Cyberbullying Status of Students of Phuentsholing Middle Secondary School, Bhutan

Abstract

A mixed method study with purposive sampling was carried out with 357 students studying in grades six to ten at Phuentsholing Middle Secondary School, Bhutan to evaluate the status of students on cyberbullying for their cyber-safety during lockdown (2021) when they had access to the internet most of the time to attend online classes. The study found that 86% of the total participants did not experience cyberbullying, while, 14% fell victim, among which only 7% have reported the cyberbullying incident to their parents or siblings, on the other hand, the rest of the victims managed themselves by blocking, ignoring or saving the evidence and warning them to report to police. A majority of the students (58.8%) were aware of the prevalence and impact of cyberbullying at the same time a group of students (41.2%) was found unaware. Recommendations are suggested to the school management and the school counsellor for intervention and prevention.

Keywords

• cyberbullying
• harassment
• reported the incidence
• students
• and social media