Why teenagers become both victims and perpetrators of cyberbullying - IOL

A Stellenbosch University study found that 63.9% of surveyed teenagers had been involved in cyberbullying, linking online abuse to poorer wellbeing and academic performance.

More than a third of teenagers surveyed in a South African study reported being both victims and perpetrators of cyberbullying, a pattern experts say can reflect cycles of humiliation, retaliation and attempts to gain acceptance among peers.

The Stellenbosch University research found that 37.3% of 659 pupils whose responses were analysed had both experienced and perpetrated cyberbullying during the previous six months.

Overall, 63.9% reported involvement in cyberbullying as a victim, perpetrator or both. A further 19.9% were classified as victims only and 6.7% as perpetrators only.

Bhavna Lutchman, Online Counselling Manager at Childline South Africa, said young people who had been humiliated online could sometimes retaliate or target someone else.

“When a child is targeted and humiliated online, they experience immense fear and vulnerability,” she said. “To regain a sense of control or to protect themselves from remaining at the bottom of the social hierarchy, they may retaliate or target someone else.”

The study also produced a counterintuitive finding that may help explain the complex peer dynamics involved. Teenagers who engaged in direct cyberbullying scored higher on “connectedness”, one of the study’s measures of adolescent wellbeing relating to social relationships.

The researchers suggested some teenagers may use online aggression to navigate social hierarchies or gain social status.

Registered counsellor Cayley Jorgensen said the need for belonging could be particularly powerful during adolescence.

“A teenager entering high school is often trying to answer some very important questions: Where do I fit in? Who are my people? What do other people think of me? Where do I belong?” she said.

Peer approval could feel especially important at that age, while emotional regulation and the ability to resist peer pressure were still developing.

“The online world amplifies this because the audience can feel enormous. One comment, photo or screenshot can suddenly become visible to an entire peer group, and teenagers can feel as though everyone is watching them.”

The broader research project involved five Quintile 5 high schools, but the cyberbullying study, by Associate Professor Daniel le Roux from Stellenbosch University’s Department of Information Science and Camryn Twaddle of Artefact South Africa, analysed questionnaire responses from 659 pupils across four of the participating schools.

Quintile 5 is a school-level socioeconomic classification generally associated with schools serving more affluent communities.

The researchers cautioned that the findings may therefore not apply to lower-quintile schools, but said they provided useful insight into cyberbullying in digitally advanced school environments.

Involvement decreased as pupils progressed through high school. About three-quarters of Grade 8 pupils reported some involvement, compared with about half of Grade 12 pupils.

The researchers suggested younger teenagers may be more vulnerable because they are adjusting to high school and are relatively new to social media.

TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat featured prominently in reported incidents. Common behaviours included sharing secrets without permission, insulting someone and sending embarrassing or hurtful messages.

“TikTok was the platform where teenagers most often reported experiencing different forms of cyberbullying,” the researchers said.

Overall involvement was similar among female and male participants, at 65.1% and 62.6% respectively. However, researchers found small but statistically significant differences in particular behaviours.

Female participants reported being insulted and having rumours spread about them more frequently, while males reported threatening others online and sharing inappropriate photographs or videos without permission more frequently.

Lutchman said ordinary online conflict crossed into cyberbullying when it became repeated targeting involving a misuse of power intended to cause harm, fear or distress.

She said cyberbullying was increasingly visual, with complaints including photographs or videos being shared without consent, people being recorded without their knowledge and malicious rumours being spread online.

According to figures supplied by Childline, it recorded 105 calls relating to cyberbullying in its most recent reporting period, 7.14% more than in the preceding period.

“The shift is clear: cyberbullying is no longer just text based. It has become highly visual and viral,” Lutchman said.

She also warned that artificial intelligence tools could make harmful or manipulated content easier to create and spread online.

The Stellenbosch research found negative associations between cyberbullying and other aspects of teenagers’ lives. Direct cybervictimisation was linked to lower happiness, while teenagers who engaged in direct cyberbullying reported lower perseverance. Being a direct or indirect cybervictim was also negatively associated with academic performance.

Jorgensen said persistent cyberbullying could contribute to anxiety and depressive symptoms and, in more serious cases, self-harm, suicidal thoughts or significant disruption to daily functioning.

Unlike traditional bullying, she said, online abuse could also be difficult for teenagers to escape.

“With traditional bullying, a teenager may at least have some physical distance from what is happening when they leave school,” Jorgensen said. “With cyberbullying, the messages, comments, screenshots and exclusion can continue when they get home, late at night and even while they are lying in bed.”

Jorgensen said parents and teachers should look for changes in a teenager’s normal behaviour rather than waiting for one obvious warning sign.

These could include withdrawal, irritability, emotional outbursts, avoiding school or friends, difficulty concentrating, changes in sleep or appetite and unusual anxiety about a phone.

Some teenagers might become more preoccupied with their devices rather than avoiding them.

“Some teenagers may actually become more preoccupied with it — constantly checking messages, monitoring what people are saying about them or becoming distressed when they receive a notification.”

Lutchman said online harm could affect relationships, school attendance and participation. Some children became isolated or refused to attend school or extracurricular activities because they feared facing peers involved in the abuse.

She said many schools remained inadequately equipped to deal with incidents occurring online and outside school hours.

“Every school needs a clear anti-bullying policy that encompasses digital spaces, and teachers must be trained to recognise the signs of a child in distress,” she said.

Jorgensen said an adult’s first response when a teenager disclosed cyberbullying was critical.

“The first response matters enormously. Before trying to solve the problem, the teenager needs to feel believed, safe and supported.”

Adults should listen, establish what happened, preserve evidence where necessary, block or report abusive accounts and involve the school when appropriate, she said. Cases involving threats, sexualised content, extortion, serious harassment or concerns about self-harm or suicide should be escalated for appropriate professional support.

Childline’s July–September 2025 data report provides an example of how online abuse can escalate. The organisation said it received multiple reports from teenagers about an account operating on Instagram and WhatsApp which allegedly exposed minors’ private information, spread sexual rumours and shared inappropriate content.

According to Childline, its counsellors reported the account to Instagram and referred the matter to the South African Police Service’s Serial and Electronic Crimes Unit. The organisation’s report said it later received feedback that the account had been taken down. It did not state whether a criminal investigation or prosecution followed.

For Jorgensen, the message to a teenager being targeted should be simple: “This is happening to you, but it does not define you.”

Childline’s 24-hour toll-free helpline is available on 116.