A Phenomenological Study of Cyberbullying Through the Experiences of Educational Administrators

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of administrators within school settings who have dealt with cyberbullying incidents to better understand the cyberbullying experience from an administrator perspective, gain insight into the procedures used during cyberbullying incidents, and attain data on administrative understanding of technological devices used during cyberbullying incidents with the hopes of decreasing suicide and suicidal ideation rates among adolescents. Using phenomenological methods, the study was conducted with 10 administrators located in the Northeast region of the U.S. Data collection for this study featured semistructured interviews with all participants. The five themes associated with this inquiry were identified as: cyberbullying negatively affects school learning environments, a generational gap causes lack of understanding towards technology, current cyberbullying policies can be improved through increasing awareness, procedures and policies used during cyberbullying incidents are consistent and parallel within New York State, and education is the best strategy moving forward in reducing cyberbullying within schools. This research can assist educational practitioners, scholars, administrators, and policy makers with increasing the understanding of how cyberbullying is currently affecting school environments and how to improve cyberbullying policies within school settings. The investigation into the lived experiences of administrators within school settings who have dealt with cyberbullying incidents will help add important information on this topic to the existing body of research revolved around cyberbullying. The information attained will help assist districts in strengthening efforts to prevent and intervene during incidents of cyberbullying