Abstract

CHAVES-ALVAREZ, Ana Lucía; MORALES-RAMIREZ, María Ester  and  VILLALOBOS-CORDERO, Margarita. Cyberbullying From Students’ Perspective: “What We Live, See and Do”. Educare [online]. 2020, vol.24, n.1, pp.41-69.  Epub Jan 30, 2020. ISSN 1409-4258.  http://dx.doi.org/10.15359/ree.24-1.3.

The present work is derived from the research “Cyberbullying: knowing its impact on the socio-emotional development of the adolescent population and reflecting on possible ways to prevent it,” which considered the opinion of adolescents, teachers, directors, and parents. The article focuses on the perception of adolescents on cyberbullying. Therefore, its goal is to report the opinions of students about the concept, roles, impact, and actions taken by adults regarding this social phenomenon. The study has an exploratory and descriptive mixed-type approach of the impact of cyberbullying on the socio-emotional development of adolescents. Answers were obtained from 447 students from 7th to 11th grade, in an age range of 12 to 19 years old, from four secondary schools, located in the provinces of Heredia and San José, Costa Rica. The students were intentionally selected, after coordination with authorities and parents to obtain the respective endorsements. The information was collected through a questionnaire with open-ended and closed-ended questions. Later, it was analyzed from the quantitative and qualitative perspectives, including emerging categories elaborated from the answers provided. The most notable results show that the majority of students use cybernetic and technological tools in school and at home, without adult supervision. Bullying occurs in 23.7% of students in 7th to 9th grades, and in 16.9% of students in 10th and 11th grades. The means of harassment most widely used are Facebook, text messages, and telephone calls; the harassment affects the socio-emotional health, due to the fear, insecurity, and distrust experienced. According to the researchers, it could be concluded that the harassment suffered by this adolescent population is not typified as cyberbullying, because most victims know the identity of the harasser, and the problem does not fulfil the main feature that is anonymity. The study is based on a warning for families, teachers, and caregivers regarding the role they should play in the lives of adolescents, the types of relationships they establish, and the socio-emotional needs of this population.

Keywords : Cyberbullying; abuse; harassment; adolescents; families; school; teachers.

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