Introduction
Digital harassment is a form of bullying that is perpetuated via mobile phones, internet, and other tools of information and communications technology. It is sometimes referred to as cyber bullying. This form of bullying has become a major problem for children. School-going children and adolescents are under a growing threat of being subjected to bullying by individuals who synonymously send them offensive messages via social media, text messages, and instant messaging platforms. In the world of academia, efforts are being made to undertake research on how this form of bullying affects the mental development of children.
Digital harassment seems to have more serious implications for the child’s mental health than the traditional forms of bullying. In traditional bullying contexts, a child can simply choose to stay indoors at home to avoid the physical violence or verbal abuse meted by peers. In contrast, digital bullies always gain access to their victims, thereby intruding into their privacy via offensive messages, comments, and threats sent via social media, chat rooms, and mobile messages. In other words, today’s digital technology creates a virtual room that provides bullies with endless possibilities in their quest to reach out to their victims. There are many cases involving children who chose to take their lives after feeling helpless and isolated following persistent bullying via digital platforms (Bhat, 2008; Wong-Lo, 2011). The aim of this research paper is to discuss the impact of bullying or “digital harassment” on the mental health of children.
Overview of the growing threat of cyber bullying or digital harassment among children
The threat of cyber bullying poses a growing problem for educators, school administrators, parents, and policymakers. Children are in most cases targeted simply because of the overwhelming sense of helplessness that this form of bullying brings. In most cases, children are easily tricked into trusting online “friends†who use fake identities with the objective of obtaining their secrets. These bullies later divulge these secrets to the world or threaten to do so if the victim refuses to oblige to their demands.
A worrying trend has emerged where children, most of them teenagers, are committing suicide after experiencing digital harassment. This trend has raised serious concerns regarding the tendency by bullies to use information and communication technology to target children. One of the most publicized cases is that of Ryan Patrick, a 13 year-old boy who committed suicide three months after he was targeted in a wave of digital bullying in 2003 (Bhat, 2008). Bullies spread rumours that he was gay, subjected him to a perception that he was isolated from the rest of society, and finally encouraged him to commit suicide.
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