Abstract:

The rapid digitalization of students’ educational and social environments has created new opportunities for learning and communication while also increasing exposure to digital risks. Among these risks, cyberbullying has emerged as a significant form of digital harm that can undermine students’ sense of safety and well-being. While bullying has long been recognized as a major challenge in schools, cyberbullying introduces additional complexities due to its persistent, borderless, and often anonymous nature. As online interactions increasingly overlap with school life, cyberbullying can extend victimization beyond the physical school environment and contribute to broader feelings of insecurity among students. Despite growing attention to digital harms, international evidence on how cyberbullying relates to academic outcomes and school experiences remains limited.

This study examines the relationship between cyberbullying and student achievement using pooled data from the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2022 across approximately 80 participating education systems. The analysis compares students who reported experiencing cyberbullying with those who did not across three domains of academic competence: reading, mathematics, and science. In addition to academic outcomes, the study explores differences in school-related and socio-emotional indicators, including students’ sense of belonging at school, student–teacher relationships, perceived family support, and emotional well-being. These dimensions are important because cyberbullying may reflect not only online harassment but also broader vulnerabilities within students’ social and educational environments.

The findings reveal consistent disadvantages among students who reported experiencing cyberbullying. Across countries, these students tend to demonstrate lower achievement in reading, mathematics, and science compared with their peers who did not report such experiences. They also report weaker social connections, including a lower sense of school belonging, less positive relationships with teachers, and reduced perceived support from family. In terms of emotional well-being, cyberbullied students are more likely to report negative feelings and lower life satisfaction. In addition, they show higher prevalence of academic and behavioral risk indicators such as absenteeism, grade repetition, and exposure to other forms of bullying.

Although differences in economic, social, and cultural status are statistically significant, their magnitude is relatively small, suggesting that cyberbullying affects students across diverse socio-economic contexts. Overall, the findings highlight cyberbullying as an important dimension of student insecurity in contemporary digital school life and underline the need for integrated prevention strategies that strengthen supportive school environments and promote students’ sense of safety and belonging in the digital age.

Keywords:

Cyberbullying, Digital harm, Student achievement, School climate, PISA 2022, Cross-national analysis.