Cyberbullying In Higher Education

853 Words2 Pages

Some children who encounter bullying in their adolescent years believe that once they graduate from high school the nightmare ends (Washington, 2015). Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Bullying may follow a child through their post-high school years in all facets of their life including university and in the workplace (Washington, 2015). Unfortunately, although traditional bullying is apparent and may continue after adolescence, with the growing use of smart phones, tablets, computers, and the Internet, there has been an increase in cyberbullying cases in higher education (Washington, 2015).
Cyberbullying in Higher Education does not gain the same amount of attention as cyberbullying in adolescents (MacDonald & Roberts-Pittman, 2010). …show more content…

While the results demonstrate that cyberbullying is not relatively frequent (with 38% reporting knowing someone who was cyberbullied (not necessarily for a continuous period of time), it is also not non-existent (MacDonald & Roberts-Pittman, 2010). Cyberbullying is occurring in higher education and in recent years (as early as 2010) there have been some cases in the media that discuss the topic (Washington, 2015). Unfortunately, these cases tend to be extreme cases with detrimental consequences (Washington, …show more content…

A study conducted by Englander, Mills, & McCoy (2009) discussed the prevalence of online interactions amongst college students that included interactions dealing with antagonistic behaviour and bullying. They surveyed 283 undergraduate students from Bridgewater State College and the results concluded that 8% of the students who responded to the survey were being cyberbullied through instant messaging and 3% were the cyberbullies (Englander et al., 2009). The students who cyberbullied other students did so for the following reasons: “anger, as a joke, for revenge or for no particular reason” (Englander et al., 2015). The victims of cyberbullying often felt “angry and hurt. They considered dropping out of college and the cyberbullying often made it more difficult for them to concentrate on their studies” (Washington,

More about Cyberbullying In Higher Education

Open Document