Influence of cyberbullying on psychological wellbeing of students in public secondary schools in Kajiado North Sub-County, Kajiado County, kenya

Abstract

Cyberbullying has become a common phenomenon among students in secondary schools. However, the extent to which it influences their psychological well-being is yet to be fully explored. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of cyberbullying on psychological well-being of students in public secondary schools in Kajiado North Sub-county, Kajiado County, Kenya. The objectives included; investigating the effect of flaming, impersonation, harassment and cyberstalking on psychological well-being of students in public secondary schools. The study was guided by the General Strain and Social Cognitive Theories. The study applied mixed methodology and adopted concurrent triangulation research design. Target population comprised of 34 principals, 34 Teacher-Counselors and 680 student leaders totaling to 748 from which a sample of 260 respondents was determined using the Yamane’s Formula. Cluster sampling was applied to create 10 clusters based on the number of zones in Kajiado North Sub-county. From each zone, purposive sampling was used to select two principals and two teacher-counsellors. However, simple random sampling was used to select 36 students from each zone. This sampling procedure enabled the researcher to sample 10 principals, 10 teacherCounsellors and 180 student leaders. Questionnaires were used to collect data from students whereas interviews were used to gather data from principals and teacherCounselors. Piloting was conducted among 20 respondents (10.0 percent of 200) from neighboring Kajiado West Sub-county to establish validity and reliability. Validity was stablished though expert judgment. Reliability was stablished using split half technique and reliability coefficient, r = 0.902, between the two halves was obtained using Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Method, which indicated high internal reliability. Data analysis began by identifying common themes. Qualitative data were analyzed thematically themes and presented in narrative forms. Quantitative data were coded and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The descriptive statistics used were frequencies, percentages, mean and standard deviation and inferentially using multiple linear regression analysis with the help of Statistical Packages for Social Science (SPSS Version 23) to test the null hypotheses and presented using frequency tables. The study established that flaming, impersonation, cyber harassment and cyberstalking behaviours have become a common phenomenon among students in secondary schools with harmful effects on students’ psychological well-being. The study four independent variables had 96.3% prediction on students’ psychological well-being (R2 = 0.963). Impersonation as a form of cyberbullying had the most significant influence on students’ psychological well-being ((β = 0.583, t (7) = 4.436, p < 0.05), followed by cyber flaming (β = 0.528, t (7) = 4.272, p < 0.05), while cyberstalking had the least influence (β = 0.528, t (7) = 4.272, p < 0.05). The study recommends that secondary school management should develop stricter punitive measures against flaming, impersonation, cyber harassment and cyberstalking behaviours among students as a way of improving students’ psychological well-being in secondary schools. The Ministry of Education should pass regulations and policy guidelines which enable schools, parents and other education stakeholders to regulate content which students can access and monitor their activities online.