Impact of Cyberbullying on the Mental Health of a Queer Person

Adolescents in today’s society face a lot more conflicts in their personal lives which sometimes goes unnoticed by others in the society. In the past few years, bullying has become a major issue which has negatively impacted some people to a large extent.

Previously, bullying could be controlled more easily due to the limitations of technology. However, with technology now becoming all-pervasive, cyber-bullying has unfortunately become quite common with many such instances surfacing every now and then.The internet has no boundaries and so the public has access to endless data and information, putting people at a large risk.

Research on sexual and gender minorities (i.e., people from the LGBTQ community) shows that such people are at a higher risk for cyberbullying when compared to heterosexuals or cisgendered people. Data tells us that LGBTQ youth are being bullied, harassed, and victimized at disproportionate rates. Over 48 percent of LGBTQ students were cyberbullied via text messages or social media in the past year. 13 percent reported experiencing cyberbullying often.  Homophobia, stigma and discrimination against queer people can negatively affect their physical and mental health.

In order to understand the impact of cyber bullying on a queer person, primary research was conducted through a questionnaire. Additionally, conducting sessions with certain NGOs helped analyze a younger audience’s perspective on cyberbullying and the stigma against LGBTQ+ people as well.

Using the data collected from the questionnaire and sessions, a thorough analysis was conducted. Based on this, certain notions were evident. The use of graphs threw light on visualizing the facts and figures that were derived.

Introduction

Cyberbullying is defined as “bullying that takes place over digital devices like cell phones, computers, and tablets. It can occur through SMS, text, and apps, or online in social media, forums, or through gaming where people can view, participate in, or share content. It includes sending, posting, or sharing negative, harmful, false, or mean content about someone else. It can include sharing personal or private information about someone else causing embarrassment or humiliation. Some cyberbullying crosses the line into unlawful or criminal behavior.”

When it comes to such bullying faced specifically by people from the LGBTQ+ community, reasons for not reporting such incidents include the belief that parents might not be able to do anything about the incident, a lack of understanding and support by parents, getting in trouble with parents, suffering further retaliation by the bully, and fear of being made fun of by others.

Results from a survey show that, nationwide, 26.6% of high school students who self-identify as queer report having been cyberbullied in the past year as compared to only 14.1% of their straight peers. Students who identified as “not sure” of their sexual orientation reported being cyberbullied and not going to school due to safety concerns. Bullying puts all youth at an increased risk for depression, suicidal ideation, misuse of drugs and alcohol, experiencing sexual violence, engaging in unsafe sex practices, and can affect academics as well. For LGBTQI+ youth, this risk is even higher.

Research Methodology

In order to analyze the impact of cyberbullying on people from the queer community, two methodologies were adopted:

Primary data:

1. Questionnaire: A set of questions based on cyberbullying and its impact on the mental health of queer people were shared with students to collect responses.
2. Workshops with an NGO: Interactions with a group of adolescents helped evaluate and take into account a different set of perspectives regarding queer people and cyberbullying.

Data Analysis of the Questionnaire

Data from the primary research questionnaire questionnaire showed that out of 44 people, 42 people thought that people from the queer community are bullied more than other people on social media platforms and the Internet. According to our survey, most of the bullying happens on social media apps like Instagram and YouTube. Moreover, 13 people felt that online bullying was far worse than physical bullying, which is proof of the enormity of the problem.

Additionally, 77.2% of the respondents felt that cyberbullying makes people from the community feel ashamed about themselves and their sexuality. The consequences of such emotions can be severe leading to low self-esteem, a lack of confidence, anxiety, the fear of coming out and in some cases, suicide as well.

The above chart tells us that 45.5% of the respondents felt that cyberbullying has extreme effects on our mental health. When asked, “If a person from the queer community got bullied on a social media platform, how do you think they would feel?”, a majority of them picked emotions such as being vulnerable, helpless, lonely, depressed, and anxious.

Furthermore, in our survey, we used two pictures of celebrities, A being a person from the queer community, and B being a heterosexual male and asked which person was more likely to get hate comments. 38 respondents chose picture A which clearly shows that people from the LGBTQ+ community are more prone to bullying in any space.

Given all these problems with cyberbullying, more than half of the respondents felt that educating people, spreading awareness and widespread acceptance of the community are crucial to make the internet a safe place for queer individuals. Additionally, a few respondents felt that anti-bullying/hate speech guidelines and policies can only do so much on social platforms, making queerphobia a cyber crime and internalized queerphobia is 80% of the reason so many LGBTQ+ people are affected by cyberbullying.

Interestingly, a few respondents also felt that beyond a lack of acceptance from others in the society, a lack of acceptance from people within the LGBTQ+ community is also one of the main reasons for self-doubt and hate comments affecting people from the community.

Workshops with NGOs

As a part of our research, online workshops were also conducted with students between the ages of thirteen and sixteen with two NGOs based in Delhi “Pratyek” and “Shakti”.

When posed with questions related to cyberbullying and the queer community, most students knew the effects of cyberbullying as well as about the LGBTQ+ community. They also strongly felt that queerphobia was wrong. This shows that the society is gradually changing their mindsets about the community. Moreover, the majority of the audience were able to talk confidently about their experiences of being bullied. This is an indicator of how a large section of teenagers are growing out of their fears and can freely share them with others.

Conclusion

Cyber bullying has very damaging consequences to individuals. Firstly, It disrupts school life, creates emotional damage, and may even have fatal consequences. Though technology has brought new opportunities for students and teenagers, it is important that everyone learns to use it responsibly. Policies should also be implemented to ensure that technology is used responsibly.

School managements should come up with ways of identifying, preventing, and responding to cyber crimes in schools. Parents, on the other hand, should shoulder the responsibilities of protecting their children. LGBTQ+ youth are harassed and cyberbullied at rates higher than their heterosexual and cisgender counterparts, resulting in psychological and behavioral effects. These youth, who are often already experiencing traditional bullying, lack support from their peers, parents, schools and community and frequently do not report cyberbullying. It is recommended that schools work collaboratively with parents, LGBTQ+ students, and community partners to create policies to protect these students. Additionally, parents should be encouraged to communicate openly with their children about the risks of social media and provide a safe space for them. Comprehensive school policies that create a climate of awareness for LGBTQ+ specific cyberbullying are recommended to combat cyberbullying. There is also a need to create therapeutic communities to assist victims in recovering from this traumatic form of bullying and decrease psychological distress.

Recommendations

• Communities and various societies should start workshops, sensitization programs and awareness campaigns to educate large groups of people about cyberbullying and the related mental health issues.
• Encourage individuals experiencing cyberbullying to seek help from therapists. They should also be comfortable enough to discuss their mental health issues with others.
• People should engage in activities that instill mental positivity and help them feel better about their sexualities and themselves.
• Schools should introduce curriculums based on LGBTQ+ and mental health issues to educate future generations about it from a young age.

About the author: Pari Mehrotra is a Grade 10 student at The Millennium School and is a Diversity, Inclusion and Mental Health advocate

Bibliography

1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7163911/
2. https://camillamahon.wordpress.com/psychology/cyberpsychology/cyber-bullying-essay/
3. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/318660552_Cyberbullying_and_LGBTQ_Youth_A_Systematic_Literature_Review_and_Recommendations_for_Prevention_and_Intervention
4. https://www.comparitech.com/blog/vpn-privacy/lgbtq-cyberbullying/