A study on adolescents' involvements in traditional bullying and the new phenomenon of cyberbullying
Authors
O'Reilly, Edel
Issue Date
2009
Degree
BA in Psychology
Publisher
Dublin Business School
Rights holder
Rights
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Abstract
Modern technological developments have, unfortunately, brought with them new means for children to bully. No longer is bullying confined to school, as a new permutation known as cyberbullying has rapidly become widespread among today's adolescents. The present study looks at the involvement of adolescents in traditional bullying and cyberbullying. Participants for the study were fifty-six first-year students from a mixed sex, suburban post primary school. The study is based on a correlational design, and employs a quantitative survey, between subjects and within subjects , design. Participants were informed that the questionnaire was not compulsory, so those who took part did so voluntarily. All hypotheses in the study were exploratory in nature, such as the role gender and ethnic origin play in various aspects of internet usage. Girls were found to encounter more traditional bullying than boys, and girls were also found to engage in more cyberbullying than boys. This may be due to the indirect nature of cyberbullying. For future studies on the area of cyberbullying, a more child centred approach may be considered, and perhaps more involvement from the parents of adolescents.