Reducing Cyber-bullying and Problem Behaviors among Students through Parental Group Therapy

Cyber-bullying tends to leave grave psychological consequences for the victims (i.e. the cyber-bullied) as well as for the perpetrators (i.e. the cyber-bullies) of cyber-bullying. The present study was divided into three phases. The sample for the first phase constituted 600 students from an urban school; while in second phase 30 adolescents with cyber-bullying experiences (i.e. the experimental group), 30 adolescents with no such experiences (i.e. the control group), and also included the parents of adolescents from experimental group. The sample for third phase constituted only the 30 adolescents who constituted experimental group during the previous stage. During first phase Anti-Bullying Committee made a significant number of students to share their cyber-bullying experiences; thereby suggesting its effectiveness in making students reveal their ‘never-disclosed’ cyber-bullying experiences. The findings of second phase revealed that adolescents having any kind of cyber-bullying experiences tend to display more behavioral problems than the adolescents with no such experiences; and also Parental Group Therapy was an effective intervention in alleviating behavioral problems of such adolescents, and further in ultimately controlling cyber-bullying in school. Results of third phase showed effectiveness of Parental Group Therapy as a form of intervention among adolescents even after 6 months of its completion.