Here is the research we’ve found on cyberbullying in Zimbabwe, with the most recent first. Please email us if you have any articles to add with the details ordered in the same format as the others.
Authors: Chawarura, W. I., Zhou, M., Matsika, C., and Zhou, T. G.
Year: 2022
Title: Effects of Digital Technologies on Zimbabwean Adolescent Lives During the COVID-19 Era: Pros and Cons
Journal: Impact and Role of Digital Technologies in Adolescent Lives
Abstract: The chapter focuses on the effects of using digital technology amongst Zimbabwean adolescents. The research was necessitated by the fact that adolescents are a vulnerable group still in the self-discovery age. COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the widespread use of digital learning to facilitate learning, communication, and social interaction among adolescents. Focus groups and interviews were used to gather data in primary schools. There is a disparity in technological device use and access to the internet between urban and rural areas dwellers. Ninety percent of students in rural areas did not have access to technological devices, and during the pandemic, they hardly used them for learning purposes but mostly used them for communicating with relatives. In Zimbabwe, digital technology devices have not yet replaced social relationships as most adolescents are restricted to 2-3 hours on their devices. A model for effective use of digital technologies in adolescents can be developed and implemented.
Authors: Ponde-Mutsvedu, Lucia and Chirogoma, Sophia
Year: 2022
Title: Tele-evangelism, tele-health and cyberbullying in the wake of the outbreak of COVID-19 in Zimbabwe
Journal: Religion and The COVID-19 Pandemic in Southern Africa
URL: Tele-evangelism, tele-health and cyberbullying in the wake of the outb
Abstract: The outbreak of COVID-19 has indeed changed human interactions in the 21st century. Although how this epidemic actually originated remains unclear, it is apparent that the epidemic has impacted heavily on human communities and the global economic systems have been torn asunder. What is even more worrisome is that COVID-19 is still in its prime stages with a very high probability of ongoing for an unforeseeable period of time. As noted by Okon (2011), like any other global epidemics, COVID-19 necessitates that humanity be equipped with the dos and don’ts in order to stem the tide of the epidemic. In an endeavour to contain the epidemic, global health institutions such as the World Health Organization (WHO) have disseminated information and guidelines on how to practice physical and social distancing as measures to minimize chances of spreading the coronavirus. Focusing particularly on the African context with particular reference to the Karanga-Shona people in Zimbabwe, this chapter refects on some of the efforts that have been put into place in order to observe these stipulated measures. The use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to bridge the social gap created by these measures will also be deliberated upon. The challenges posed by observing the stipulated guidelines in light of the African understanding of being in community is the focus of discussion in this chapter. Hence, the discussion centres on how the use of Tele-evangelism, Tele-health and other virtual means of making contact impact heavily on the African ethos of living in a community. In this undertaking, the chapter also seeks to weave another strand on the tapestry of “Online religion” in Africa as already deliberated upon by other scholars, particularly Goliama (2010), Asamoah-Gyadu (2015) as well as Sibanda and Hove (2018). This pre-existing literature interrogates the pros and cons of online religion in our contemporary times. In unison with these scholars, this chapter focuses particularly on the Karanga-Shona and how their worldview has been radically reshaped by the stipulated guidelines necessitated by the COVID-19 epidemic.
Authors: Mabvuria, V. and Machimbidza, D.
Year: 2022
Title: Cyberbullying among high school learners in Zimbabwe: Motives and effects
Journal: African Journal of Social Work
URL: https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ajsw/article/view/233283
Abstract: The influence of communication technology such as social media in Zimbabwean high schools has immensely contributed to cyberbullying among learners. The study sought to establish the motives and effects of cyberbullying among high school learners. The study triangulated both qualitative and quantitative research methodology. The study sample was made up of 3 teachers and 60 learners. The teachers participated in key informant interviews whilst learners responded to questionnaires. Of the 60 learners, 30 were further selected to participate in three focus group discussions each comprising of 10 learners in order to gain an in-depth qualitative reflection of the larger sample’s experiences. The motives for cyberbullying among high school learners included differences, peer pressure, exposure to violent media, intimate relationships, fun and boredom, low self-esteem and jealous whereas the effects of cyberbullying were reported to be poor mental health, low school attendance rate, emotional instability, low self-esteem, suicidal thoughts, truancy and bad relationships among the learners. The study established that there is need for high school learners to be educated on safe and healthy methods of using information communication technologies. Learners’ online activities have to be monitored both at home and school so as to create a cyber-bullying free learning environment.
Author(s): Sibanda, M.
Year: 2020
Title: Cyberbullying in Higher and Tertiary Education institutions in Zimbabwe: Forms, Extent, Effects and Contributing factors
Journal: Journal of system Integration
Abstract: This research was an investigative enquiry into the forms, extent, effects and contributing factors of cyberbullying in Higher and Tertiary Education institutions in Zimbabwe. The study used one such institution as case study. A survey was conducted on a sample of 380 undergraduate students (n=380) out of a total of 3800 student population (N=3800) in the institution. Interviews were also conducted on 12 volunteers in order to obtain additional information from the participants, especially on contributing factors. The Findings indicate that cyberbullying is very common in these institutions coming in the form of phone calls, emails, text messages, video clips and online chats. The extent of Cyberbullying is very high, with 75% of respondents admitting having received a threatening message in campus, while 83% confirmed to have seen offensive messages while socializing with friends online. Key effects were identified as affecting students in their relationships on and off campus and mental health problems. Main contributing factors to cyberbullying were identified as gender issues, cultural/ ethnic differences, general dislike, and some taking it as an online game (fun).
Authors: Ncube, Gibson and Yemurai, Gwatisira
Year: 2020
Title: Discrimination Against Female Politicians on Social Media: An Analysis of Tweets in the Run-Up to the July 2018 Harmonised Elections in Zimbabwe
Journal: Social Media and Elections in Africa, Volume 2
URL: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-32682-1_4
Abstract: This chapter analyses the treatment of female Zimbabwean politicians on social media through an examination of posts on Twitter. Female politicians during the run-up to the July 2018 elections had to contend with diverse forms of sexist harassment online. Although social media offers female politicians a space of self-actualisation, this same space is used to harass them. Through an analysis of specifically selected tweets, this chapter contends that the entrance of women into the previously masculine realm of politics represents a symbolic challenging of masculine power and dominance. The verbal violence and harassment against female politicians online sets out to call them to submission to the patriarchal gatekeepers of political power. Drawing on representational theories particularly Goffman’s work on framing and Gramsci’s conceptualisation of hegemony in conjunction with feminist readings of Lara and Chigumadzi, the chapter concludes that notwithstanding the rampant sexism that female politicians in Zimbabwe have to deal with, both offline and online, they have been able to find and deploy their own agency.
