Cyberbullying: A Technology Issue Affecting Adolescents and What Needs to Be Done

Running head: Cyberbullying: A Technology Issue Affecting Adolescents
Cyberbullying:
A Technology Issue Affecting Adolescents and What Needs to Be Done
Samantha Hauck
Western Oregon University

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Cyberbullying: A Technology Issue Affecting Adolescents
Abstract
Part of growing up, unfortunately, means dealing with name-calling, rumor spreading, and
sometimes even physical encounters with peers, who are otherwise known as bullies. These
encounters, usually performed in front of others, are cruel, and they leave the victim feeling
embarrassed, isolated, and powerless. In the last decade, adolescents, ages 13-17, have found a
new way to target others by using technology: cyberbullying. This paper argues even though
cyberbullying might not be an epidemic sweeping the nation, cyberbullying through social media
is still an issue affecting adolescents ages 13-17 by causing emotional and psychological
problems, and schools need to focus more on preventing this problem. Since most cyberbullying
is found in the adolescent age group, it only makes sense to create solutions that will be
implemented in schools. School personnel work with adolescents almost every day, so they are
the first line of defense when it comes to preventing cyberbullying. Topics discussed in this
paper will include affordances that have led to cyberbullying and the effects it is having on
adolescents. This paper will suggest that schools adopt solutions such as teaching the 5Cs,
teaching students to be peer by standards, and making policy changes, schools should be
adopting to help prevent cyberbullying will be suggested as well.

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Introduction
Part of growing up, unfortunately, means dealing with name-calling, rumor spreading,
and sometimes even physical encounters with peers, who are otherwise known as bullies. Bully
encounters, usually performed in front of others, are cruel, and they leave the victim feeling
embarrassed, isolated, and powerless. According to Donegan (2012), certain children will take
their frustrations out on others, and “in the past, these actions could be better controlled because
they were limited to face-to-face interactions” (p. 33). In the last decade though, adolescents,
ages 13-17, have found a new way to target others by using technology. With access to
technology, bullies can now target a person and spread it all across the web. These encounters
can happen through posts, videos, messages, images, and hashtags making it easier for others to
join the bullying. Donegan (2012) wrote, “cell phones, social media sites, chat rooms, and other
forms of technology have allowed bullying to expand into cyberspace” (p. 33). In other words,
technology has allowed bullying to be carried out online. This type of bullying has become
popular in the last decade and has been named cyberbullying.
Even though cyberbullying may not be as widespread as many have claimed (Magid,
2011; Freitas, 2017; Boyd, 2014; Patchin, 2013), it has gained traction because it gives the
aggressor more time to attack their victims on a constant basis, unlike face-to-face bullying
(Siegel, 2009). Cyberbullying can be done beyond school grounds due to how accessible
technology is now becoming. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate that even though
cyberbullying might not be an epidemic sweeping the nation, cyberbullying through social media
is still an issue affecting adolescents ages 13-17 by causing emotional and psychological
problems, and schools need to focus more on preventing this problem. Cyberbullying may seem
like an issue only for parents and adolescents who are being targeted by cyberbullies, but

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anyone, who works with this age group, particularly those who work in schools, should be aware
of what cyberbullying is and what they can do to help prevent it.
The History of Cyberbullying
The general consensus is cyberbullying started around the early 2000s (Bark, 2018). The
early 2000s was when chat rooms started to become a popular thing to participate in on the
Internet. The first chat rooms were created by AOL and allowed teens to talk to one another
online privately or in group chat rooms. The chat rooms created a place where adolescents could
bully each other online (Donegan, 2012). The group chat rooms created a problem because a
group of teens could easily create a private chat room to talk about others or gang up on a person
(Donegan, 2012). As computers and chat rooms started gaining in popularity, so did the
cellphone.
Cellphones started to become the next big tech item that everyone, especially adolescents,
had to have in the early 2000s. New features like texting, video recording, and image capturing
came with these phones, which made it easy for people to communicate back and forth and with
others (Donegan, 2012). At the same time, websites such as MySpace and Facebook were
gaining traction. These sites allowed a user to publicly post online about their life or create posts
that target an individual (Donegan, 2012).
Most recently, cyberbullying has been seen happening on social media sites and apps,
such as Yik Yak, Secret, Juicy Campus, and Whisper (Donegan, 2012; Armerding, 2014). These
sites and apps use an open forum layout where people can comment anonymously and under
different harsh topics like “most attractive” and “worst hookup” (Donegan, 2012; Armerding,
2014). On some of these sites, users can "like" posts to upvote them, which puts them to the top
of the forums (Armerding, 2014). These popular posts are then the first thing anyone sees when

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they log on. Popular posts appearing at the top of a forum guarantee the victim will see the posts
when they log on. These sites have been gaining in popularity because the users are anonymous.
This makes it extremely hard to track down the people who are bullying others (Armerding,
2014). Cyberbullying has a long history, but there are those who argue that it is not the epidemic
others are claiming it to be.
Not an Epidemic, but Still an Issue
One of the most prominent arguments when it comes to cyberbullying is it is not the
wide-spreading epidemic everyone thinks it is. An epidemic is defined as "affecting or tending to
affect a disproportionately large number of individuals within a population, community, or
region at the same time" (Merriam-Webster, 2018). In other words, an epidemic is something
that affects a huge number of people at the same time. This is what many claim cyberbullying is
becoming in our society (Ditch the Label, 2017; Morgan, 2013; Donegan, 2012). Magid (2011)
wrote “about one in five teens have been cyberbullied at least once in their lifetimes. That’s bad,
but not an epidemic”(p. 8) and Professor Olweus argued “…cyberbullying is a basically low-
frequent phenomenon and that there has not occurred a marked increase in the prevalence rates
of cyberbullying over the past five or six years” (Patchin, 2013, p. 2). These two scholars might
be correct about cyberbullying not being an epidemic that is taking over the lives of adolescents.
What they fail to realize is that it is still affecting adolescents and many believe that it still calls
for attention (Patchin, 2013; Magid, 2011; Freitas, 2017; Boyd, 2014).
Cyberbullying allows for the bully to target their victim constantly whereas traditional
bullying is face-to-face and the incident stops once the bully walks away. A victim cannot escape
cyberbullying. A study done by Ditch the Label (2017) surveyed 10,000 teens to measure their
experiences with cyberbullying. Of the 10,000 teens surveyed “seventeen percent of respondents

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reported being cyber bullied — with 42% saying they were bullied on Instagram. Facebook
wasn't far behind, at 37%, Snapchat was next at 31%. Twitter (9%) and Tumblr (3%) were at the
bottom” (Gibbs, 2017, p. 3). This study showed that even though the percentages might be small,
adolescents were still experiencing cyberbullying on popular social media sites and something
needed to be done to prevent it.
A study done by Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New
Hampshire collected data from students across the U.S. in 2000, 2005, and 2010 and saw a
modest but steady increase from 6% to 11% in cyberbullying between 2000 and 2010. This
means a statement made by Olweus (2012) that cyberbullying had not seen an increase in five or
six years might not actually be correct (Patchin, 2013). These numbers may seem insignificant
and small to some people, but cyberbullying is still a problem because these are only the reported
numbers. Some adolescents do not report cyberbullying incidents. This means the numbers could
be higher, and it is still happening to adolescents even though the percentage of those affected
are smaller than most claim. (Patchin, 2013; Magid, 2011; Ditch the Label, 2017). Freitas (2017)
has argued, “that any teen or young adult should have to endure such terror, humiliation, cruelty,
and total rejection by their peers is unacceptable. We should not tolerate it. Period” (p. 168). No
adolescent should be a victim of any type of cyberbullying, whether it is an epidemic or not.
Types of Cyberbullying
Cyberbullying can be performed in many ways. Siegel (2009) identified eight different
types of cyberbullying:
1. Flaming: Online fights using electronic messages with angry and vulgar language.
2. Harassment: Repeatedly sending nasty, mean, and insulting messages.
3. Denigration: “Dissing” someone online. Sending or posting gossip or rumors

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about a person to damage his or her reputation or friendships.
4. Impersonation: Pretending to be someone else and sending or posting material to
get that person in trouble or danger or to damage that person’s reputation or
friendships.
5. Outing: Sharing someone’s secrets or embarrassing information or images online
6. Trickery: Talking someone into revealing secrets or embarrassing information to
image inline
7. Exclusion: intentionally and cruelly excluding someone from an online group.
8. Cyberstalking: repeated, intense harassment and denigration that includes threats
or creates significant fear. (p. 15)
These forms of cyberbullying have only grown with the introduction of popular social
networking sites like Facebook and apps like Snapchat and Yik Yak and show no signs of
slowing down (Morgan, 2013).
Affordances of Social Media That Have Led to Cyberbullying
Social media is the biggest contributor when it comes to cyberbullying. Brandau and
Evanson (2018) found that of most cyberbullying incidents, 87% happened on Facebook with
other students reporting incidents happening on Instagram, Snapchat, Kik, and Twitter. Social
media sites and apps all have similar affordances that have led to cyberbullying becoming an
issue (Hinduja & Patchin, 2014). Affordances can be described as the following: “the
affordances of the environment are what it offers the animal, what it provides or furnishes, either
for good or ill” (Gibson, 2014 p. 1). In other words, affordances are what is offered or provided
by a new item to a user, and it can be good or bad. Postman’s (1998) first idea about
technological change was “for every advantage a new technology offers, there is always a

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corresponding disadvantage” (p. 1). Gibson’s (2014) and Postman’s (1998) ideas of affordances
and technological change are extremely useful because these ideas shed light on how social
media makes cyberbullying easy to perform and the advantages and disadvantages it offers.
These are difficult topics to cover. They are, however, extremely important to think about for
social media sites and people developing new social platforms since the majority of
cyberbullying happens on social media (Hinduja & Patchin, 2014). There are many good things
social media technology offers (affordances), but, as Postman stated, there are some others that
have led to the issue of cyberbullying.
Bower (2008) created a media affordance classification system that helped group together
the different kinds of affordances based on what they offer. A media affordance of social media
technology that has contributed to cyberbullying is write-ability. Write-ability provides a person
a place to write what they are thinking or feeling, which can be harmful to others. Temporal
affordances of social media technology that has contributed to cyberbullying are record-ability
and accessibility. Record-ability provides a person with the ability to record video, which can be
embarrassing and has become an issue in the last decade, and accessibility offers a person easy
access to social media anywhere and at any time using electronic devices. An access-control
affordance that has led to cyberbullying is share-ability. Share-ability offers a person to share
posts, videos, and images easily with others, which can then lead to more cyberbullying. Another
affordance of social media technology that has led to cyberbullying is anonymous-ability, which
provides a person the opportunity to create a fake profile and be anonymous when
communicating with others. This is also called catfishing or impersonation (Siegel, 2009). A new
affordance that has become popular is hashtag-ability. Hashtag-ability offers a person to create a
hashtag to target another person across multiple platforms making it easier for others to find and

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join in. These are not all of the affordances that have led to the issue of cyberbullying, but they
are the ones most commonly talked about when discussing the part of society affected most by
cyberbullying.
The Affected Party
Postman's (1998) second idea of technological change was "the advantages and
disadvantages of new technologies are never distributed evenly among the population…there are
even some who are not affected at all" (p. 2). In other words, the positives and negatives
technology offers are not going to be spread out evenly among people. Not everyone is affected
by cyberbullying. As Postman (1998) has stated, the disadvantages of cyberbullying are not
distributed evenly among the population at all.
The area of society affected most by cyberbullying is youth ages 13 to 17 (Hinduja &
Patchin, 2014; Anderson, 2018; Smith et al., 2008). In her study about teens affected by
cyberbullying, Anderson (2018) found “59% of U.S. teens have been bullied or harassed online.”
this translated to about every 1 in 6 teens. This is the time in their lives where youth are
developing into their own person (p. 1). Hormones are flying and perceptions are changing. This
is also the age where they are begging for cell phones and more access to technology, which can
give them access to cyberbullying. In the same study by Anderson (2018), 743 teens, ages 13 to
17, were interviewed about the types of cyberbullying they have experienced. The study found
that “overall, 60% of girls and 59% of boys have experienced at least one of six abusive online
behaviors” (Anderson, 2018. p. 1). From the study, 42% stated they had been called offensive
names online or through their cell phones, 32% said they have had false rumors spread about
them, 21% said someone other than their parents had been constantly asking where they were
and who they were with (stalking), 16% said they have been the target of physical threats online,

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and 7% said someone had shared explicit photos of them without his or her consent (Anderson,
2018). Anderson (2018) also found certain forms of cyberbullying such as false rumors,
receiving explicit images, and being asked for explicit images were more common for girls than
boys.
In another study, Smith et al. (2008) found the duration of cyberbullying events for
adolescents lasted anywhere from two weeks (56%), to a month (18%), six months (5%), a year
(8%), and even up to several years (10%). Other research studies (Zalaquett & Chatters, 2014;
Brandau & Evanson, 2018) showed the same results about adolescent cyberbullying, and
recently, research was being done about cyberbullying following students to college (Brandau &
Evanson, 2018). Cyberbullying is an issue that affects adolescents the most and these studies
show it is only growing. As adolescent cyberbullying grows, so do the effects it has on its
victims.
The Effects of Cyberbullying on its Victims
Victims of cyberbullying are affected in many ways, and one of the most common effects
is the victim losing their sense of self. Victims of cyberbullying experience a change in their
activities, values, family dynamics, and personalities (Brandau & Evanson, 2018). Losing their
sense of self leads them to lose who they really are (Brandau & Evanson, 2018). Victims have
reported “withdrawing from extracurricular activities and avoiding social events” (p. 1588)
because they fear that their classmates will target them online more than they already are
(Brandau & Evanson, 2018). In other words, victims who were once outgoing and social
reported they now feel alone and isolated because they have given up everything they were
interested in (Gordon, 2018). Other effects cyberbullying victims face include feeling
overwhelmed due to the amount they are being targeted, vulnerable because anything they do

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can become a target, and powerless because, in their mind, there is nothing they can do to stop
the cyberbullying (Gordon, 2018). Some victims feel angry and want revenge, so they add to the
cyberbullying cycle by targeting others to make themselves feel better. Continuing the
cyberbullying cycle only makes the problem worse. Cyberbullying can also lead to anxiety,
depression, and thoughts/attempts of suicide because the adolescent feels it is their only way out
of what is going on (Gordon, 2018).
The effects of cyberbullying are starting to show up in college-age students as well. In
their study, Zalaquett and Chatters (2014) found college-age students dealing with cyberbullying
showed signs of being sad, angry, upset, and stressed. These effects can lead to distress, fear, and
suicide (Dilmac, 2009; Hartwell-Walker, 2010; Lindsay & Krysik, 2012; Zacchilli & Valerio,
2011; Zalaquett & Chatters, 2014). Just because college-age students are maturing and growing,
does not mean they grow out of the effects that cyberbullying has on them. Ultimately, what is at
stake here is the emotional and psychological health of adolescents who are victims of
cyberbullying. The effects can be brutal and long lasting for adolescents. If something is not
done to help prevent cyberbullying, then they are only going to suffer more. The type of
cyberbullying varies from person to person, but the effects it has on an adolescent are the same,
and something needs to be done about it.
Holding Social Media Accountable
Social media sites need to take more preventative action when it comes to handling
cyberbullying (Ditch the Label, 2017; Gibbs, 2017; Palfrey, 2009; BBC 2018). In a study done
by Ditch the Label (2017), where 10,000 teens were surveyed to measure their experiences with
cyberbullying, “seventy-one percent of study participants said social networks don't do enough to
prevent cyber bullying” (p. 26). In other words, over half of the teens surveyed thought social

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networks did not do enough to protect them. Social media sites like Facebook and Instagram
have ways to report cyberbullying. They provide resources and information on cyberbullying,
but it is often a long process and hard to find the correct areas of the sites to get the help users
need (Gibbs, 2017; Palfrey, 2009). Palfrey (2009) has suggested,
“the large social networks — Facebook, MySpace, BlackPlanet, LiveJournal, Bebo, and
so forth — can help to set a tone for behavior that is permissible and that which is not.
Online communities can be given the tools to self-police and rules on the site can ban
harmful speech” (p. 12)
In other words, social media sites need to help set a standard for what is appropriate behavior
while being online, and they also need to create and distribute tools to help educate people.
In a survey and research study done by Safety Net (reported by the BBC, 2018), about
cyberbullying, one girl stated “social media companies should take complaints more seriously. If
someone reports something, they shouldn't take days to review it, they should literally just
remove it straight away” (p. 5). This complaint echoes the complaints of hundreds of other
adolescents who want to see changes to how social media handles cyberbullying. Almost half of
the 1,089 11 to 25-year-olds questioned for the Safety Net report had experienced threatening or
nasty social media messages, emails or texts and 83% of them want social media companies to
do more to prevent cyberbullying on the sites (BBC, 2018). Social media sites need to start
taking responsibility for dealing with cyberbullying that is happening, but schools can and should
also help prevent this issue.
Solutions to Cyberbullying That Will Have an Impact on the Future
Cyberbullying is an issue only increasing as technology becomes more accessible to
adolescents and something needs to be done. This issue is something that is never going to fully

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go away. There are, however, certain steps schools need to take to help decrease its influences on
adolescents. In their book, Cyberbullying Prevention and Response: Expert Perspectives, Patchin
and Hinduja (2011) explained, “cyberbullying awareness, prevention, and intervention education
is required as part of a school’s ongoing bullying prevention and intervention efforts” (p. 113). In
other words, schools that put intervention programs in place to decrease traditional bullying help
decrease cyberbullying (Patchin & Hinduja, 2011). Since most cyberbullying is found in the
adolescent age groups, it only makes sense to create solutions that will be implemented at that
age level and in schools. These people work with adolescents almost every day, so they are the
first line of defense when it comes to preventing cyberbullying. There are a few important things
schools at all levels, administration, staff, and teachers need to be doing together to help create
this change.
Teaching the 5Cs
One thing schools need to do to help prevent cyberbullying is to start teaching students
about the 5 Cs: cyber-security, cyber-literacy, cyber-citizenship, cyber-safety, and
cyberbullying/peer aggression (Patchin, 2011). Cyber-security teaches adolescents about specific
technologies like hardware, software, and networks that protect equipment and personal
information. Cyber-literacy teaches adolescents they have power and that power is shown
through how they use their tech tools. Cyber-citizenship teaches about the freedom and
responsibility adolescents have when using different online tools. Cyber-safety teaches about
being safe online when interacting with others. Finally, Cyberbullying/peer aggression teaches
students what cyberbullying is, what it looks like, and how it affects people (Goerner, 2018;
Patchin, 2011).

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It is important to note each of the 5 Cs needs to be taught and that there is no picking and
choosing when it comes to which areas to teach and which to leave behind. Patchin and Hinduja
(2011) stated, “online safety includes the whole range of cyber-citizenship, cyber-safety, cyber-
literacy, and cyber-security issues. These weave in and out of each other” (p. 112). In other
words, to ignore and not teach one of these areas is doing a great disservice to adolescents
because they are connecting with hundreds of people online every day through social media and
other apps and many of them do not entirely understand privacy, account security, online
predators, and sharing etiquette when connecting with people online (Goerner, 2018). Patchin
and Hinduja (2011) and Goerner’s (2018) idea of teaching the 5Cs to students before they start
using technology on a daily basis is extremely useful because it sheds light on the difficult
problem of reaching out and teaching students about cyberbullying before they really start to
become involved with social media and technology. If students are given and taught the right
tools for using technology, then they are better prepared to stay away from and not be involved
with cyberbullying.
Peer Bystanders
Patchin and Hinduja (2011) also recommended that schools need to teach adolescents
how to be peer bystanders. A peer bystander is someone who witnesses cyberbullying happening
to one of his or her peers and chooses to intervene to keep the situation from escalating (Patchin
& Hinduja, 2011; Cornell Social Media Lab, 2016). Peer bystanders try to take the negative
things the victim is thinking about from being targeted and shift it to the positive. Staying silent
and doing nothing about cyberbullying only makes the issue worse. The Cornell Social Media
Lab (2016) stated, “studies show that bystander intervention can stop up to half of aggressive
events,” so teaching adolescents how to be peer bystanders can help stop cyberbullying

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incidents. Teaching adolescents how to be a peer bystander also teaches them about empathy. A
peer bystander is able to understand how the victim is feeling and make a connection with them,
which could help end the cycle of cyberbullying because adolescents would be able to really
understand how it affects victims (Patchin & Hinduja, 2011).
According to Patchin and Hinduja (2011), being a peer bystander also teaches students
how to appropriately respond to cyberbullying by way of practicing in the classroom. This way,
when a real incident occurs, the peer bystander knows how to intervene without making things
worse (Patchin & Hinduja, 2011). Social connections between peers are incredibly important.
Studies show positive results when peer bystanders spend time with, talk to, encourage, and
listen to their victimized peers (Patchin & Hinduja, 2011; Palfrey, 2009). Some victims do not
feel safe or believed when telling adults about cyberbullying and would rather talk to a peer, and
a peer bystander offers the opportunity to do that (Palfrey, 2009). Teaching about and practicing
being a peer bystander in school gives adolescents a chance to make a positive change on their
own, and it is something they can take with them as they grow into adults.
Policy Change
As much as they may want to, schools cannot simply ban electronics. The most important
thing schools need to do is make sure the school policy for acceptable use of technology is
updated to include prohibiting the use of technology, school or personal, for bullying (Morgan,
2013; Simmons, 2014). This includes specifically defining cyberbullying, prohibiting, and
having clear consequences that will ensue if a student is found using technology to cyberbully
someone (Morgan, 2013; Smith et al., 2008; Hinduja & Patchin, 2014). Even though some
cyberbullying events happen outside of school grounds, the effects of it often follow students to
school. Having a clear policy about cyberbullying makes it clear to students that it will not be

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tolerated on and off school grounds and that there will be consequences. Schools also need to
make sure they enforce the policy once a report of cyberbullying occurs. Otherwise, students are
not going to report an incident because they know the policy has no real authority (Juvonen &
Gross, 2008). Schools that do not enforce or even have a cyberbullying policy have a hard time
implementing long-term behavioral consequences when cyberbullying has happened (Boucek,
2009), which is why it is extremely important for schools to look over and update their current
policies regarding technology use and cyberbullying.
Create a Safe School Climate
Patchin and Hinduja (2011) explained victims of cyberbullying often do not tell adults
about what was going on because they feared being told it is “no big deal” or to “go handle it on
your own.” To overcome this issue, schools need to create a school climate where students feel
safe reporting about cyberbullying to any adult in the school in order to prevent cyberbullying
(Simmons, 2014). Hinduja and Patchin (2007) suggested that schools provide an empathetic and
understanding environment where students feel comfortable talking to adults. Actually listening,
talking with, and getting to know students as the young people they are is a great way to build
that trust (Patchin & Hinduja, 2011). Students who feel comfortable at school report not feeling
as hesitant about reporting cyberbullying incidents to the adults there (Hinduja & Patchin, 2007).
Building relationships with students is important if administration, staff, and teachers want to
make an impact concerning cyberbullying in their schools.
Provide Cyberbullying Education to Students and Parents
Schools need to also provide student and parent education about cyberbullying (Morgan,
2013; Simmons, 2014). For students, this would look like classroom activities, presentations
from community speakers, and peer mentoring (Morgan, 2013). Students who are given

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education about cyberbullying are more likely to not take part in it and report it when it happens
(Morgan, 2013; Simmons, 2014). Education for parents would look like a mailed newsletter or
community night with presentations about cyberbullying (Morgan, 2013). Some parents
desperately want to help the situation but have no idea how or where to start due to a lack of
information about the technology their children are using (Lenhart et al., 2006). Due to the ever-
growing technology changes, Bullen and Hare (2000) have suggested the best approach for
parents who want to help prevent cyberbullying is continuous education and training. By
providing information about cyberbullying to parents, schools are helping and encouraging them
to get involved and help (Simmons, 2014). When students and parents are properly educated
about what cyberbullying is, what it looks like, and its effects on victims, then they are better
prepared to deal with it and have a conversation about it at home (Brunner & Lewis, 2009).
Conclusion
Ninety percent of the adolescents in Anderson’s (2018) study stated they believe
cyberbullying was a problem that affects people their age, and 59% of the parents from the study
said they worry about their child being the target of cyberbullying. Adolescents should not have
to worry about being the target of online harassment every time they use technology. This only
increases fear, isolation, depression, anxiety, and a host of other issues. Adolescents and young
adults should never feel that the only way to escape a cyberbully is by committing suicide (Bark,
2017). This is a time where adolescents should be focused on school, hobbies, and their families
and not about what is being spread about them across the web. Postman’s (1998) fourth idea
about technological changes is “the consequences of technological change are always vast, often
unpredictable and largely irreversible” (p. 4). Cyberbullying is a direct result of technological
changes affecting millions of adolescents. Cyberbullying may seem like something that is largely

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irreversible, but if schools start taking the issue seriously and understand the effects it has on
adolescents, then some of it can be reversed.

19
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