INFLUENCE OF CYBER BULLYING ON THE SOCIAL AND MENTAL HEALTH OF IN-SCHOOL ADOLESCENTS

Abstract

In-school adolescents use electronic gadgets for different reasons such as social media, video games, online classes, E-books and shopping to surf the internet. Cyber bullying a form of aggression that involves the use of information and communication technologies such as mobile phones, video cameras, email, and web pages to post or send harassing or embarrassing messages to another person. This project was carried out to examine the influence of cyber bullying on the social and mental health of in-school adolescents. A descriptive survey research design was employed to describe all the variables of the study. A multistage sampling technique was adopted in the study. 300 respondents were used in the study. A revalidated questionnaire was used with a test-retest method yielding 0.79 r-values. Hypotheses were tested using Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) at 0.05 level of significance. The findings showed a positive and significant contribution to depression and social anxiety (r= 0.65, p < 0.05). It also found a negative and significant contribution to Self esteem (r= -0.74, p < 0.05), positive and significant contribution to substance use (r= 0.57, p < 0.05), positive and significant contribution to suicidal thought (r =0.69, p < 0.05). Based on the findings, it is therefore recommended that Parents should imbibe the culture of talking regularly and specifically with their children about online issues, parents should restrict their children from possessing electronic gadgets that have access to the internet and social media platforms until they are of age, Schools must adopt a zero-tolerance policy for all types of bullying, Schools should incorporate internet safety awareness classes into the curriculum.