The Impact of Cyberbullying on the Self-Esteem and Academic Functioning of Arab American Middle and High School Students

Abstract

Introduction. Cyberbullying has received a considerable amount of attention within the academic and public literature. However, very little if any cyberbullying research has been conducted among Arab American students. This current study explored the impact of cyberbullying among middle and high school Arab American students on their self-esteem and academic functioning. It further explored the extent to which levels of emotional intelligence moderated these relationships.Method. The population of this study consisted of 1,152 middle and high school students, grades 6 through 12 from four different charter schools in Wayne County in Michigan. These schools represented different ethnic groups, such as Arab Americans, African Americans, Hispanic and White.Results. The results of the study indicate that Arab Americans experience more cyberbullying than the other ethnic groups within the study. The data illustrates that cyberbullying has an expected negative effect on student self-esteem and academic functioning among the Arab American group. There were mixed findings among the other ethnic student groups.Discussion. The level of student emotional intelligence was shown to moderate the relationships between cyberbullying, self-esteem and academic functioning more-so among Arab Americans than for the African American and White American student groups. This finding informs school practitioners that it would be advantageous to develop programs that promote emotional intelligence among students.