HOW MANY more deaths do we need to see before we finally acknowledge the toll of online bullying? How many more headlines do we need to read before we finally address mental health crisis?
The untimely death of 19-year-old influencer Emman Atienza has once again cast a harsh light on online bullying and mental health, two real crises often treated as invisible. Behind their bright smiles and polished social media posts, many of today’s youth are battling silent battles that too often end in tragedy.
Once envisioned as a space for connection, the digital world has mutated into a breeding ground for hostility where hate spreads faster than help. Our country ranks among the highest globally in terms of social media usage. The downside? Cyberbullying has grown rapidly into a national concern.
According to the Department of Education, more than one in three Filipino students have experienced some form of bullying online.
Filipino teens had experienced one of the highest rates of online harassment in Asia. According to a 2023 report by the Cyberbullying Research Center, 26.5% of students had experienced cyberbullying in the 30 days prior to the survey. This figure has been increasing steadily since 2019. The two most common forms of online bullying are spreading rumors online (28.4%), and intentionally embarrassing others online (26.9%). The report also indicated that an estimated 16% of high school students were electronically bullied in the 12 months before the survey was conducted.
Globally, the pattern is no different. A UNICEF report revealed that one in three young people across 30 countries said they had been bullied online, while the World Health Organization (WHO) identified cyberbullying as a major risk factor for depression, anxiety, and self-harm. Online bullying is uniquely destructive because of its permanence and reach. Digital insults don’t fade with time; they are archived, shared, and replayed endlessly.
But beyond the digital cruelty lies a deeper issue – the neglect of mental health. In the Philippines, mental illness remains cloaked in stigma. In a 2021 study by the National Center for Mental Health, it is estimated that at least 3.6 million Filipinos suffer from mental, neurological, or substance-use disorders. Despite this number, only a tiny fraction receive professional help. The WHO reports that the country’s suicide rate among youth aged 15 – 29 has more than doubled in the past decade.
What makes this crisis worse is not even the alarming and heart-breaking statistic but our cultural tendency to invalidate pain, to dismiss sadness as weakness, or to equate suffering with lack of faith or gratitude. Too often, we tell people: “Paburen mu na ita, milabas murin,” “Dagdagan mu ing pangadi,” or “Eka nega, think positive mu.” In reality, what they truly need is compassion, professional help, and understanding.
Mental health is not a fad, a trend or a luxury. It is actually a lifeline. We must all work together to create environments where young people feel seen and safe. On top of the enforcement of cyberbullying laws, empathy must be taught. Conversations about emotional well-being should not be confined to crisis moments; they must become part of our everyday language.
As we mourn Emman Atienza and the many others silenced by cruelty, may we remember that words can either heal or destroy. Every comment online echoes in real life. Every unseen struggle is a plea for kindness.
Let us always choose empathy over apathy, compassion over criticism. Most often, a kind word can mean the difference between despair and hope, between silence and survival.
