Examining the opinions of high school students regarding their awareness of being a virtual victim

Abstract

This research investigated high school students' awareness of being a virtual victim. The "Virtual Victim Scale" was used to measure awareness. The scale consists of 19 items and three subscales. The data obtained from the research were examined in terms of "blocking and harming in the virtual environment", "creating rumours in the virtual environment", and "sexual bullying in the virtual environment". For this purpose, students studying from 9th grade to 12th grade in high schools in the Buca district of Izmir province in the 2023-2024 academic year were selected. Three hundred ninety-seven students participated in the research. Of the participants, 214 were girls and 183 were boys. The age range of the students is 14 to 19. According to the findings, a significant difference was found between students' awareness of being a virtual victim in terms of "obstructing and harming in the virtual environment" and "creating rumours in the virtual environment" according to gender. It was understood that male students were significantly more aware of being virtual victims than female students. When the average of students' awareness of virtual victims by age is examined, it is seen that 15-year-old students for the dimensions of "preventing and harming in the virtual environment" and "creating rumours in the virtual environment"; For the "sexual bullying in the virtual environment" dimension, 17-year-old students' awareness is higher than students of other ages. A significant difference was found between students' awareness of being a virtual victim in all sub-dimensions according to age.