Preventing Cyberbullying in Language Classrooms Among Level 100 Tertiary Students: Creating the Awareness of Its Prevalence and Effects on Students

Zinteng James; Miftawu Fuseini; Puoza Deo-Donne; Sadik Issah

doi:10.55544/ijrah.3.5.6

Authors

Zinteng James Department of Languages, Mccoy College of Education, Nadowli, GHANA.
Miftawu Fuseini Department of Languages, Gambaga College of Education, North - East Region, GHANA.
Puoza Deo-Donne Department of Information Technology, Mccoy College of Education, Nadowli, GHANA.
Sadik Issah Department of Mathematics and ICT, Gambaga College of Education, North - East Region, GHANA.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55544/ijrah.3.5.6

Keywords:

cyberbullying, Prevalence, Effects Prevention, language classroom, stakeholders, support

Abstract

Bullying of any kind violates the fundamental human rights of students in language classrooms. Cyberbullying is the use of technology to intimidate and harass students. This kind of bullying occurs on the internet and causes students to suffer from depression, low self-esteem and intellectually marginalized in the language classroom. This paper makes provision for the general populace to appreciate the prevalence rate, the effect and provide innovative ways to remedy cyberbullying while encouraging the responsible use of technological tools. A cross-sectional study including a sample of 100 participants (from level 100) aged 19 to 25 years was used in this study. The study focused on tertiary students, aged 19-25 years old, since previous research have indicated that this age group is more likely to be involved in cyberbullying and victimization in higher learning environments. Consent of the students was obtained and responses to the various items were treated with confidentiality. The participating schools were randomly selected from a list of all of the public tertiary schools in the northern zone and displayed different socioeconomic backgrounds. Results indicated that cyberbullying was associated with academic problems, low self -esteem and depression among tertiary students. Evidence -based bullying prevention programs such as education and parental involvement are good ways to reduce the incidences of cyberbullying in the future. More research is needed to effectively design a successful, targeted prevention program suitable for students in tertiary institutions and players in the language classroom.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

References

Apostolides, A. (2017). Cyber bullying: Child and youth spirituality. HTS Theological Studies, Vol. 73 (3), Pp. 1-7.

Bauman, S. (2009). Cyberbullying in a rural intermediate school: An exploratory study. The Journal of Early Adolescence, online first, 1-31.

Beran, T., & Li, Q. (2007). The relationship between cyberbullying and school bullying. Journal of Student Wellbeing, Vol, 1(2), 15-33.

Brown, K., Jackson, M., & Cassidy, W. (2006). Cyberbullying: Developing policy to direct responses that are equitable and effective in addressing this special form of bullying. Canadian Journal of Educational Administration and Policy, 57. http://www.umanitoba.ca/publications/cjeap/articles/brown_ jackson_cassidy.html

Cankaya, I.H., Tan, C. (2011). Effects of cyber bullying on the distrust level of preservice teacher: considering internet addiction as a mediating variable. Procedia computer science. 3, Pp. 2353-1360.

Calvete, E., Orue, I., Estevez, A., Villardon, L., Padilla, P. (2010). Cyberbullying in adolescent: Modalities and aggressors profile. Computers in human behaviours, 26. Pp. 1128-1135.

Cassidy, W., Jackson, M., & Brown, K. (2009). Sticks and stones can break my bones, but how can pixels hurt me? Students’ experiences with cyberbullying. School Psychology International, 30(4), 383–402, doi: 10.1177/0143034309106948.

Cassim, F. (2013). Formulating adequate legislation to address cyberbullying: has the law kept pace with advancing technology. South African Journal of Criminal Justice, 26 (1), Pp. 1-20.

Chukwuere, J.E., Chukwuere, P.C. (2017). Cyber bullying of female students: an exploration of literature study. Gender and Behaviour, 15 (4), Pp. 9983-9995.

Chukwuere, P. C., Chukwuere, J., & Adom, D. (2021). The Psychosocial Effects of Social Media Cyberbullying on Students in Selected African Countries Acta Informatica Malaysia ( AIM . https://doi.org/10.26480/aim.02.2021.62.70.

Feinberg, T. & Robey, N. (2009). Cyberbullying: School leaders cannot ignore cyberbullying but rather must understand its legal and psychological ramifications. Principal Leadership, 9(1), 26-31.

Furnell, S. M. (2010). Online identity: Giving it all away? Information Security Technical Report, 15(2010), 42-46.

Goebert, D., Else, I., Matsu, C., Chung-Do, J., & Chang, J.Y. (2011). The impact of cyberbullying on substance use and mental health in a multiethnic sample. Maternal Child Health Journal, 15, 1282-1286.

Gradinger, P., Strohmeier, D., & Spiel, C. (2009). Traditional bullying, and cyberbullying: identification of risk groups for adjustment problems. Journal of Psychology, 217(4), 205-213.

Jacobs, N., Vollink, T., Dehue, F., & Lechner, L. (2014). Online Pestkoppenstoppen: Systematic and theory-based development of a web-based tailored intervention for adolescent cyberbully victims to combat and prevent cyberbullying. BMC Public Health, 14(1), 396.

Johnson, L.D., Haralson, A., Batts, S., Brown, E., Collins, C., Van Buren-Travis, A., Spencer, M. (2016). Cyberbullying on social media among college students. Ideas and Research You Can Use: VISTAS, Pp. 1-8.

Kombo, K. & Tromp, A. (2006). Proposal and thesis writing. Paulines publication Africa.

Kowalski, R. M., & Limber, S. P. (2007). Electronic bullying among middle school students. Journal of Adolescent Health, 41(6), 22–30, doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2007.08.017.

Kowalski, R., Limber, S., & Agatston, P. (2008). Cyberbullying: Bullying in the digital age. Blackwell Publishing.

Kowalski, R. M., & Limber, S. P. (2013). Psychological, physical, and academic correlates of cyberbullying and traditional bullying. Journal of Adolescent Health, 53(1), S13–S20.

Kowalski, R. M., Morgan, C. A., & Limber, S. P. (2012). Traditional bullying as a potential warning sign of cyberbullying. School Psychology International, 33(5), 505–519.

Kraft, E. (2006). Cyberbullying: A worldwide trend of misusing technology to harass others. WIT Transactions on Information and Communication Technologies, http://library.witpress.com/pages/listPapers.asp?q_bid¼349.

Laas, A., Boezaart, T. (2014). The legislative framework regarding bullying in South African schools. Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal, 17 (6), Pp. 2667-2702.

Li, Q. (2005). New bottle but old wine: A research of cyberbullying in schools. Computers in Human Behavior, 23, 1777–1791, doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2005.10.005.

Li, Q. (2006). Cyberbullying in schools: A research of gender differences. School Psychology International, 27(2), 157–170, doi: 10.1177/0143034306064547.

Li, Q. (2007), Bullying in the new playground: research into cyberbullying and cyber victimization. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 23(4), 435-454.

National Children’s Home (2002). 1 in 4 children are victims of ‘on-line bullying’. http://www.nch.org.uk/information/index.php?i¼77&r¼125.

Menesini, E., Nocentini, A., Palladino, B. E., Frisén, A., Berne, S., Ortega-Ruiz, R. (2012). Cyberbullying definition among adolescents: A comparison across six European countries. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 15(9), 455-463.

Morgan, H. (2013). Malicious use of technology: What schools, parents, and teachers can do to prevent cyberbullying. Childhood Education, 89(3), 146-151.

Moyo, M. , & Abdullah, H. (2013). Enhancing and enriching students reading experience by using social media technologies. Unisa press mousaion, 31 (2), Pp. 135-153.

Norton, A. T., & Herek, G. M. (2013). Heterosexuals’ attitudes toward transgender people: Findings from a national probability sample of US adults. Sex roles, 68(11-12), 738-753.

Reddy, M.M. (2018). Students’ cognizance of the dangers linked with them being on social media. African Renaissance, 15 (1), Pp. 245-258.

Popovic-citic, B., Djuric, S., & Cvetkovic, V. (2011). International. https://doi.org/10.1177/0143034311401700.

Safaria, T. (2016). Prevalence and Impact of Cyberbullying in a Sample of Indonesian Junior High School. 15(1), 82–91.

Simmons, K. D., & Bynum, Y. P. (2014). Cyberbullying: Six things administrators can do. Education, 134(4), 452- 456.

Slonje, R., & Smith, P.K. (2008). Cyberbullying: Another main type of bullying?. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 49, 147-154. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9450.2007.00611.x.

Smith, P., Mahdavi, J., Carvalho, M., & Tippett, N. (2006). An investigation into cyberbullying, its forms, awareness and impact, and the relationship between age and gender in cyberbullying. A report to the anti-bullying alliance. Unit for School and Family Studies, Goldsmiths College, University of London. http://www.anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk/downloads/pdf/cyberbullyingreportfinal230106_0 00.pdf

Sticca, F., Ruggieri, S., Alsaker, F., & Perren, S. (2013). Longitudinal Risk Factors for Cyberbullying in Adolescence. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 23(1), 52–67. doi:10.1002/casp.2136.

Wolfer, R., Schultze-Krumbholz, A., Zagorscak, P., Jakel, A., Gobel, K., & Scheithauer, H. (2014). Prevention 2.0: Targeting cyberbullying @ school. Prevention Science, 15(6), 879-887.

Patchin, J. W., & Hinduja, S. (2012). School-based efforts to prevent cyberbullying. The Prevention Researcher, 19(3), 7-9.

Ybarra, M. L., & Mitchell, K. J. (2004b). Online aggressor/targets, aggressors, and targets: A comparison of associated youth characteristics. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 45(7), 1308–1316.