Untangling the web

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Cybersafety and health “ When you have trouble online sometimes it makes you want to isolate yourself. That makes you feel stressed and despair.” Youth who experienced both in-person and online victimization in the past year were more likely to have missed school recently because they were afraid of being bullied than those who experienced one type (17% vs. 2% who experienced either in-person or online bullying). Missing out on activities The BC AHS showed that youth who were victimized in person (teased, socially excluded, or physically assaulted) were more likely than those who had not had this experience to have missed out on extracurricular activities because they were worried about being bullied there as well. This was also the case for youth who had been victimized online. For example, youth who had been cyberbullied were six times more likely to report missing out on extracurricular activities in the past year for fear of being bullied (18% vs. 3% who had not been cyberbullied). Victims of cyberbullying were also more likely to have missed school for fear of bullying. In the past month, 11% had missed classes on one or two days (vs. 1% who had not been cyberbullied), and 4% had missed on three or more days (vs.
Mental health “ Last year some people were bullying me online and they wrote ‘LOL’ like they didn’t even care that I was in my room crying and cutting myself.” Cybersafety issues were associated with poorer mental health. Students who had met someone online who made them feel unsafe, had been bullied online, or who engaged in sexting were more likely to report poorer mental health ratings, fewer hours of sleep, extreme stress and despair, self-harm, and suicidal ideation and attempts compared to those who did not report any of these cyberactivities. For example, 13% of male youth who engaged in sexting reported self-harming in the past year compared to 7% of males who had not sexted. Youth in the workshops talked about how they would often joke over the Internet or when texting and then later realized that their “joke” had caused someone distress. “If it feels like an insult to you, you might think everyone thinks that and then withdraw, even if it was only a joke.” Among females 42% of those who had sexted reported self-harming behaviour compared to 21% who had not engaged in sexting. Likewise, victims of cyberbullying were more than twice as likely to rate their mental health as poor or fair and four times as likely to report extreme despair in the past month compared to youth who had not been cyberbullied. Mental health of youth who were cyberbullied in past year 39% 39% 15% 23% 7% 20% 21% 11% 5% 4% Victim of cyberbullying Not victim of cyberbullying Poor/fair mental health Extreme stress in past month Extreme despair in past month Self-harmed in past year Attempted suicide in past year McCreary Centre Society 15
Page 1 and 2: Untangling the web Online safety an
Page 3 and 4: Untangling the web: Online safety a
Page 5 and 6: Table of contents Key findings.....
Page 7 and 8: Youth who felt highly connected to
Page 9 and 10: Limitations The BC AHS is a health
Page 11 and 12: Youth in BC Youth who completed the
Page 13 and 14: Victim of cyberbullying “ I was b
Page 15: Gender differences in online safety
Page 19 and 20: Risk factors for cybersafety issues
Page 21 and 22: Minority youth “ Cyberbullying so
Page 23 and 24: Unsupervised or heavy technology us
Page 25 and 26: Health risk behaviours Substance us
Page 27 and 28: Self-image Risky online activity wa
Page 29 and 30: Students who had an adult in their
Page 31 and 32: Community Being connected to commun
Page 33 and 34: Protective factors for youth who ha
Page 35 and 36: Perpetrators of cyberbullying “ Y
Page 37 and 38: Risk and protective factors As ment
Page 39 and 40: Final word “ I have been taught t

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