Cyberbullying has been an ongoing issue in many schools across the country, especially with social media and technology becoming more popular. Cyberbullying consists of spreading hurtful and harmful messages and posts about someone. There are many effects of cyberbullying including, but not limited to, anxiety, a negative change in behavior, and insecurity issues. 

According to Frontiersin.org, “There were 11.6 and 28.3% of students who reported that they experienced and observed at least one cyberbullying act in the last 3 months, respectively. Among the victims, only 48.2% tried to stop the perpetrators.”

Cyberbullying is a real issue that needs to be stopped.  There are many ways that we as a community can do to prevent cyberbullying from continuing. Some ways to prevent cyberbullying are by being careful of what you post online and not sharing personal information.  Other ways of preventing it is by reporting pages that may seem like they are harming someone, contacting the online platform Safe2Tell, or telling a trusted adult. 

Besides preventing cyberbullying, there are ways you can cope or deal with it. These include reaching out for support, disregarding online bullies, or even just blocking them. 

According to Junior, Leo Navarro, “Cyberbullying can make people feel insecure and not want to go on social media.” He shares ways to help put an end to cyberbullying, he says, “Report negative comments and block accounts, delete social media accounts, and  confide with a trusted adult.” Leo also shares a few ways to cope with cyberbullying. “I say turn off your phone and do things that distract you from your phone such as hang out with your family, friends, coworkers, etc. Do things that make you happy outside of school.”

Some activities that can distract you from your phone can be as simple as just taking a walk outside, going shopping, and hanging out with your family, the less you focus on your phone, the less you care.  

Seventh grader, Andres Aguilera also gave his opinion on how cyberbullying can affect a person at a young age. “When I got cyber bullied, it made me sad, it made me overthink a lot, and even changed the way I viewed myself.” 

If you know somebody who is being cyberbullied or is cyberbullying somebody, make sure to confide with a trusted adult, and mass report the negative accounts!