New forms of cyberbullying in social networks (on the example of “death community”)

Abstract

The subject of this research is the new forms of cyberbullying as a social problem of school environment. The goal consists in conducting a sociological analysis of the new forms of cyberbullying. The survey was conducted on the basis of Google Forms in the social network Vkontakte; it involved students of 8-11 grades, university freshmen, and students of vocational secondary schools of Nizhny Novgorod, total of 300 persons. The second survey “New forms of manifestation of cyberbullying in social networks: on the example of the phenomenon “death community” was carried out in Marc 2018, and involved school students of 5-11 grades, total of 362 persons. The acquired results demonstrate that children who were not able to find solution of their problem most often enter the “death community”. They look for solution among other members of the group, kindred in spirit, and attracted by philosophy of the groups, presented by interesting names, such as “whales swim upwards” and “whale journal”, which describe the romantic side of death, that it is a good or an achievement, rather than something scary or unknown. The scientific novelty lies in studying the problem of cyberbullying in the school environment of Nizhny Novgorod. The obtained results may be used social pedagogues and school psychologists.in formulation of recommendations for parents of “vulnerable” group of students to prevent cyberbullying.