Victims fear abusive content will resurface
Research conducted on students at Trinity College Dublin who had been cyberbullied when they were younger, showed the bully still had a hold over them, as many worried that a questionable image or spurious comment might be resurrected from their past.
But the research by TCD’s Dr Conor McGuckin showed how some teenagers try to seek something positive out of cyberbullying.
A number of the students, aged 18-21, said they had taken up extra-curricular activities to distract them and had changed their career path following the cyberbullying. Often in these cases, the bullying had opened the victims’ eyes to how some people choose to operate in life and how everyone does not have their best intentions at heart.
However, the majority of the students were affected negatively and withdrew socially in the aftermath, engaged in self-harm, were more likely to be absent from school, and became a greater risk to themselves.
Up to 40% of students retaliate after bullying. According to experts, this can create a feeding frenzy and can make the abuse spiral very quickly, making it even more harmful to the victim.
Many of the students questioned said they had tried to ignore the bullying but admitted that did not work. Clinical psychologist, Dr McGuckin said children need to be taught to “log off the site and walk away”.
“They also need to be taught to put their hand up and tell somebody. Parents and teachers need to instil this in them. We need to become a mature society where putting up your hand isn’t seen as snitching. Children need to know that they will be listened to,” he said.
This research will be presented at the PSI conference in Cork this weekend.
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