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Janie Potenza
Professor Collins
ENGL 1302
31 March 2016
Effects of Cyberbullying
Recently cyberbullying has become a major issue. Cyberbullying acts as use of electronic
communication to bully an individual. Usually the bully will send threatening or intimidating
messages towards others. A TED talk video was uploaded on YouTube October 23, 2014 and
included fourteen year old, Trisha Prabhu. She is a student at Neuqua Valley High School in
Naperville, Illinois. Prior to Prabhu gathering her research, in 2013 she discovered a thirteen year
old girl had committed suicide because she was bullied on the internet. Since then Trisha Prabhu
has been devoted to put an end to cyberbullying. The speaker of this video discussed the issue of
cyberbullying and provided scientific research. Remote, necessary, and proximate causes from
the video Rethink Before you Type proposes there are long term effects of cyberbullying and
Trisha Prabhu is determined that cyberbullying can be prevented and stopped at the source.
Trisha Prabhu discusses one of the most horrific effects of cyberbullying, which would be
suicide. Each year the suicidal rate only seems to be going up and there is not much others are
doing to prevent it. This is a remote cause because it shows an underlying explanation for an
action. The explanation would occur as one committing suicide, while the action is
cyberbullying. In Prabhus speech, she included a few heart-breaking suicidal stories which
provoked her to put an end to cyberbullying. Also mentioned in this TED talk was a statistic
from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that indicated that Suicide is the
third leading cause of death among young people with approximately 4,400 deaths every year.

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The CDC estimates that there are at least 100 suicide attempts for every suicide among young
people (Rethink Before you Type). As well as suicidal rates increasing, she also includes that
cyberbullying is growing because adolescents have more access to social media, which would be
another explanation linked to suicide. There are many stories about young children committing
suicide, but one that especially stands out and is well known would be The Amanda Todd case.
At the age of fifteen, Amanda Todd was a normal girl who lived in Canada. She was involved in
an online relationship with a man who after a year of dating uploaded a picture of Todd being
topless, as a result her entire town population had seen the picture. Todd was made fun of and
even beaten up in class. She switched schools numerous times and even attempted to drink
bleach, fortunately being saved at the last minute, sadly months later she took her own life as a
result of being cyberbullied. The reason many Americans remember Amanda Todds case is
because she posted a YouTube video and used flashcards to narrate her story about how she
relied on self-harm and drugs to cope with her pain. This was a cry for help and she was looking
for someone to listen to her story. Even with the video reaching over 17 million views, there
were people who ridiculed her suicide and left hurtful comments to her, even after her passing
(NoBullying Bullying). This evidence would prove the video to be accurate, leading to the fact
that suicide is in fact a major effect of cyberbullying.
A necessary cause in the video is used to argue about a method called stop, block and tell.
The stop, block, and tell method classifies as a necessary cause because the only way this
approach would be necessary is if there is a cyberbully sending threating or hurtful messages. In
the video, Trisha Prabhu describes that it is a method that a lot of social media cites advocate.
The purpose of this method is to put responsibility on the victim and make that person reliable
for the actions the bully participated in. However this style is not very effective. 90% of teens

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will not tell anyone that they are being bullied online (Rethink Before you Type). That
percentage increases when it is something either humiliating or they do not want their parents to
know about. It seems like a burden and a backward method that the victim should try to stop the
bully as opposed to the bully not posting a distressing message in the first place. This method
would be proven to be inaccurate leading to the fact that adolescents are less likely to report that
they are being cyberbullied
Trisha Prabhu also argues that people ages twelve to eighteen are forty percent more
likely to post an offensive message. This is an example of remote cause since it is an underlying
explanation for an action. The research that Prabhu found was that the brain develops from the
back to the front. So the first part to form is the occipital lobe, which is coordinated with vision
and the frontal lobe is what makes an individuals personality. The front part of the brain is not
fully developed until the age of twenty-five. Prefrontal cortex is also what controls decision
making, judgment, impulse control and social behavior. Since the adolescents brain is not fully
developed they are making quick decisions without fully thinking or considering about the effect
it will have on the victim (Rethink Before you Type). Studies from the US National Library of
Medicine included research about the development of the brain. Ph.D. Sara B. Johnson, remarks
on longitudinal neuroimaging studies that show the brain does not fully develop until the late
twentys. This would include a reason as to why any adolescent under the age of twenty five,
lacks maturity of judgment. Noted in the studies from the US National Library of Medicine,
Among the many behavior changes that have been noted for teens, the three that are most
robustly seen across cultures are: increased novelty seeking; increased risk taking; and a social
affiliation shift toward peer-based interactionsStudies using MRI are beginning to contribute
to this parsing of behavior into more fundamental units by characterizing different neural

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representations and maturational courses for separate but related concepts such as impulse
control and sensation seeking (Adolescent Maturity and the Brain). With all information
gathered, the research shown from these studies, prove Trisha Prabhus argument to be valid and
logical.
Lastly, Trisha Prabhu argues about the different causes of cyberbullying such as
physiological, emotional and physical stress. As a result this is a proximate cause shown because
of a visible explanation for an action. In the TED talk, Prabhu brings awareness to her audience
that there are long term effects from cyberbullying. National Institutes of Health researchers
report, Notably, cyber victims reported higher levels of depression than cyber bullies or bullyvictims, which was not found in any other form of bullyingunlike traditional bullying, cyber
victims may not see or identify their harasser; as such, cyber victims may be more likely to feel
isolated, dehumanized or helpless at the time of the attack" (Depression High among Youth
Victims of School Cyber Bullying). The study also includes that other adolescents that have
experienced anger issues, changes in sleep patterns, feeling worthless, guilty and helpless. This
study further contributes to Trisha Prabhus explanation to be logical since accurate studies have
been shown to prove that depression is a long term effect of cyberbullying.
The speaker in Rethink Before you Type discussed the issues with cyberbullying and is
still completing research to end it. Although one argument was proven to be inaccurate, others
were accurate. With all research gathered, it is evident that Trisha Prabhu overall delivers a
successful speech. Through the use of remote, necessary and proximate causes Trisha Prabhu
was able to further convey there are long term effects of cyberbullying and she wants adolescents
to rethink before they type.

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Works Citied
"Depression High among Youth Victims of School Cyber Bullying, NIH Researchers Report |
National Institutes of Health (NIH)." U.S National Library of Medicine. U.S. National
Library of Medicine. Web. 26 Mar. 2016.
The National Institutes of Health is a source that provides logical and useful information.
Included in this source is research gathered from studying the development of the brain.
Their research also included way to monitor and obtain treatment for recipients of cyber
bullying.
Johnson, Sara B., Robert W. Blum, and Jay N. Giedd. "Adolescent Maturity and the Brain: The
Promise and Pitfalls of Neuroscience Research in Adolescent Health Policy." The Journal
of Adolescent Health: Official Publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine. U.S.
National Library of Medicine.Web. 26 Mar. 2016.
This source provides neuroscience research completed over the development of the brain.
They found that the brain does not fully develop until the age of twenty five. The US
National Library of Medicine
"Rethink before You Type | Trisha Prabhu | TEDxTeen." YouTube. Web. 14 Mar. 2016.
This video was uploaded in the fall of 2014. The speaker was fourteen year old Trisha
Prabhu and she is dedicated to create awareness of the effects of cyberbullying and why it
occurs. Prabhu completed research and found studies to further make her speech
accreditable.

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"The Amanda Todd Story|NoBullying|." NoBullying Bullying CyberBullying Resources. 21 Apr.

2013. Web. 16 Mar. 2016.
Overall this source provides the top six unforgettable cyberbullying cases. Amanda Todd
posted a video on YouTube and used flashcards to describe how she was bullied on the
internet. A month later she committed suicide and the video went viral. This source
proves Trisha Prabhus argument to be accurate and successful.