Examining the relationship between secondary school students' cyber victimization and bullying levels and their families' digital parenting awareness

This study aims to examine the relationship between middle school students' cyber victimization and bullying levels and their families' digital parenting awareness. The research was conducted with 465 5th and 6th grade students and their parents in Kırşehir. The study adopted a relational screening model and used the "Cyber Victimization and Bullying Scale (CVBS)," "Digital Parenting Awareness Scale (DPA)," and a personal information form as data collection tools. According to the research findings, it was determined that male students had higher levels of cyberbullying and victimization than female students. While no significant difference was found in cyber victimization in terms of the grade level variable, 6th grade students had higher levels of cyberbullying than 5th grade students. It was observed that as the duration of internet and social media usage increased, the levels of cyberbullying and victimization increased. Additionally, a positive relationship was found between the frequency of playing digital games and cyberbullying behaviors. A weak positive correlation was found between parents' digital parenting awareness levels and their children's cyber victimization levels. However, no significant correlation was found between digital parenting awareness and children's cyberbullying levels. These results suggest that parents' digital awareness levels have a limited impact on preventing children's cyber victimization. The study reveals the prevalence of cyberbullying and victimization among middle school students and highlights the importance of educational programs to improve parents' digital parenting skills.