Cyberbullying: Definition, types, effects, related factors and precautions to be taken during COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

December 2019 witnessed the city of Wuhan, Hubei, China in utter panic as the first wave of the novel Coronavirus or COVID-19 hit, soon to infect and take the lives of an overwhelming number of people. The situation has since been running out of control as the entire world was forced to face a global pandemic at its doorsteps. The pandemic encouraged governments to make changes and take decisions, like that of lockdowns and social distancing guidelines. These changes have severely affected (and continue to do so) people's financial conditions, physical and mental health, and social relationships. People suddenly found themselves having to not only cope with the pandemic but also the onslaught of a new digital reality. People inadvertently increased their presence online with schools and workplaces now opting to function through various online platforms. The increased cyber-presence resulted in a variety of cyber-crimes amongst which, the focus of this paper, cyberbullying. Granted cyberbullying has been a widely used form of online harassment for a while now, however, the pandemic is presumed to have resulted in a surge in cyberbullying cases. This has taken a toll on people's physical, psychological, and emotional health. The present review paper seeks to explore the nature of cyberbullying among students during COVID-19 in Turkey. As such, the paper will give a general idea of cyberbullying, the different tactics of cyberbullying, and the underlying theoretical basis for the same. Further, the paper will also try to identify the potential warning signs that bullies, victims, or bully-victims may present with and the precautions that parents, teachers, school administrations, and policymakers may take to curb the onslaught of cyberbullying cases.