Protective shielding, potential harm: a hermeneutic phenomenological study of the cyberbullying experiences of youth with visual impairment

Cyberbullying was explored through the ‘lived experiences’ of youth with visual impairment (VI) and their schoolteachers in this study. A hermeneutic phenomenological design was used to reveal the rich details of how the 29 youth and five schoolteachers (n = 34) experienced cyberbullying in their different lifeworlds. Interviews and focus groups were conducted over a period of seven months. Three themes emerged: Sites of Cyberbullying, Coping Mechanisms and Sources of Help and Cybersecurity Awareness. Most youth with VI experienced traditional bullying in their school lifeworlds from school mates and teachers while in their cyber worlds, verbal bullying in the form of insults and body shaming from outsiders was common. Interestingly, most youth with VI participated in playing games on their mobile phones and in multiplayer games with sighted individuals. All 29 Malaysian youth participants demonstrated high anxiety towards cyberbullying and any potential threat, illuminating their lack of preparedness and training towards such threats. Protective policies by schools and parents designed to shield youth with VI may inadvertently yield the opposite results. Hence, this study further develops the theorisation of cyberbullying, and further research could include the perspectives of parents, police and school administrators.