Mendez-Baldwin, M., Cirillo, K., Ferrigno, M " Argento, V. (2015). An Examination of Cyber-bullying and Social Media Use in Teens: Prevalence, Attitudes and Behaviors. Journal of Bullying and Social Aggression 1 (1). Retrieved from http://sites.tamuc.edu/bullyingjournal/article/cyber-bullying-among-teens/
The Research Article, An Examination of Cyber-bullying and Social Media Use in Teens: Prevalence, Attitudes, and Behaviors, is so interesting and informative as its authors seek to address the issue of cyberbullying among teens and the behaviors and attitudes that accompany them. Cyberbullying and narcissism among teens is a popular problem across nations. Many times, people do not notice it, but this is an issue that can turn out to be very fatal. Many campaigns have been driven against this evil act and millions of people have also stood against it but the world still experiences a lot of cyberbullying (Bada " Sasse, 2014). This article demonstrates under what instances cyberbullying occur and also helps to educate teenagers who are mostly victims, how to go about this issue.
Summary
The authors of the article try to examine the predominance of cyberbullying and narcissism among 588 teenagers. It goes ahead and evaluates the likelihood of parents, teachers, and other adults' involvement in such instances. For instance, some teens would prefer to share with their parents or other elderly people when they are bullied while others tend to keep to themselves. It examines the use of social media platforms and technology which are the main sources of this kind of bullying. The results were achieved from this research and it indicated that teens spend averagely three hours of their day on smartphones, tablets, and computers. These hours are spent on social media platforms chatting and browsing and not on school work. The study reveals that most of the teens use more than two social media sites. A significant relationship is seen to exist between the cyberbullying they are exposed to, and the number of social media sites they are in. Additionally, the whole research reveals that guardians and parents are the most important factors in their teens' exposure and experience to cyber bullies.
Analysis
From the abstract, it is clear that cyberbullying is a very common issue. In fact, the article makes it easier to understand this by examining many teens that are from different walks of life. This shows that this issue is not rare to find. The article is relevant as it focuses on teenagers who tend to be the most victims of cyberbullying (Walrave " Heirman 2011). The authors start by explaining what cyberbullying truly entails in a simple language that can easily be understood by an average reader. They also show the effects of cyberbullying before going forth to discuss how they come about. This means that they used relevant steps that make it easier for a reader to synthesize.
The authors acknowledge the importance of addressing cyberbullying even if it is not as harmful as a traditional bullying (Gradinger, Strohmeier " Spiel, 2009). That is why they decided not to make the students aware of the topic of research that was going on. This is important because some students would have decided to opt out of the research more so those involved in cyberbullying and the accuracy would have been compromised. Therefore, the researches gained the intended results and achieved their goal.
The article focuses on the correct audiences. It involves teens who are mostly females. For instance, it is indicated that 76% of the students researched were female and only 24% were male. It is true that most females tend to have emotional breakdowns than males do and that is why cyberbullying gets to them more. Females at their teens tend to have a deep need of admiration and attention. This leads to a lack of empathy for others but also, behind this cruel and courageous attitude, there lies a very fragile self-esteem which is susceptible to any small criticism by another person (Mehdizadeh, 2010). Males also undergo this kind of narcissism but females are the most affected lot.
The work is well researched and has a very relevant conclusion. There is an indication of a thorough research through the use of questionnaires and focus groups. The questions asked are simple, but provide room to acquire lots of answers. For instance, the students were asked the number of social media sites they were in and they mentioned different sites. This means that one question gave room for researching and evaluating many sites that were related to cyberbullying. It also helped in identifying loopholes and how they were to be addressed. The conclusion is relevant because it reminds readers of the strengths of the article's arguments, for instance, shows the effects and addresses how cyberbullying can be stopped. It mentions that cyberbullying leads to depression and that parent's involvement could be a key factor in stopping this malevolence.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this article is very straightforward and informative and everyone needs to go through it. This is because; it gives a step by step procedure of how the research was carried out and also offers a solution to the problem. The results obtained are not exaggerated but relate to the day to day experiences on the internet which most people ignore, but really affect others. In short, cyberbullying is an enemy of the society that has been going on for a very long time and needs to end. It is only through the solutions provided by the article that this behavior can be reduced if not brought to a stop.
References
Bada, M., " Sasse, A. (2014). Cyber security awareness campaigns: Why do they fail to change behaviour?.
Gradinger, P., Strohmeier, D., " Spiel, C. (2009). Traditional bullying and cyberbullying: Identification of risk groups for adjustment problems. Zeitschrift für Psychologie/Journal of Psychology, 217(4), 205-213.
Mehdizadeh, S. (2010). Self-presentation 2.0: Narcissism and self-esteem on Facebook. Cyberpsychology, behavior, and social networking, 13(4), 357-364.
Mendez-Baldwin, M., Cirillo, K., Ferrigno, M " Argento, V. (2015). An Examination of Cyber-bullying and Social Media Use in Teens: Prevalence, Attitudes and Behaviors. Journal of Bullying and Social Aggression 1 (1). Retrieved from http://sites.tamuc.edu/bullyingjournal/article/cyber-bullying-among-teens/
Walrave, M., " Heirman, W. (2011). Cyberbullying: Predicting victimisation and perpetration. Children " Society, 25(1), 59-72.
