Assist: A Framework to Mitigate Cyberbullying in Youth

With the proliferation of social media users and the increasing use of other online platforms, cyberbullying has emerged as a serious issue. The paper first studies bullying and cyberbullying and emphasises the prevalence of the latter, supported by statistics, literature review, and real-life cases. It then acknowledges the government’s effort to curb cyberbullying but highlights the need for preventative and remedial solutions. Further on, a survey is conducted to probe into the context and challenges faced by victims of cyberbullying. To address the identified issues a conceptual framework called Assist is developed which is deployed into a smartphone application named Cyassist. This app aims to assist potential victims by flagging suspicious messages or people, before bullying occurs. It also helps spread awareness, guiding victims through the cyberbullying reporting process and providing the victims with community support and counselling.