Negative Effects of Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying (and bullying) erodes children’s self-esteem and often results in depression, lower grades, truancy, tardiness, eating disorders and anxiety for both victims and perpetrators. In the most extreme cases, as we’ve seen, cyberbullying can lead to suicide or physical harm for the victim and/or the bully.

The Cyberbully
There are negative affects for the cyberbully, too. The cyberbully is 2.5 times more likely to be bullied offline. They are also more likely to behave disruptively and to smoke and drink in addition to suffering from the problems listed earlier. (Patchin and Hinduja, 2006).

At its worst, cyberbullying destroys families and ruins lives. Perhaps less extreme but equally important, it disrupts students’ psychological well-being in an oftentimes immeasurable and irreversible way. It keeps both victims and perpetrators from doing their best and reaching their fullest potential.