A Model to Manifest the Inadequacy of Awareness in Cyberbullying Among the Adolescents and to Accent Its Dire Need

Abstract

Cyberbullying can be technologically expressed as the use of electronic communication to bully or threaten a person. It was identified that this has become a social debacle. Hence the research study was directed to identify the exact mean of cyberbullying, the reasons that lead to this cause, and how to prevent the victims getting exposed to this social dilemma. In Sri Lanka this subject was not majorly focused as a social issue, therefore the study was focused on the adolescents within the Sri Lankan context, as they are the major group of active users in social media. To identify the specific factors, previous research articles written by academicians were adopted throughout the study. The objective was to introduce a model that can be introduced as a mode of bringing awareness on the misuse of social media among adolescents. This study was based on qualitative techniques. Secondary and primary data were analysed through grounded theory and thematic analysis. The primary sources included an open-ended questionnaire and an in-depth interview while the secondary sources include the reviews of past literature. The Interviews conducted with Sri Lanka Computer emergency Readiness Team supported upon many findings of the study. With results gained from the interviews, it was clear that many adolescents were exposed to cyberbullying but somehow, they were unaware of the situations that they were exposed. As per the findings, a model was built that can be adopted to eliminate the malpractice amongst the social media users with proper awareness on the concept of cyberbullying. The level of awareness required in terms of Sri Lankan legal framework, the psychological instability residing among the minds of adolescents, and the technological illiteracy rate amongst the social media users are based for the identified model as the base of root causes in the study. Keywords: Cyberbullying, Adolescents, Electronic Communication, Technological Illiteracy, Legal Framework, Psychology