Cyber bullying among adolescents

Abstract

Cilj ovoga rada bio je prikaz obilježja elektroničkog nasilja na društvenim mrežama među adolescentima. Adolescencija je razdoblje obilježeno promjenama tijekom kojeg djeca u dobi od 11 do 24 godine prolaze značajne biološke, psihološke i socijalne transformacije. Današnji adolescenti su generacija koja odrasta u svijetu digitalnih tehnologija i imaju drugačije načine komuniciranja. Društvene mreže predstavljaju globalni komunikacijski fenomen i njihovo korištenje obilježava odrastanje većine današnjih adolescenata. Korištenje društvenih mreža donosi niz pogodnosti, ali i rizike. Jedan od njih je elektroničko nasilje. Elektroničko nasilje definira se kao namjerno i opetovano nasilno postupanje putem računala, mobilnih uređaja i drugih informacijskih i komunikacijskih medija. Rezultati istraživanja među adolescentima o elektroničkom nasilju ukazuju da ima oko 21% žrtava i 14% nasilnika. U Hrvatskoj je oko 18% djece i mladih bilo žrtva nekog od oblika nasilja preko Interneta, a 11% ih se izjasnilo kao nasilnici. S povećanjem dobi raste učestalost elektroničkog nasilja s direktnom namjerom. U većem broju slučajeva muški ispitanici bili su počinitelji, a ženski, žrtve. Veća učestalost elektroničkog nasilja uočena je među djecom i mladima iz obitelji s roditeljskom praksom strogog discipliniranja i kažnjavanja, autoritarnog stila odgoja, nedostatka roditeljskoga nadzora, nedovoljne podrške i općenito slabe povezanosti s djecom. U prevenciji elektroničkog nasilja, osim mjera koje provode liječnici i medicinske sestre kroz zdravstveno-odgojne aktivnosti u djelatnosti školske i adolescentne medicine, potrebna je suradnja stručnjaka različitih profila.The aim of this paper was to present the characteristics of cyberbullying among adolescents on social networks. Adolescence is a period marked with changes, where children from the ages of 11 to 24 experience significant biological, psychological and social transformations. Currently, teenagers are a generation of digital natives and have different ways of communication. Social networks are a global communication phenomenon and their use influences development of most of adolescents. The use of social networks entails a number of benefits, as well as risks. One of them is cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is defined as a deliberate and recurring violent act directed through computers, mobile devices and other information and communication media. The results of the researches on cyberbullying among adolescents revealed 21% of adolescents as victims and 14% as bullies. In Croatia, about 18% of children and adolescents were recognized as victims of some form of online violence, while 11% declare themselves as bullies. The frequency of direct intentional cyberbullying increases with age, and in most cases the male respondents were recognized as bullies and female as victims. A higher incidence of cyberbullying has been observed among children and adolescents in families where discipline and punishment are usual parental practices, along with an authoritarian style of parenting, lack of parental supervision, insufficient support, and generally weak connection with children. In preventing cyberbullying, in addition to measures taken by doctors and nurses through health education activities in school and adolescent medicine, cooperation between experts of different profiles is recognized as crucial