Assessment of Cyberbullying Prevalence and Reporting Mechanisms Among Secondary School Students in Delta State, South South Nigeria

Cyberbullying through social media platforms poses serious psychological and social harms to adolescents, and its prevalence and management in South South Nigerian secondary school contexts require systematic study. This study assesses the prevalence of cyberbullying and evaluates the adequacy of existing reporting and response mechanisms among secondary school students in Delta State. A cross-sectional survey was applied to 290 students from twelve public and private secondary schools in Asaba, Warri, and Ughelli, selected through stratified cluster sampling. Questionnaire items measured cyberbullying perpetration and victimisation frequencies, platforms involved, reporting behaviour, school response effectiveness, and psychological distress indicators. Descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, and regression were computed in SPSS. Available cyberbullying literature from South South Nigeria identifies Instagram and WhatsApp as the platforms most frequently associated with bullying incidents, with female students reporting higher victimisation rates and lower reporting tendencies due to fear of social consequences. Social Learning Theory and the General Aggression Model provide the theoretical framework. Findings indicate a cyberbullying victimisation prevalence of 38 percent in the previous six months, with only 21 percent of victims reporting incidents to school authorities. The study recommends school-based cyberbullying awareness and bystander intervention programmes, confidential reporting mechanisms, and state-level anti-cyberbullying policy integration into the Delta State education curriculum. Keywords: cyberbullying, secondary school students, reporting mechanisms, Delta State, South South Nigeria.