Bullying is no longer confined to the schoolyard.
It has infiltrated chat rooms, social media feeds and gaming platforms, creating an environment where harassment is constant, public and hard to escape.
In Malaysia, the rising numbers of bullying cases both offline and online, are now colliding with another disturbing trend: increasing adolescent suicide risk.
According to the findings of my Masters degree research project involving over 800 teenage participants, cyberbullying and "Fear of Missing Out" (FOMO) are key contributing factors to the rise in mental health issues among young people.
FOMO - a persistent anxiety about being excluded from rewarding experiences - can push adolescents into unhealthy online habits, where comparison, competition and approval-seeking dominate.
Some teens, fearing social exclusion, join in bullying behaviour to gain acceptance from their peer group or to avoid becoming targets themselves.
Social media amplifies this dynamic: the more they witness peers engaging in harmful behaviour, the more normalised it feels.
This "peer pressure meets online influence" cycle can turn otherwise empathetic teens into active participants in bullying.
The psychological damage is rarely confined to the immediate moment of bullying.
Feelings of rejection or social exclusion can:
This is especially dangerous when online harassment follows teens into their bedrooms at night, eliminating what used to be a safe space away from school.
Tackling the problem of bullying requires a coordinated approach.
Parents can help by modelling healthy online habits and boundaries, as well as encourage open conversations about peer pressure and digital behaviour.
They can also help their child document and report bullying incidents early on.
Meanwhile, schools can implement whole-school anti-bullying policies with clear definitions and confidential reporting, and integrate digital citizenship and social pressure awareness into the relevant lessons or activities.
School authorities can also engage parents so that home and school responses to bullying cases are aligned.
Healthcare professionals can play their part by screening for bullying involvement, whether the person is the victim, perpetrator or both, as well as assessing for suicidal risk in any teen presenting with bullying-related distress.
The therapy they offer should be focused on resilience, social skills and healthy peer relationship-building.
Bullying is not a harmless rite of passage; it's a risk factor for lifelong mental health struggles, and in the worst cases, a trigger for suicide.
Remember that whether the trigger is bullying, peer pressure or rejection, the red flags for suicidal risk are similar:
If any of these signs appear, immediate professional assessment is critical.
Frontline educators and clinicians are already seeing that cyberbullying, amplified by peer influence, is shaping how young Malaysians feel about themselves, their friendships and their worth.
By acknowledging the social forces that drive bullying and by addressing the fear of exclusion at its core, we can protect young people not only from harm, but from the isolation and despair that too often follow.
Those suffering from mental health issues or contemplating suicide can reach out to the Mental Health Psychosocial Support Service (03-2935 9935 or 014-322 3392); Talian Kasih (15999 or 019-261 5999 on WhatsApp); Jakim's Family, Social and Community care centre (011-1959 8214 on WhatsApp); and Befrienders Kuala Lumpur (03-7627 2929 or email [email protected]).