Introduction
The topic of our final project is cyberbullying and our proposed final deliverable is a self-built educational website, which consists of five different parts, including an introduction to cyberbullying, available resources, research on Cyberbullying, and an interview section. The definition of cyberbullying is bullying that occurs via the use of digital technology. It may happen on social media, chat systems, gaming platforms, and mobile phones. It is a series of repetitive behaviors aimed at intimidating, angering, or degrading individuals who are targeted (UNICEF, 2022). This is an important topic that is worth exploring because more often than not, today's youth are required to use the internet for homework and to socialize with their classmates. Even though much of the information online is informative, which helps students to learn and diversify their knowledge. There is also information on the internet that violates cyberethics, and an example of this would be cyberbullying, in which case bullies’ behavior such as making hateful comments toward the bullied, affected the bullied’s life and mental health negatively.
According to the article published in 2022 by the Security.org team, 21 percent of children aged 10 to 18 had been victims of cyberbullying at some point in their lives (Security.org, 2022). As we can see, cyberbullying has wreaked havoc on the lives of young people, and studies have found that victims of cyberbullying are more prone to have low self-esteem, sadness, and suicidal ideation. Thus, there need effective methods to stop cyberbullying from happening, especially to young people.
Our project matters since it aims to make an impact on educating and preventing cyberbullying from happening to young people. Thus, to make a meaningful impact through our project, we’ve decided to narrow down our targeted audience and focus on high school students and middle school students who are currently studying at public schools in Seattle and between the ages of 10 to 18 by creating an educational website. Moreover, inside the website, we included available anti-cyberbullying resources, especially websites and hotlines, in our website so that teachers, parents, and students can be more aware of this controversial topic and ready to take proper action when this occurs.
What is Cyberbullying?
Cyberbullying is bullying that occurs via the use of digital technology such as mobile phones, computers, and tablets. Cyberbullying may take place via SMS, Text, and applications, as well as online in social media, forums, or games where individuals can see, engage in, or exchange material. Cyberbullying is defined as sending, uploading, or spreading nasty, damaging, false, or derogatory content about another person. It might include disclosing personal or private information about another individual, which causes shame or humiliation. Some forms of cyberbullying are illegal or criminal in nature.
Famous Cyberbullying Case
Charli and Dixie D'Amelio, sister TikTok stars now age 17 and 20, face constant backlash online because of various things. Dixie has spoken out about how people comment on her appearance, and Charli has spoken out about how people comment on everything she says (Dodgson, 2021). Clips of both of them crying and discussing this can be found in Hulu's "The D'Amelio Show."