By Ajay Gundlapalli
The time to address mental health, especially in teens, is now: The Mental Health Month May 2023. Cyberbullying is a powerful factor adversely affecting mental health in teens. During a time when technology, phones, and social media have taken the world by storm, we must find ways to make the internet a safer place for teens to interact by mitigating cyberbullying and providing tools for affected teens and families. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy has also emphasized the harmful effects of social media in the mental health of children and adolescents.
According to multiple studies, increased stress and anxiety, depression, acting out violently, and low self-esteem are all outcomes of cyberbullying. Cyberbullying can also result in long-lasting emotional effects, even after the bullying has stopped. Cyberbullying statistics from the i-SAFE foundation explain that over half of adolescents and teens have been bullied online, and about the same number have engaged in cyberbullying. Additionally, more than 1 in 3 young people have experienced cyberthreats online. Over 25 percent of adolescents and teens have been bullied repeatedly through their cell phones or the Internet and worryingly, well over half of young people do not tell their parents when cyberbullying occurs.
Cyberbullying happens in many ways. Direct cyberbullying methods that we are all aware of, such as insulting someone online is one such common way. Another method is called “passive-aggressive cyberbullying,” and involves excluding people from group chats where parties, events, and get-togethers are happening. With location sharing services like snap map, Apple’s find my, and Life360, you can see what your friends are up to and what they’re doing without you. The final method of cyberbullying is “spilling the tea”. Many social media accounts are being made to share gossip about who is dating who, who did what, who embarrassed themselves. Revealing this personal information is to antagonize friends or to shame people which can cause lower self-esteem and absenteeism in schools.
Cyberbullying is one of many things that will likely never stop completely. However, there are still ways in which we can diminish the effect of cyberbullying and decrease how many times it is happening. If you are a parent whose kid is suffering from cyberbullying it is helpful to put screen time limits on their social media and encourage your kid to have more conversations in real life with you or their friends. On the other hand, if your kid was accused of cyberbullying, don’t ground or punish them. Instead, have them write apology letters and reflect upon their mistakes. Punishing them will only make them bitter, but owning up to their mistake may trigger actual change in their character. It’s important for schools to have safe spaces, like a mental health club, to discuss these issues. From an individual perspective, having screen time limits, paying attention to sleep, diet and exercise will help alleviate the adverse effects of cyberbullying on mental health. From a policy standpoint our legislative branch needs to address product safety issues around social media applications.
To summarize, there are many harmful methods of cyberbullying out there. The important thing is that we need to take a multitude of approaches to remedy the mental health effects of social media and cyberbullying on teens and children. Additional research is needed to find the best ways to minimize these adverse effects and corporations need to take more responsibility in making social media less addictive. All in all, technology is a tool we should utilize without letting it take control of our lives.
Ajay Gundlapalli is a middle school student at Nimitz Middle School. May is Mental Health Month.
