Introduction 

Nowadays, with the increasing development of technologies, their use has spread so rapidly in our daily lives that it is common for adolescents to have computers with internet access and mobile phones in most countries. However, this development also generates drawbacks mainly related to the use that is given to this technology. Among these is cyberbullying, which is a new form of intimidation that is carried out through the internet and mobile phones and that today has become a problem of global concern, since more children and adolescents are victims of East. This form of harassment, carried out by an individual or a group of individuals on a defenseless person, is classified as intentional, aggressive and constant that is carried out by means of these electronic devices.

In the study of school bullying, it highlights that the levels of violence have transferred from the physical to the virtual plane, this has brought with it an increase in cases of young victims in which psychological disorders can occur and, as an extreme consequence, suicide, which makes cyberbullying in a current public health problem.

The growing number of victims of harassment is due precisely to the characteristics of the means used, such as mass dissemination through social networks, the anonymity of the harasser and the inability to flee from the attack, so that there is a greater impact in the health of the person who suffers it, mainly on a psychological level, which makes it more negative than other forms of bullying.

For this reason, cyberbullying in adolescents is a delicate issue that must be analyzed in depth, in order to evaluate its impact on the victim’s self-esteem, in order to face it with the necessary measures and thus prevent fatal consequences.

That is why the importance of delving into research on the subject, where the different aspects that have influence on it are considered and that allow us to have the necessary information to act in this situation, both for when we face real cases, as well as well as to prevent them with the most efficient measures. As well as knowing the tools that are currently available and evaluating whether they are adequate in handling this global problem. 

GOALS 

Overall objective:

Analyze the relationship between Cyberbullying and adolescents’ self-esteem.

Specific objectives:

• Study the psychological consequences of cyberbullying in adolescents

• Know how cyberbullying is related to the self-esteem of adolescents
• Propose preventive measures of cyberbullying aimed at adolescents, parents and teachers to reduce this problem.

Methodology: 

Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying is a practice that involves the use of information and communication technologies to support deliberate, repeated and hostile behaviors practiced by an individual or group with the intention of harming another. It has become more and more common in society, especially among young people. Currently, laws and awareness campaigns have emerged to confront it.

Cyberbullying can be as simple as continuing to email someone who has already said that they no longer want to contact the sender, or it can also include threats, sexual comments, derogatory labels, hate speech, making victims the target of ridicule. in forums or post false statements in order to humiliate.

Harassers may disclose personal data of victims (such as name, address or place of work and / or study) on websites or forums, or post material on their behalf that defames or ridicules them. Some may also send emails and instant messages threatening and / or harassing victims, publishing rumors and rumors, and instigating others to attack the victim.

In high school, girls are more likely to be involved in this type of bullying than boys. But regardless of the gender of the stalker, their purpose is to intentionally embarrass, stalk, or threaten others online. This harassment can occur through email, text messages, and posts to blogs and websites (such as relationships). 

Virtual bullying can be considered as harmful as “traditional” bullying and can even lead, in extreme cases, to suicide.

Although the use of sexual comments is sometimes present in virtual harassment, this is not the same as sexual harassment.

The widespread use of the Internet, especially for its use among new generations, contributes to the increase in virtual bullying, because in the virtual world, bullies do not need to provide their true identity. The practice of cyberbullying, however, is not limited to children or young people, but can also occur between adults.

Self-esteem in adolescents

The concept of self-esteem has been studied and considered as an important indicator of mental health in adolescence. There is a correlation between self-esteem, academic performance and social approval, and this correlation is practically generalizable to all ethnic and cultural groups. Self-esteem is perhaps the most critical variable that affects an adolescent’s successful participation with others in a project.

Adolescents with low self-esteem develop mechanisms that are likely to distort the communication of their thoughts and feelings and make group integration difficult. A good degree of self-esteem is essential for the proper functioning of a teenager, as it helps adolescents to believe and trust themselves. Self-esteem also affects adolescents in the way they deal with the environment. Children and adolescents with good self-esteem persist longer and progress more in difficult tasks than those with low self-esteem.

The position that boys, girls and adolescents occupy among their peers is of utmost importance, since self-esteem is a function of this status within the group. Children whose peers they don’t like have fewer opportunities to develop their social skills. Self-esteem is related to mental health and psychological well-being and its lack is related to certain negative mental phenomena such as depression and suicide. People with low self-esteem engage in criminal behavior as a form of retaliation against society that despises them and also as a way to gain self-esteem.

Self-esteem is an evaluation that the individual makes and commonly maintains in relation to himself. It expresses a feeling or attitude of approval or dislike for itself and refers to how capable, meaningful, successful and valuable a subject is. It can be understood as a personal value judgment, expressed in the individual’s attitudes towards himself and in personal beliefs about his abilities, capacities, social relationships and future events.

Self-esteem refers to the way in which the individual chooses his goals, accepts himself, values the other and establishes his expectations and projects, and the fundamental point of self-esteem is the evaluative aspect. The perception that the individual has of his own value and his assessment of himself in terms of competence are the fundamental pillars of self-esteem. This constitutes a subjective experience, accessible to people through verbal reports and observable behaviors.

Many of the most popular theories about self-esteem are based on the theory called Looking-glass self. This theory, proposed by Charles Horton Cooley at the beginning of the 20th century, maintains that the individual and society do not exist separately, but that one is the product of the other. Just as we discover our appearance through our reflection in the mirror, we learn about our personality by observing the reaction of others. If several people surround us, we think we are popular. If people laugh at our jokes, we think we are funny.

In other words, how we see ourselves is strongly influenced by how others see us. Some studies suggest that boys and girls differ in the origin of self-esteem, with girls ‘self-esteem being more influenced by relationships, while boys’ self-esteem is more influenced by the success of their goals.

There are controversies regarding the conceptualization of self-esteem as a stable personality trait or as a state specifically linked to the context. Some theories point to self-esteem as a relatively stable trait of the individual’s personality. In this perspective, self-esteem can be considered stable, since it is built slowly over time, through successful personal experiences, being continuously valued by significant others. Other theories point to a variable classification, with the claim that self-esteem can be manipulated or momentarily affected. However, a later view holds that self-esteem can be considered both as a state and as a trait. Although in early adolescence, individuals are susceptible to a greater change in feelings about themselves, self-esteem tends to stabilize throughout the life cycle.

Gender differences

Research on gender development shows that girls and boys differ in presenting various developmental problems. Sex and gender are important sources of variability in children’s behavior. It is not enough to show that girls and boys differ. It is necessary to investigate how socialization experiences, biological variables, and environmental or cultural context interact over time to produce different models of adjustment for girls and boys.

For a long time, bullying researchers only studied boys, as they found bullying to occur much more frequently in men. More recently, it was also recognized as a problem for girls, but probably with a unique presentation. Olweus (1993) believed that bullying occurred infrequently in girls.

The way that bullying occurs in girls generally goes unnoticed, as if aggressive or bullying behavior is not suspected in the same way as boys. Boys are classified by their peers as bullies and as victims / bullies more often than girls. Aggression and victimization are more common among children. The difference between boys and girls is in the type of aggression used and not in the incidence of aggression in the subgroups of boys and girls.

Some research points to differences between girls and boys in relation to bullying, as girls are more commonly identified as victims and witnesses and boys more as bullies and victims / bullies. Girls generally express more positive attitudes towards victims, are more empathetic, and provide more support than boys. Children tend to use physical aggression such as pushing, kicking, and hitting. Girls, on the other hand, use more indirect forms of bullying, such as verbal aggression, name calling, lies and gossip. In teenagers, in particular, nicknames and gossip are common.

Boys say they are attacked more often by other boys, while girls say they are mostly beaten by other girls. Girls and boys also differ in the way they perceive and in their attitudes towards bullying.

In this sense, the term relational aggressiveness to describe the actions committed by girls, in which social interactions are manipulated to cause damage in the relationship between peers. This involves threats of expulsion from the group, deliberate exclusion, and harmful comments about someone in order to provoke rejection from the peer group. The aforementioned authors believe that girls use this type of abuse more than boys, since it damages what matters most to them, the relationship between the same sex.

Intimate and dyadic relationships appear to be more important to girls than to boys. Girls tend to be more concerned with the return of their peers to form their self-worth, making adolescent girls more susceptible to comments about their physical appearance. Girls are socially allowed to maintain close and intimate friendships with a same-sex partner. Boys are vulnerable to prejudice and therefore can become victims.

Methodology

Qualitative research through the interview. 10 interviews will be conducted with adolescents with free questions.

Interviews proposal

• Do you know any friends who are exposed to cyberbullying through social networks?
• In the last month, has there been a cyberbullying situation from a friend?
• In the last month have you been a victim of any cyberbullying situation?
• In the last month, have you been cyberbullied?
• How do you think the person / people who are victims of bullying feel?
• What do you normally do or victims do when you / they are bullied through the Internet?
• How do you think cyberbullying affects self-esteem in adolescents?
• Do you consider that adolescents are more sensitive to losing their self-esteem with cyberbullying?
• Do you think that banning the Internet in educational institutions would help prevent these attacks from occurring?
• What tips or strategies would you recommend to protect the self-esteem of adolescents when they suffer cyberbullying situations?
• Do you have comments, suggestions or stories on this matter that you want to let us know?