Cyberbullying Continues To Rise

Research shows that about 5 out of every 30 high school students report being victims of cyberbullying within the past year. In addition, roughly 10 of those 30 students spend about three or more hours per day playing video games or using a computer for other purposes than school work.

These numbers arise from the analysis of data gathered from the 2011 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where 81% of schools and 87% of students from the 15,425 public and private high schools responded. The survey represents a national sample of high school students and takes place every two years “to monitor six types of health-risk behaviors that contribute to the leading causes of death, disability and social problems among U.S. youths”.

"Electronic bullying of high school students threatens the self-esteem, emotional well-being and social standing of youth at a very vulnerable stage of their development," said study author Andrew Adesman, MD, FAAP, chief of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics at Cohen Children's Medical Center of New York. "Although teenagers generally embrace being connected to the Web and each other 24/7, we must recognize that these new technologies carry with them the potential to traumatize youth in new and different ways."

In 2011, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention surveyed students about whether they had been bullied in the past 12 months either through email, chat rooms, instant messaging, websites and/or texting. In addition, students were questioned on the number of hours they spent playing video games or using a computer for any other purpose than school work.

Results showed that 1 in 6 high school students or 16.2% reported being a victim of electronic bullying within the past 12 months. More specifically, results revealed that 22.1% of girls reported being bullied electronically while only 10.8% of boys reported being victims of electronic bullying, making girls more than twice as likely to report being victims of cyberbullying. In addition, “whites reported being the victim of cyberbullying more than twice as frequently as blacks”.

Furthermore, thirty-one percent of high school students reported playing video games or using a computer for something other than school work for 3 or more hours each day. Interestingly, boys (35.3%) were more likely than girls (26.6%) to report playing video games for more than three hours per day.

"Electronic bullying is a very real yet silent danger that may be traumatizing children and teens without parental knowledge and has the potential to lead to devastating consequences," said principal investigator Karen Ginsburg, also at Cohen Children's Medical Center of New York. "By identifying groups at higher risk for electronic bullying, it is hoped that targeted awareness and prevention strategies can be put in place."

Unfortunately, cyberbullying will only become more and more common in society, especially teens, as technology continues to advance. More research should help to spread awareness and develop legislation that may succeed in decreasing the number of victims of cyberbullying, thereby reducing the rising number of extreme cases that often result in fatalities.

Cyberbullying Rampant Among High School Students: Nearly One-Third of Youths Also Report Playing Video/Computer Games for More Than 3 Hours a Day

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Facebook Assures Our Self-Worth

A Cornell University communication expert claims that Facebook can be used to reinforce our self-worth. Particularly, users that receive negative feedback in every day life, tend to be instinctively drawn toward their own profiles to enhance their self-esteem and reinforce their sense of self.  

According to co-author Jeff Hancock, "the extraordinary amount of time people spend on Facebook may be a reflection of its ability to satisfy ego needs that are fundamental to the human condition."  As opposed to the typical view that Facebook is merely an activity that wastes time and often leads to negative consequences.  

To test the hypothesis, 88 undergraduate students were asked to deliver a short speech.  Students were then offered to look over their own Facebook profiles or someone else’s for a few minutes while awaiting feedback on their speech.  Participants then received negative feedback regardless of their performance.  When asked to rate the accuracy of the feedback, those who had viewed their own profiles were less defensive than those who had viewed another person’s profile.

Participants were then given the option to browse Facebook or other online sites after receiving either negative or positive feedback about their speech. Results showed that those who received negative feedback were more likely to choose Facebook than those who received positive feedback.  

These results suggest that an ego boost from viewing their own profiles could lighten the blow from receiving negative feedback about one’s abilities.  Whereas viewing another profile may increase the need to feel self-assured.  Similarly, the need for reassurance of self-worth after receiving negative feedback may influence one’s need to browse Facebook. 

In essence, setbacks experienced in every day life may have less impact on self-esteem and self-worth if Facebook can be used to repair the damage caused by such threats to the ego.  "Perhaps online daters who are anxious about being single or recently divorced may find comfort in the process of composing or reviewing their online profiles, as it allows them to reflect on their core values and identity," Hancock says. 

Also, not only could Facebook supply the emotional benefits needed to repair deep-seated notions of self-worth, but “the research suggests that Facebook profiles could be used strategically in applied self-affirmation interventions”.  For example, campaigns aimed at reducing resistance to anti-smoking messages may be more effective in conjunction with Facebook as young adults may be more compelled to maintain their self-integrity.  

Unfortunately, this study suggests that a person’s Facebook profile offers assurance that they are valuable, worthy and good without touching upon the impacts on those who may receive constant threats to self-worth on Facebook, such as bullied teens.

Like It? We Love It! FacebookAssures Us We're Good Enough

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The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Effects of Facebook

According to Larry D. Rosen, PhD, professor of psychology at California State University, Dominguez Hills, the effects of social media are becoming more and more visible.

Some of their findings suggest that the more time spent on Facebook is related to a greater tendency toward narcissistic behaviors among teenagers. Also, it has been discovered that young adults that spend excessive amounts of time on Facebook show more signs of other psychological disorders, including antisocial behaviors, mania and aggressive tendencies.

Additionally, studies have revealed that excessive daily use of social media can negatively affect the health of children, preteens and teenagers alike as they are more prone to anxiety, depression and other psychological disorders as well as more susceptible to future general health problems.

Furthermore, it is clear that school grades will suffer when spending too much time on Facebook as valuable study time is lost. “Studies found that middle school, high school and college students who checked Facebook at least once during a 15-minute study period achieved lower grades.”

Besides, some studies suggest that so-called teenage “hyper-social networkers” are more likely to engage in risky behaviors, such as smoking, drinking, drug use, fighting and promiscuity.

Consequently, Rosen claims that parents who secretly monitor their child’s social media usage are wasting their time. Instead he suggests that active, but overt, monitoring and open communication about appropriate usage is the key so that when questions or issues arise such as bullying, a child will feel comfortable communicating with their parents. This active role could prevent serious consequences such as depression, anxiety or even suicide. It is also important for parents to stay abreast with online trends and the latest technologies, websites and applications.

On the other hand, research has shown that, despite the numerous negative effects, Facebook can help young adults to express their virtual empathy and facilitate socialization among introverted teens. Also, “social networking can provide tools for teaching in compelling ways that engage young students.”

It seems, like most things in life, everything in moderation is best.

Social Networking's Good and Bad Impacts On Kids
Texting and Social Websites Associated With Risky Behaviors Among Teens

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Humans Perceive Personality and Emotion from Cars

Truls Thorstensen (EFS Consulting Vienna), Karl Grammer (Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Urban Ethology) and other researchers at the University of Vienna have discovered that people attribute certain personality traits or emotions to the front of a car. Humans are able to collect information on people's sex, age, emotions, and intentions based on the look of the face. In theory, if humans have this ability to perceive traits and emotion on the human face, could they not attribute the same types of perceptions on inanimate objects that possess face-like qualities?

To investigate this theory, "the researchers therefore asked people to report the characteristics, emotions, personality traits, and attitudes that they ascribed to car fronts and then used geometric morphometrics to calculate the corresponding shape information."

Ninety percent of cars possessed human or animal-like faces according to about a third of the subjects. Of course, the headlights were seen as eyes, the grill as a mouth and about 50% of cars had some part representing a nose. Interestingly, most subjects agreed on the personality traits of certain cars. Subjects tended to prefer cars with either a wide stance, narrow windshield or narrow, but widely spaced headlights. In addition, the more the subject liked a type of car, the more they could perceive a characteristic of power. This suggests that the subjects prefer mature, dominant, masculine, arrogant, angry-looking cars.

There is no doubt that this kind of research will benefit car manufacturers, but what does it say about human nature? There will be an influx in dominant angry-looking cars in the automobile industry. Not only will elaborate designs become distracting, but if humans actually perceive personality traits and emotions from car fronts, it would be safe to assume that incidents of road rage and bullying behaviour might actually increase. Although, this research is interesting and useful, it is likely that it will be used solely to generate more wealth instead of being used to improve the safety of our roads.

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