Evolution of violence on social media from a school context in Guayaquil

Abstract

The intensive use of social media among schoolchildren has increased exposure to digital violence, making it relevant to describe its manifestations and gender differences in educational contexts. Therefore, the overall objective was to characterize the digital violence reported by students and describe its distribution by gender, considering the condition of victimization, the types of violence, and the main mechanisms/channels of occurrence. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among afternoon students at the Joaquín Gallegos Lara School (south of Guayaquil). A structured survey and a cyber victimization instrument were applied. The condition in relation to digital violence showed that 58% of the population was not a victim, 18% were cyber observers, 11% were direct victims (1 occasion), and 13% were direct victims (2 occasions). By gender, “other” predominated among women (38.3%), followed by family violence (25.0%) and sexual violence (23.3%); among men, harassment in the academic setting stood out (22.6%), followed by sexual harassment (19.3%) and “other” (19.3%). The most frequent event was aggressive comments about the person or their body (65% total; 45% women; 20% men). In the “other” category regarding the channel of occurrence, private messages predominated (women: 71.6%; men: 54.8%). In conclusion, the findings show a significant presence of digital violence in the school context and gender-differentiated patterns, with a predominance of attacks focused on the person or their body and the use of private channels, which supports the need for preventive actions and digital education in the educational community.