Cyber victimization in high school: Measurement

Respond to a colleagues  post by offering an additional development theory and explaining its connection to the act of bullying. Please use the Learning Resources to support your response.

Colleague post:

Kohlberg’s theory of moral growth is one example of a theory that holds people accountable. Level three of this paradigm is referred to as the post-conventional level. During this stage, the individual reaches a self-sufficient moral conscience, which enables them to judge what is good and wrong and formulate their own principles to guide decision-making. In connection with bullying, it is important to note that bullying is defined as the deliberate choice to attack another person; this may be accomplished verbally or via the use of social media. According to Kohlberg’s view, each individual establishes their own moral standards and how they connect to existing laws and principles in their own lives (Zastrow, Kirst-Ashman, & Hessenauer, 2019). Freedom of expression is guaranteed to every American. As a result, making a variety of public remarks, whether orally or via social media, is not prohibited. However, even if it does not violate any laws, the damage it might bring to another human being is not ethically acceptable. Adolescents’ techniques of engaging in this sort of conduct might occur via text messaging and social media platforms since we live in a technologically advanced time. Bullying in the old-fashioned style continues to exist and may involve verbal abuse, physical aggression, and threats of harm. However, when individuals are not face-to-face with a victim, they lose their ability to filter their words. This has resulted in an increase in bullying.

Diving deeper into how bullying has changed, it is evident that it is easier for bullies to harm others. Today, bullying has become more difficult to flee, and bullies have found it simpler to avoid approaching their victims due to the Internet. As illustrated in this week’s video, Amy illustrates her frustrations with the fact that she is not safe anywhere else (Walden University, LLC, 2021). Furthermore, there is an emphasis that cyberbullying affects high school kids and impacts the lives of college students. A bully can easily talk about and humiliate a large number of victims in a shorter period of time when they are using cyberbullying as their medium of communication. Therefore, cyberbullying has a greater impact on the lives of both the victims and the bullies than traditional bullying, and many people are unaware of it. As illustrated by Brown, Demaray, Tennant, & Jenkins, 2017, some students experience both traditional and cyberbullying, others one of each of the above types of bullying. However, each category has a different impact on kids (Brown, Demaray, Tennant, & Jenkins, 2017).

References

Brown, C. F., Demaray, M. K., Tennant, J. E., & Jenkins, L. N. (2017). Cyber victimization in high school: Measurement, overlap with face-to-face victimization, and associations with social–emotional outcomes. School Psychology Review, 46(3), 288-303. doi:10.17105/spr-2016-0004.v46-3

Walden University, LLC. (2017–2021). Southside Community Services: Amy, episode 1 [Video file]. Walden University Blackboard. https://class.waldenu.edu

Zastrow, C., Kirst-Ashman, K. K., & Hessenauer, S. L. (2019). Understanding human behavior and the social environment (11th ed.). Cengage Learning.