Cyber Bullying – A Cross Sectional Study on The Prevalence and Ramifications of This Growing Enigma in Indian Adolescents

Abstract

This cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the knowledge, prevalence and attitude towards cyber bullying in Indian male and female adolescents. During the months of June-July 2017, a representative population of 312 respondents belonging to grades 9, 10 and intermediate college aged 14-18 and studying at private organizations were included in the present study. The analysis of this study revealed that 201 students that amounted to 64.4% of the respondents had experienced cyber bullying as victims in one way or another in the last six months alone. 66.1% of these were male students and 71.8% were female students. 87 respondents, i.e., 31% admittedly reported cyber bullying someone in the last 6 months. 38.9% of the cyber bullies were found to be males and 20.7% females. These significant findings reflect a rise in the number of victims and bullies in the cyber world, proving that this fairly new phenomenon requires further research and needs to be looked into to explore ways to prevent, curb and overcome it in the future.