How Cyberbullying Is Affecting Teens - 1200 Words

How Cyberbullying Is Affecting Teens Lisa Chouinard University of Central Florida Abstract Cyberbullying is a growing problem among the teen population. The abuse that is taking place online has a much more far reaching effect than physical bullying, since it is available to a much larger audience. It has the ability to cause serious psychological effects on teens that could lead to depression and possible suicide. The reason for this, is because a teen’s self-esteem and self-worth relies so heavily on the approval and acceptance of their friends and peers. The best way to work towards eliminating this problem is to petition the state government to enact a bill making cyberbullying against the law. In this digital†¦show more content†¦The verbal abuse teens must withstand is extremely devastating in their lives. When teens are called names or have things made up about them, it causes them to feel badly about themselves, and what others might think of them. They are vulnerable at this age while they are still developing their identities of wh o they will become in the future. Name calling online is worse than physical bullying, because it is the whole school and the community that sees these things being said, which causes the teen to be effected by all who know them, and not just classmates. Once a teen has been made the victim of a bully, it is very difficult to continue functioning in school, social and sports activities without always feeling stared at and talked about by others. At such a tender age in a persons’ life, this can sometimes cause irreversible harm to a teen which is what causes them to feel that suicide is the only way out for them. Verbal and psychological abuse online has very serious effects on teens that frequently base their self- esteem and self -worth on the opinions of others, especially their peers. Teens that are victims of having their accounts hacked can be severely damaging. They have had their status changed to being gay or straight, a virgin to a slut, and making them a raci st. It is an invasion of privacy to have inappropriate photos put on their sites, sometimes these are nude photos, and allowing