In my Op-Ed, I wrote about a topic that was important to me where I take a specific stance, support my claim with evidence, and persuade my audience with a unique and fresh opinion.

Cyberbullying

            There have been many world issues that have had a negative impacts on society. One of these problems that have not been solved is cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is one of the many worldwide issues that affect mostly teenagers and there hasn’t been a networking site to stop this crisis. Those so called “haters”, or perpetrators, can do their devilry through text, apps, online in social media, forums, or gaming where these teens can view, participate in or share content. The sharing of personal and private information can cause embarrassment and humiliation to someone else. Cyberbullying is a problem because it can cause teens to go through depression, psychological pain, and eventually can lead to suicide. There can be various ways to solve this important issue. Both parents, and maybe even teachers, have to communicate more with their child and students. Being aware of the symptoms and the child’s behavior must be a priority because you never know what’s going on in their head.

On social media, cyberbullying is one of the things that are linked to depression. According to “Cyberbullying on Social Media Linked to Teen Depression” by Stephanie Pappas, “But cyberbullying and depression went hand-in-hand, the researchers report today (June 22) in the journal JAMA Pediatrics. Ten studies examined the link between social media victimization and depression, and all of them found a connection.” In the beginning, Pappas says “There were consistent associations between exposure to cyberbullying and increased likelihood of depression,” With depression, teens would most likely have a sudden lost interest in their favorite sports and hobbies and only wants to be in their room by themselves. They would even distant themselves from others, especially those in their life, including close friends and family.

Psychological pain refers to the mental health of the teens when they get ashamed and humiliated. In an article from the Journal of Law and Health by Kelly A. Albin states, “Although cyberbullying does not involve personal contact between an offender and victim it can cause serious psychological harm including depression, low self-esteem, anxiety, alienation, suicidal intentions, concentration and behavioral problems, and even physical harm, such as stress-induced headaches and nausea.” She then explains that most adolescent victims bring their psychological harm into adulthood. Pappas also states “In the new review, Hamm and her colleagues combed through studies on cyberbullying and social media, finding 36 that investigated the effects of cyberbullying on health in teens ages 12 to 18.” In my opinion, parents need to stay alert because once their child has been cyber bullied too many times, the more serious their symptoms would become.

When things start to get more serious, teens feel that there is no way out other than doing an action that they never thought they could reach. In an article of The NewYork Times, Misha Valencia starts off the young 12 year old, Mallory Grossman suffered from cyberbullying until she died from suicide in the year 2014. Valencia states, “They took pictures of Mallory at school without her knowledge, posted them online and taunted her with text messages contains screenshots of the vicious comments made about her…Ms. Grossman frequently reported the bulling to the school, but the harassment continued. She said that by the time she found out about the full scope of the bullying, it was too late. In addition, Albin says “In 2004, the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) identified a significant upward trend in total suicide rates for three of six age groups observed in the study: females aged 10-14 years and 15-19 years and males aged 15-19 years. Females aged 10-14 years represented the greatest percentage increase in suicide rates from 2003 to 2004 (75.9%), followed by females aged 15-19 years (32.3%) and males aged 15-19 years (9.0%).” She then adds “Since then, suicide rates among young adults continue to cause national concern, with cyberbullying as a driving force.” Most teens that experience this issue would be silent until they take an action that could be avoided.

Cyberbullying can cause many negative impacts in society, especially when it comes to teens. Both parents and teachers need to be aware when this type of action is happening because most cases happen to be in a school setting. Nowadays, the most common places that cyberbullying would occur are the social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, text message, and even email. It is important for parents and teachers build a more comfortable environment, both at home and in the classrooms, so that the student can open up with these type of issues. Right now, there are still many cases present worldwide, and there is no way to stop this issue than getting help and working together.

With this issue, teens might feel like there is no one that can help. That is why adults need to step in to show them that they are wrong. Even if they feel threatened, teens should push themselves to talk to their parent, or someone at school that they feel comfortable speaking to about their situation. Cyberbullying causes symptoms that affect their health and this happens mostly because they don’t have someone that can help guide them to overcome this issue.

 

Work Cited

Albin, Kelly A. “Bullies in a Wired World: the Impact of Cyberspace  Victimization on Adolescent Mental Health and the Need for Cyberbullying  Legislation in Ohio  .” Shibboleth Authentication Request, 2012, go-gale-com.ccny-proxy.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/ps/retrieve.dotabID=T002&result ListType=RESULT_LIST&searchResultsType =SingleTab&search Type=BasicSearchForm ¤tPosition=1&docId=GALE%7CA319613898 &docType=Article&sort=Relevance&contentSegment= ZONE-MOD1 &prodId=AONE&contentSet=GALE% 7CA319613898&searchId=R1&userGroupName=cuny_ccny&inPS=true.

Pappas, Stephanie. “Cyberbullying on Social Media Linked to Teen Depression.” LiveScience, Purch, 2015, www.livescience.com/51294-cyberbullying-social-media-teen- depression.html.

Valencia , Misha. “How to Safeguard Children Against Cyberbullying.” The New York Times, 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/09/05/well/family/how-to-safeguard-children-against-cyberbullying.html.