The rapid development of the World Wide Web has bridged the physical distance between communities, allowing instant communication. This leap in connectivity has not only increased cultural awareness but also made information globally available. However, this has also resulted in the emergence of cyberbullying cases. And with almost 50% of teens reported falling victim to it, cyberbullying is a pressing issue in today's digital age.

It is first essential to study and understand the adverse effects that cyberbullying can pose on students’ mental health. Research has revealed that a staggering 93% of victims experience negative consequences like distraction from schoolwork, declines in academic performance, and feelings of isolation. Sometimes, the impacts may go beyond emotional troubles, eventually manifesting as more severe problems. Victims of cyberbullying are 1.9 times more likely to attempt suicide when compared to their peers, which demonstrates the severity of leaving this issue untreated — we are in urgent need of change. Cyberbullying has gone past harmless jokes or mere name-calling on the internet; it has devastating results that contribute to the 13.6 percent of US adolescents who have made a serious suicide attempt. Considering the negative and sometimes fatal results of cyberbullying, it’s time to look at one of its largest sources: social media. 

Social media has become an ever more prevalent part of most teenager’s lives. However, between liking a friend’s post and leaving positive comments lies the millions of cyberbullying occurrences across the world. The online presence of teenagers has significantly increased, with an estimated 80% of US teens engaging in some form of social media. Thus, younger users are now more likely to be exposed to online harassment. This also ties in with the key difference between cyberbullying and traditional bullying: cyberbullying follows a person around 24/7, anywhere they go. Although many social media companies have restrictions and regulations against abuse of their platforms, they do not regularly enforce these restrictions. And users agree: approximately 75% of teens believe that social media companies are not doing enough to stop cyberbullying. Since cyberbullying can have such severe effects and is so rampant on social media, tech companies should be held to a greater responsibility to put preventative measures in place. However, we have already seen that many of these private companies have yet to take on this responsibility. Clearly, we cannot solely rely on them to solve cyberbullying.

Different states have passed laws on cyberbullying in one form or another; however, such legislation is often too specific and fails to address the variety of cyberbullying cases that occur yearly. This leaves many teenagers with doubts about the government’s ability to protect them, as only 18% of teenagers believe that elected officials are doing a “good” job of addressing cyberbullying, and the remaining 81% believe they have done a “poor” job. As cyberbullying cases continue to rise each year, it is imperative that elected officials start addressing this prevalent issue more proactively.

Despite the remarkable progress made, it is unlikely that we will ever completely eradicate cyberbullying. Nevertheless, we must all work together to tackle this problem at its root: the people. So, next time you're thinking about making a post or comment, think twice about the impact it can have on others. 

This article was edited by Grace Hur.