A MODEL TO MANIFEST THE INADEQUACY OF AWARENESS IN CYBER BULLYING AMONG ADOLESCENTS AND TO ACCENT ITS DIRE NEED

Abstract

Cyber bullying can be identified as the use of electronic communication to bully a person, typically by sending message intimidating or threatening nature. Cyber bullying could be threating to a one’s life in different ways. The main concern that surfaced when addressing this issue is that in Sri Lanka this subject does not exist as an issue in the eyes of public that needs addressing. The objective of the study is to introduce a model that can be used to identify the root causes leading towards cyber bullying and to suggest ways to eliminate the debacle. It attempts to understand the effect of technological illiteracy, psychology of the users and the activeness of the legal framework on the crisis of cyber bullying among the adolescents in Sri Lanka. The data was collected through primary and secondary sources for qualitative analysis. Collectively there were 384 participants for the questionnaire representing all the adolescents in the country within the age group of 12-22. Total of fifteen in-depth interviews were conducted with volunteered adolescents. 60% of the responders were unaware about the term cyber bullying, but when they were inquired about the experiences they have gone through, they were exposed to cyber bullying. The study was concluded with a model that is introduced to understand the need of awareness among the adolescents by giving them proper technological literacy while understanding the proper ways to use social media and internet in order to minimize the debacle occurring continuously among the users.