Original Research

Cyber bullying: Child and youth spirituality

Anastasia Apostolides
HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies | Vol 73, No 3 | a4692 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v73i3.4692 | © 2017 Anastasia Apostolides | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 07 June 2017 | Published: 27 October 2017

About the author(s)

Anastasia Apostolides, Department of Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology, University of South Africa, South Africa

Abstract

Digital culture is part of children’s and adolescents’ everyday lives. Digital culture has both positive and negative consequences. One such negative consequence is cyber violence that has been termed cyber bullying. Cyber bullying can cause serious emotional, behavioural and academic problems for both the victim and the bully. Although there is ongoing research on the effects of cyber bullying on children and youth in South Africa, no research has been carried out on how children’s and youth’s spirituality may be affected when they are cyber bullied. This article discusses the accumulative results from different South African institutes that have researched the cyber bullying effects on children and adolescents. These results point to the spiritual effects that children and youth may experience as a result of cyber bullying. This article proposes that spirituality may prevent cyber bullying and even help children and youth heal from the trauma caused by cyber bullying. This article contributes in starting a conversation that may result in more specific research being done on how the spiritual lives of children and adolescents may be affected through the trauma caused by cyber bullying.

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Crossref Citations

1. Preventing Cyberbullying in Language Classrooms Among Level 100 Tertiary Students: Creating the Awareness of Its Prevalence and Effects on Students
Zinteng James, Miftawu Fuseini, Puoza Deo-Donne, Sadik Issah
Integrated Journal for Research in Arts and Humanities  vol: 3  issue: 5  first page: 65  year: 2023  
doi: 10.55544/ijrah.3.5.6