Document Type
Article
Date of Original Version
9-24-2026
Abstract
Online humiliation raises an educational problem that extends beyond identifying harmful messages: audience participation can make another person's embarrassment socially rewarding. This essay develops an argument for teaching responsibility for reactions and redistribution. Five student quotations reported in a Ghanaian doctoral manuscript illustrate tensions between recognition, joking, unwanted exposure and silent disagreement. They inform a conceptual discussion rather than a new analysis of focus-group transcripts. Drawing on scholarship on adolescent peer relations, bystander behaviour and media literacy, the essay distinguishes interpreting a message from judging what one's participation does to others. It proposes a classroom sequence using fictional exchanges to examine audience expansion, contested humour and proportionate responses. The contribution is a pedagogical rationale and an agenda for evaluation; the proposed activities have not been tested. Contextual adaptation and student agency are central to the approach.
Recommended Citation
REMOVED, AUTHOR INFORMATION, "Online Humiliation and Audience Responsibility in Adolescent Media Literacy Education" (2026). JMLE Submissions Open for Review. Paper 11.
https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/jmle-ofr/11