ISSN 2228-9453 Journal of Behavioral Science for Development Vol.6 No.1 January 2014 Page | 351 วารสารพฤติกรรมศาสตร์เพืﾉอการพัฒนา ปี ทีﾉ 6 ฉบับทีﾉ 1 มกราคม 2557 ลิขสิทธิ ﾍ โดย สถาบันวิจัยพฤติกรรมศาสตร์ มหาวิทยาลัยศรีนครินทรวิโรฒ Youth Perceptions on Cyberbullying 1 Nattharat Samoh 2 Pimpawun Boonmongkon 3 Timo T. Ojanen 4 Ronnapoom Samakkeekarom 5 Thomas E. Guadamuz 6 Received: January 1, 2013 Accepted: January 22, 2013 Abstract This qualitative study focused on the perceptions youth have about cyberbullying – its definition, types, causes, impact and ways of managing it. The data were collected from 15-24 year old youth in Central Thailand through 22 focus groups with 4-6 participants each, as well as 26 in-depth interviews, totaling 136 participants. Findings indicated that youth view cyberbullying as harming others through mobile phones and the Internet. The actions must cause real harm and annoyance to the person they are done to, and be done with intention to harm, to count as cyberbullying. The relationship between the parties involved is a further consideration. Types of cyberbullying perceived by youth include verbal abuse and attacks over the Internet or mobile phone, online sexual harassment, impersonation of others to harm them, and online hate groups. The youth studied viewed that the anonymity of cyberspace is a key cause of cyberbullying; they also considered cyberbullying to be a continuation of previous offline violence incidents. In their view, cyberbullying impacts both on the individual and on their social interactions. They thought they would manage the problem by themselves or perhaps consult their friends, but not their parents. A cause for concern is that they viewed cyberbullying as an ordinary matter. Keywords: cyberbullying, perception, youth violence 1 This Article is Part of Research Project “Digital Online Media among Thai Youth: Innovative Media to Decrease Violence” This research received scholarship found from National Research Universities 2 Student, Master of Arts in Medical and Health Social Sciences, Mahidol University , E-mail : ice.hssp@gmail.com 3 Associate Professor, Department of Society and Health, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Mahidol University 4 Researchers, Center for Health Policy Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Mahidol University 5 Lecturer Faculty of Public Health, Thammasat University 6 Researchers, Center for Health Policy Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Mahidol University