Cyberbullying is "the willful and repeated harm inflicted through the use of computers, cellphones, and other electronic devices." This, according to the Cyberbullying Research Centre in their 2019 Cyberbullying: Identification and Response publication.
Mark Sly, director of IT architecture and security at the University of Calgary, says, "Your cyberworld is pervasive now in your life, and online bullying is the same as in person, or even more hurtful."
The numbers are alarming. According to DoSomething.org, approximately 37 per cent of teenagers have been bullied online. However, while 60 per cent have been a witness to the online bullying, the majority do nothing about it, and only 10 per cent will tell their parents or another trusted adult about experiencing the abuse. Unsurprisingly, the risk of anxiety, depression, isolation, self-harm and suicide is greater for those who are cyberbullied, than others.
Concurrently, almost half of adults online have admitted to experiencing cyberbullying, with 75 per cent witnessing some form of harassment, purposeful embarrassment, physical threats, sexual harassment and stalking. As well, a report in AdWeek October 2014 suggests that about 40 per cent of those attacked online did not know or recognize their perpetrator. However, the number of studies on adult cyberbullying are far fewer than those on children and adolescents, and more research is being done in this area.
