Cyberbullying and teenagers in Australia: Understanding the issue

Australian teenagers are remarkably tech savvy, but the threat of cyberbullying is casting a shadow over their time online.

Research from the nation’s eSafety Commissioner and mental health organisation Headspace have found that a large group of Australians have experienced harassment via screens. More than half of young Australians have seen some form of cyberbullying in their lifetime.

Policymakers, schools and families have been closely focused on tools to minimise harm online, but this type of bullying is notoriously difficult to address.

Torrens University Australia Master of Public Health student Chenai Dunduru developed a strong interest in cyberbullying and adolescent mental health throughout her studies.

The former accountant, who was able to realise a dream of changing her career focus to public health at Torrens University, co-authored a paper during her degree with associate professor Dr. Fahad Hanna on the impact of cyberbullying on young people’s mental health.

We spoke to Chenai about Australia’s cyberbullying challenge and how laws and community support can help protect young people, including those from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities.

Chenai Dunduru

What is cyberbullying?

Cyberbullying includes a range of behaviours designed to harass or intimidate another via digital channels.

Across different accounts, this can include harassment, the sharing of images or body shaming. Cyberbullying is pervasive – you are dealing with a monster that you can’t see, and it is following you everywhere.

It is very different to ‘traditional’ bullying, where behaviours are localised to a specific space or time, like school. In these cases, you can escape.

Cyberbullying, on the other hand, is more widespread. The bully might be acting from anywhere in the world, so with cyberbullying you often can’t enforce anything against the bullies because of jurisdictional differences.

We are seeing a global increase in the prevalence of cyberbullying. One shocking statistic is that one in five Australians experience cyber bullying, while there are three deaths from suicide attributed to cyber bullying per week.

The growth in cyberbullying cases is happening because of an increasing reliance on gaming for entertainment, the use of technology in education settings since COVID, and the increased reliance on technology as a means of communication overall.

How cyberbullying affects teenagers

The effects of cyberbullying on young people are both short and long term.

In the short term, those affected can have mood swings, they can develop eating disorders and can withdraw from social settings. Eventually, a victim may have suicidal thoughts. One major short-term impact of these behaviours is suicide of those affected.

In the longer term, one of the worst impacts is that victims of cyberbullying can go on to perpetuate cyber bullying themselves – they become bullying adults.

We are also starting to look at the mental health impacts associated with experiencing cyberbullying in the long term. Victims may have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or anxiety disorders.

We are seeing a future where those affected are withdrawn and do not want to participate in social settings.

Why don’t teens report on cyberbullying?

Research from Australia’s eSafety Commissioner found that teenagers are more likely to deal with cyberbullying themselves or talk with family and friends than they are to report the behaviours to social media platforms or law enforcement.

Forty per cent of young people surveyed by the commissioner said they dealt with bullying behaviour by ignoring it, while 21 per cent said they took no action because they didn’t think anything would change even if they escalated it.

There is a reluctance to report on it right across the globe. It is worth remembering that the statistics we are seeing on the prevalence – like one in five young people experiencing bullying – are only the reported cases. There might be many we do not even know about.

There is a general view that you can’t trust adults, so teenagers would prefer not to share. They then become perpetual victims of cyberbullying.

One of the impacts of reporting the bullying could be restrictions on your use of technology, and they don’t want their screen time to be cut off.

As adults, we need to create safe, supportive environments. We should be able to reach out to the kids, and just be open so that they know they can approach us for anything.

They fear retaliation from adults. We should create a culture of seeking support.

There is also the matter of raising awareness that you can report. How many people know that there is an eSafety Commissioner, or the Online Safety Act in Australia?

You can report cyberbullying to the eSafety Commissioner and find support there, but only if you know about it first.

Laws for preventing cyberbullying

When we were doing our research, we realised there was no one specific law in Australia that criminalises cyberbullying.

However, several laws have been amended in different states to cater for cyberbullying. For example, offenders can be prosecuted under a state’s Crimes Act.

The Australian government has also established the eSafety Commissioner, which covers all states. The eSafety Commissioner can authorise the removal of online content in certain circumstances, and this has proven effective.

We can write laws, but the fact remains that we are dealing with someone behind a screen. You can track them, but maybe you won’t find them – and even then, enforcement still comes back to the jurisdictional area.

Australia’s social media ban

The Australian government has introduced world-leading legislation to enforce a minimum age of 16 years for social media.

This is a good start to managing cyberbullying, because it is reducing young people’s exposure to social media.

We know that cyberbullying is increasing because of exposure to online forums, so if we reduce the exposure, and we cap it, and then we know there are less people and less teenagers going to those platforms.

But I think there is the question of how we enforce it. Children and young people can circumvent bans and hide their identities. They can use tools like virtual private networks (VPNs). Someone somewhere will eventually be saying, “I can sell you five [fake] identities over 18”. Young people are going to buy those.

The Australian government has also recently proposed a ‘Digital Duty of Care’ model which would place a legal obligation on social media platforms to ensure the safety of users.

It means that platforms will have to be responsible or pay hefty fines.

This may go a long way in terms of reducing predatory behaviour and toxicity online.

Effects of cyberbullying on CALD teenagers

Cyberbullying affects members of culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities differently, particularly for first-generation immigrants.

That first generation are trying to find their footing and it’s when they are most vulnerable that they often subject to cyberbullying.

Most are trying to fit in, and they are faced with all these complexities. There may be racial prejudices, and there is a language barrier on social media.

One of the most important things we can do to support these young people is address the language barrier. You lose your confidence if you start to question, “What are they saying, what are they typing?” in an online space.

There are lots of adult classes for English lessons. But we need to embrace that kind of support more for young people who are settling in Australia, and provide translation services, if they need it.

Pathways after master's degree: What’s next for Chenai

Since starting her studies at Torrens University Australia, Chenai has been able to use the tools she has learned to assist with advocacy work in her home country of Zimbabwe.

The university’s focus on student support helped her navigate the challenges of being an international student while fully focusing on her studies.

“Having that supportive mental health environment opened my ears and my heart to learning. I was able to get fully focused despite the challenges of being an international student, because of how the lecturers and student services received us as students,” she says.

Chenai is now considering health communication and health promotion roles where she can leverage her previous accounting expertise as well as her public health knowledge to evaluate the success of health programs and how to make them more effective.

If this article has raised issues for you or your child, you can call the following helplines:

• Lifeline on 13 11 14
• Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800
• Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636
• Headspace on 1800 650 890
• Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467
• MensLine Australia on 1300 789 978

For more insights on this research, visit Talked.