Cyberbullying, Youth Behavior and Society

The old adage of “sticks and stones can break my bones but names will never hurt me” was never really true. Given the advent of the growing phenomenon of cyberbullying in our society, we are now more aware of the extent and impact to which name-calling and other slanderous practices can have on adolescents’ self-esteem and behavior. But the effects of name-call, tensing and forms of non-psychical abuse are not new to social and behavioral science researchers. Yet, cyberbullying has gained mass media appeal and coverage, which may be related to numerous horrific behavioral outcomes as demonstrated by a rash of youth suicides by victims of cyberbullying [1]. For sure, cyberbullying presents a new challenge for society and should garner specific attention as the digital age continues to unfold [2]. The goal of this commentary is to highlight the growing prevalence of cyberbullying and the need for greater social awareness of its incidence. In doing so, the author identifies some common behaviors associated with victims of cyberbullying as well as attributes associated with its perpetrators. Lastly, I echo the call by researchers cited in this text and others on the need for greater knowledge development and derived best practices aimed at reducing the spread of cyberbullying.