, the number of children going to high school who are victims of cyber bullying is currently at 16%.

Cyberspace bullying amongst children in high school

A recent study indicated that the number of children attending high school who were made victims of cyberspace bullying currently stands at 16%.

The research further showed that a lot of the victims affected used to spend a considerable amount of time online either surfing the Internet or playing video games. The victims were known to indulge in activities that weren’t related to their studies or class work when they used the Internet.

The information was gathered in the year 2011 from over 15,000 high school students who were attending private and public institutions. The survey showed that at least one student out of every five students became a victim of cyberspace bullying.

Boys were less vulnerable to cyber bullying as compared to girls. The percentage statistics showed that boys were 11% likely to be victims of cyber bullying as compared to girls who were 22% likely. This study was done by the Pediatric Academic Society who presented it at a yearly gathering in Washington, D. C.

Discovering cyberspace bullying in institutions

The lead author of the research, Dr. Andrew Adesman, stated that this act is responsible for destroying normal development in teenagers. This is because it targets a teenager’s vulnerability and makes them weak emotionally. The victims will also experience low self-esteem considering the fact that their ego and confidence will be affected during the process. The doctor boldly stated all this while he was at news release conference with American Academy of Pediatrics.

He added that the dangers present in cyberspace are really immense. The fact that most high school going students spend a huge chunk of their time in the Internet makes them even more vulnerable to its potential danger. Victims can end up being traumatized for life depending on the type of experience that they go through while being cyber bullied.

Cyber bullying is a very real thing despite the fact that it’s carried out in a virtual environment. A lot of assumptions are taken about its effect. Students pretend to ignore its existence and only realize its negative effects after it’s too late to do anything. There are others who realize that they are being cyber bullied way after they have been made victims for a considerable amount of time. In these cases, the damage is already inflicted and not much can be done to reverse it.

Cyberspace bullying will continue to show its ugly face as long as technology advances. The sad thing is that very few parents and guardians are made aware of the experience that their children undergo through when they are being cyber bullied.

Karen Ginsburg, from Cohen’s Medical Center, noted that this type of bullying mostly goes on in schools undetected. The parent might not be aware of it even though the truth of the matter is that, it’s affecting and hurting their kids on a daily basis. She further said that there are very dire effects and consequences if this issue is put to bed without being addressed.

It should be noted that the information was only provisional considering the fact that they were yet to be published and confirmed by the lead author.