Laiken Bergeron

Professor Jean Coco

English 1001
28 November 2016
Audience: Parents
Cyberbullying Causing Mental Health Problems
Group Conference Draft
Preface1. Whats working well?
I found good articles that back up my thesis and help my argument. I think that my conclusion is
strong. I may need to add more when I find more research, but overall I think it is good. I like my
introduction. I think it is a good way to open my essay.
2. What needs work?
I need to write more pertaining to my audience. I need to focus on parents more and how this
essay can affect them. I need a lot more research.
3. What roadblocks do you face?
Finding research that is necessary for my paper is kind of difficult. I think I need to move from
the databases to the internet to find more interesting information.
4. What do you want to focus on in the conference?
I want to focus on my introduction paragraph and make sure it is the best it can be.
Three QuestionsHow can I improve my paper? How is my introduction paragraph? Are my sources trustworthy?
Region 8 News reported on September 26, 2009 that a teenage girl, Sarah Lynn Butler,

received a Myspace message saying that she was easily forgotten and that no one would miss her
because she a nave and stupid little girl. She left a suicide note saying that she could not handle
what others were saying about her anymore. On that day, Sarah hanged herself. Sarah was
popular in school. She had just gotten crowned homecoming queen. Her mom said she was
always laughing and cutting up with friends. Sarahs mom often checked Sarahs Myspace page
to make sure that everything was appropriate on there, but once Sarah started received harsh
messages talking about rumors that she was slut. After Sarahs mom noticed these, she deleted
her mom on Myspace. Now her mom is raising awareness to other parents saying that if they see
anything at all that is harsh or inappropriate to take action to the problem and find a solution
early before its too late(Young). The pain that Sarahs loved ones most likely went through is
unfathomable, and it was all caused my cyberbullying. Cyber bullying has the effect to cause
someone to take their own life. Suicidal thoughts are linked to having a mental health issue.
Cyberbullying is the form of bullying that takes place on the internet. It can happen on
any social media platform, email, or blogs. The bullys purpose is to tear another person down
usually by being anonymous. Cyberbullying often shows more side effects than the typical faceto-face bullying. Cyberbullying has been proven to affect the teens mental health that anything
else. Depression, sadness, and even suicidal thoughts that sometimes lead to suicide come from
cyberbullying. Parents may not even realize the extent of danger that comes from cyberbullying.
Studies show that nearly 25% of teens have experienced being bullied on the internet. This is a
number that will just keep growing if people, especially parents are not educated. So the question
is: How is cyberbullying affecting the mental health of teens?
In the Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, a survey was constructed on teens that
focused on the study of the prevalence of cyberbullying and was referred by Pediatric

Emergency Department(PED) for psychiatric assistance. The experiment was also performed to
examine the correlation between cyberbullying and suicidal acts. The teens in this experiment
had been cyberbullied, and they were referred by the PED. The variables of the trial included,
substance abuse, psychiatric history, diagnosis, and type of bullying. There were 805 patients in
24 months. Cyberbullying took place within 13.5% of the patients. That means roughly 105
patients were affected greatly by cyberbullying. They were observed for having more emotional
and physical abuse. Suicidal acts were present in more than two thirds of the patients, mostly
women. In the U.S. the cases for mental health problems have increases yearly, and 15% of these
cases are from having been affected by cyberbullying (Nasreen). This may not seem like a huge
number, but the number just keeps rising, and with the right prevention measures that number
could start going down.

An experiment was performed on teenagers focusing on if family dinners had any affect
if they were cyberbullied. The study showed that teens who did sit down with their family for
dinner were less affected with cyberbullying and had less mental health issues. The most
commonly reported mental health problem was depression, suicide attempts, and prescription
drug misuse. In the past year, 18.6% experienced at least once being cyberbullied. Cyberbullying
is also more common with girls than with boys. Teens being cyberbullied had two times more of
a tendency to get drunk, vandalize, get into physical fights, and have thoughts of suicide. More
than three times as much as non-bullied, teens who were bullied had extreme amounts of anxiety,
more than three times the odds ratios of binge drinking, high anxiety, self- harm, and suicide
attempt; and more than four times the odds ratios of misusing prescription drugs and over-thecounter drugs. Even after controlling for exposure to face-to-face bullying, cyberbullying was

found to be related to every mental health and substance use measure, suggesting that prevention
of cyberbullying is a legitimate focus of interventions (Knopf).
According to the Psychiatric Times, Domains or types of common electronically
aggressive behaviors include hostility (eg, insults, threats), humiliation (eg, posting an embarrassing picture), obsessive monitor- ing or control (eg, intrusive texts), deception (eg, use of a
fake profile to interact with another), and exclusion (eg, un-friending) (Roberts). There are tons
of ways bullies can bully. They use the thought of being hidden on the internet. They are not
face to face when bullying. This makes the person being bullied feel alone and ganged up on. It
is much easier to walk away if being bullied in person than to get away on the internet.
Cyberbullies are the reason that teens are having more and more mental health issues. Things
like exclusion and humiliation can lead one to very serious health issues.
According to Cyberbullying.org, today, 30 states have laws against cyberbullying, and it
will not be long before the last 20 states hop on board. In Louisiana, someone guilty of
cyberbullying could be paying $500, a six month jail period, or both. Cyberbullying is as serious
as robbery or any other crime.
Cyberbullying is one of the leading causes of mental health in teens. Whether it be
depression, sadness, or suicidal thoughts, cyberbullying influences teens in ways that parents
have never thought about before. According to these experiments, it has been proven that teens
have great amounts of stress over the internet bullies, and there are also serious suicide cases
over this. The topic of cyberbullying should not be taken lightly, which is why it needs more
awareness and parents need to know that this is taking place every day. Have you ever wondered
if your child is being cyberbullied? Today could be the day to put a stop to it.

Works Cited
Knopf, Alison. "Cyberbullying Linked To Mental Health Problems In Teens; Protective Factor
Seen In Family Dinners." Brown University Child & Adolescent Behavior Letter 31.1
(2015): 4-5. Academic Search Complete. Web. 27 Oct. 2016.
Ramos, Michelle C., and Diana C. Bennett. "Cyberbullying: Who Hurts, And Why." Psychiatric
Times 33.1 (2016): 20-25. Academic Search Complete. Web. 11 Nov. 2016.
Roberts, Nasreen, et al. "Pediatric Emergency Department Visits For Mental Health Crisis:
Prevalence Of Cyber-Bullying In Suicidal Youth." Child & Adolescent Social Work
Journal 33.5 (2016): 469-472. Academic Search Complete. Web. 11 Nov. 2016.
Young, Yolanda. "Online Teasing Leads to Teen's Suicide." - KAIT Jonesboro, AR. N.p.,
2009. Web. 10 Nov. 2016. <http://www.kait8.com/story/11566204/onlineteasing-leads-to-teens-suicide>.

Articles
All of these are the full article.
Summaryhttp://web.b.ebscohost.com.libezp.lib.lsu.edu/ehost/command/detail?sid=51404b92-098b-4f77824b-84fa5b513b5b%40sessionmgr120&vid=8&hid=128
Paraphrasehttp://www.kait8.com/story/11566204/online-teasing-leads-to-teens-suicide

Summaryhttp://web.b.ebscohost.com.libezp.lib.lsu.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=51404b92-098b4f77-824b-84fa5b513b5b%40sessionmgr120&vid=13&hid=128
http://cyberbullying.org/the-current-state-of-cyberbullying-laws

Outline

More body paragraphs- research more, find good articles to convince parents

cyberbullying is serious.
Improve conclusion paragraph
Polish introduction paragraph and title.
Find more news articles involving suicide over cyberbullying.