Victims of Cyberbullying in the Region of Murcia: A Quantitative Study with High School Students

Abstract

The fact that technologies have become a normal part of our lives has meant that bullying and other problems have shifted towards the virtual, hence complicating possible solutions. While before peer harassment occurred mainly at school, today Information and Communications Technology (ICT) means that children now have no place to “hide” from this problem. This and other features, like anonymity, have led many people to believe that this problem is more serious than traditional bullying. The purpose of this research was to determine the incidence of this phenomenon and its impact on students in compulsory secondary education in the Region of Murcia, specifically the prevalence of victimization and differences in relation to gender, age and academic year. One of the main results is that 49.3% of students have suffered from one or more cyberbullying behaviours. Greater victimization of females was observed in fourth of ESO and at higher ages (age ranges: 11-13; 14-15; 16-18). These results show the reality of secondary schools and the need to establish effective measures to solve this problem.

Keywords

• PEER HARASSMENT
• ICT
• GENDER
• AGE