The Relationship Between Cyberbullying and Suicide
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Loading ...There have been many high profile and tragic incidents in the media in recent years which have linked adolescent suicides to experiences with cyberbullying. The connection between suicide and interpersonal aggression is certainly nothing new, as a number of studies have documented the association between bullying and suicide. Sameer and I have a paper coming out in the coming months that explores the relationship between bullying (both traditional and cyber) and suicidal ideation and attempts. We find that those who experience bullying (and those who bully) report higher levels of suicidal ideation and are more likely to have attempted suicide.
Here is the abstract:
OBJECTIVE: Empirical studies and some high-profile anecdotal cases have demonstrated a link between suicidal ideation and experiences with bullying victimization or offending. The current study examines the extent to which a nontraditional form of peer aggression – cyberbullying – is also related to suicidal ideation among adolescents.
METHODS: In 2007, a random sample of 1,963 middle-schoolers from one of the largest school districts in the United States completed a survey of Internet use and experiences.
RESULTS: Youth who experienced traditional bullying or cyberbullying, as either an offender or a victim, had more suicidal thoughts and were more likely to attempt suicide than those who had not experienced such forms of peer aggression. Also, victimization was more strongly related to suicidal thoughts and behaviors than offending.
CONCLUSION: The findings provide further evidence that adolescent peer aggression must be taken seriously both at school and at home, and suggest that a suicide prevention and intervention component is essential within comprehensive bullying response programs implemented in schools.
This research provides additional reasons not to ignore even minor forms of bullying and cyberbullying as they can easily escalate and create long-term and disastrous consequences for those involved. We have a fact sheet that summarizes the findings in this paper which is available here. As soon as the full article has been published, we will link to it on this site.
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February 20th, 2010 at 8:08 am
I like your website very much and have found it very informative in the case of what my daughter is going through. The bullying and sexual harrassment has not only been in her school against her for 3 years but now the whole gang has decided to take it to the internet with Facebook and Myspace. I have contacted both websites to ask that they disable their accounts and I was told no they haven’t violated their Terms of Agreement. Well I know they clearly have and it is frustrating. My daughter has received threats against her and we refused as of Tuesday last week we were pulling her out of school until they did something with the girl and her possy. We have had to go and get a No Contact order against the main girl because it has gotten so bad. And all this time the schools have known full well what has been going on and done absolutely nothing. We have already sought legal counsel on the no contact order for our daughter and have told the school they have exactly till end of school on Monday to give us an answer as to what they are going to do with the girl. Mind you it has been a week and no one involved has been given any detentions, ISS, suspension or expulsion but that isn’t surprising considering nothing was done all the times my daughter went to teachers, admin and the like about the situation. If we do not have an answer by end of day Monday we are going forth with our lawsuit under Title IX because my daughter is being denied the right to learn and get an educaton in a safe environment.
February 24th, 2010 at 2:37 pm
I agree with Lori. Great website, and very informative post. I highly respect the fact you are offering information that will actually benefit teachers and parents in educating youth.
To be honest I’m intrigued and very interested in working with you. Please contact me by email as soon as you can.
Either way, keep up the great work!
February 25th, 2010 at 12:23 am
It is true. These bullies cause children and adults to want to hurt themselves. All we can do as parents is watch all of the sites, friends, everything they do on the internet. All we can do as humans is try to have laws passed that may deture this type of bullying.
March 23rd, 2010 at 5:12 pm
Great articles! I have an essay contest coming up and I was wondering if you guys can help me with it. Its about cyberbullying and if we should make a law banning it here(not saying location YET). email me back please.