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A study carried out by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 44 European and Asian countries indicated that the number of cases of cyberbullying among young people has increased considerably, while bullying remains stagnant. The survey showed that around a fifth of young people interviewed said they had suffered cyber attacks in the two months prior to the survey. Maria Isabel Leme, professor at the Institute of Psychology (IP) at the University of São Paulo, analyzes the factors that contribute to this increase in the incidence of this practice, how it can affect the daily lives of young people and what measures should be adopted to combat the practice.
For the teacher, one of the reasons behind this increase in virtual aggression is the greater familiarity of children and adolescents with digital media, as they have been familiar with technology since their first years of life. Another factor highlighted by her is the large number of victims that a person can reach at once via the internet, which is much higher than what they could achieve in a face-to-face environment.
Furthermore, she explains that aggressors feel safer carrying out abuse remotely because they believe it will be difficult for them to be identified and punished for their actions. “It has to do with children’s knowledge of new technologies, but also with the ease of access that the virtual environment favors, it is a more protected environment. Bullying in person exposes the aggressor more to punishment and, in the virtual environment, I believe it is more protected and makes him feel safer”, she informs.
Psychological damage
The expert explains that the psychological damage caused by cyberbullying is more likely to affect young people who do not have a support network, which is why it is important for the victim to share their situation with people close to them. She reinforces that, if virtual violence occurs frequently and comes from several people, it can cause considerable damage to the young person’s self-esteem and interpersonal relationships, as well as greater damage to school performance.
According to Maria Isabel, the consequences of cyberbullying vary between each victim, as each individual has a different personality and varied resources to deal with this violence. “It really depends on each person and the resources they have for support, such as friends they can talk to. If you are a person who is more self-assured and has healthy relationships to let off steam, I believe you will be able to overcome it more easily than someone who is more alone,” she analyzes.
According to the teacher, attackers seek out victims who feel most affected by the aggression, as they do not have the resources to defend themselves and allow themselves to be affected by insults. However, she believes that, as the years go by, maturity helps young people overcome the traumas they have experienced.
Combat practice
The teacher reinforces that school and parental monitoring of young people is important, as they often take cyberbullying as fun and games, without realizing the damage it can cause to other individuals. For her, the school needs to establish concrete rules and appropriate punishments when they manage to identify an aggressor. Furthermore, the teacher says that parents need to provide guidance in the family environment about the negative effects that this practice can cause.
“Often, this teenager who practices cyberbullying is not aware of what he is doing and the suffering he is causing, he acts recklessly. I observed in classrooms that there are some students who like to stand out, they practice these abuses precisely to stand out among others, to be funny, to be seen and applauded”, he says.