Cyber Bullying Essay

INTRODUCTION

There are about 3.5 billion Internet users around the world, which makes up 40% of the world's population. According to Internet usage statistics for the world, the 3,731,973,423 estimated Internet users have a penetration rate of 49.6% and have shown an increase of 933.8% since 2007. With the growing number of Internet users the problematic use of Internet is also increasing. Problematic internet use can be classified as the excessive and poorly controlled use of Internet. With almost 6% of the world's population addicted to Internet usage, social problems such as cyber bullying ruins thousands of lives every day. This addiction to the Internet can be considered a mental disorder by itself. Block (2008) describes the four

Cyberbullying is bullying which happens using electronic devices. It can happen at any time to anyone around the world, with access to an electronic device. Many researches have shown that the rates of cyberbullying have increased in a global scale. As described by Kepenekçi and Çankır (2006) bullies seek the need to feel dominant and powerful. Another study done by Hasan Çelik (et al.) highlight the the effects and social aspect of cyberbullying. They aimed to find the relationship between personality traits and cyberbullying rates in university students. They also used the Big Five to investigate this research topic. They observed that emotional instability was the leading predictor of cyberbullying. And the weakest was being open to new experiences, also having a slight negative effect on it. They concluded that the feeling of loneliness lead them to overusing the Internet. This made them more open to cyberbullying. On the other hand being conscientious had a negative effect on being bullied. Meaning that the more conscientious one is the less bullying they will experience. In the study they connected this to conscientious people being more trusted therefore getting satisfactory social support and diminishing the need for using the Internet. Other factors such as gender could also have an effect on the rate of cyberbullying. This was demonstrated in a study conducted by Melis Seray Ozden(et al.) this study investigated the perceptions of cyberbullying based on personality factors. The study's major finding was that male students were more likely to be cyberbullies rather than females, and perceived cyberbullying more harmless. The findings suggested that young people were clueless on the psychological effects cyberbullying could have on an