Cyberbullying

         In today’s society the  face-to-face communication has dramatically deceased since the existence of cell phones, Internet, and social networks which allow for non-physical communication. The constant advances in technology have unlocked endless access to the digital world, which has changed the way people interact and go about their daily routines. While some people use the Internet and the cell phones to communicate with their loved ones and to access unlimited amounts of information, others use it as a method to harass, bully, or infringe the virtual space of others by posting bogus information online. According to the article Cyberbullying: Prevention and Intervention to Protect Our Children and Youth, the authors define cyberbullying as “the use of electronic forms of communication by an individual or group to engage repeatedly in sending or posting content about an individual or group that a reasonable person would deem cruel, vulgar, threatening, embarrassing, harassing, frightening, or harmful” (Snakenborg, Van Acker, and Gable, 2011, 90). As young people are introduced to social networks, instant-messaging, and cell phones, they are unaware that everything they post is permanent and is difficulty to erase. According to the web page Dosomethingright.org,  “over 80% of teens use a cell phone regularly, making it the most common medium for cyberbullying” (Hirsch, 2010).  Moreover, the latest cell phones are connected to the web making it easier to turn a text message into a blog, or posting a picture online and sharing it with a larger group in a matter of seconds. For these reasons, it is important to educate young people about cyberbullying and its consequences to ultimately improve current preventative methods.

            Before punishing a child for their actions, it is essential to inform and give them examples about what is considered cyberbullying. In the article Digital Aggression: Cyberworld Meets School Bullies, Mickie Wong-Lo and Lyndal M. Bullock (2011), the authors state the “several components of cyberbullying [which] include (a) anonymity, (b) unlimited audience, (c) prevalent sexual and homophobic harassment, (d) permanence of expression, and (e) online social communication tools… the consequences of cyberbullying can affect learning in the school environment and can be psychologically devastating for victims and socially detrimental for all students” (p.67). Cyberbullying can create an array of social and academic problems that range from “withdrawal from school activities, school absence, and school failure, to eating disorders, substance abuse, depression, and even suicide” (Snakenborg, et al., 2011, 94). The accessibility to cyberspace allows for the rapid distribution of information be it good or destructive, leaving the opportunity to “alter an individual’s psychological and social well-being within a split second” (Wong-Lo et al., 2011, 67). In addition, the authors identify two types of cyberbullying: “(a) Direct cyber bullying, which refers to messages transmitted directly from the bully to the victim; and (b) Cyber bullying by proxy, which refers to using others to participate in the bullying act toward others to participate in the bullying act toward the victim” (Wong-Lo et al., 2011, 66). For example, cyberbullying by proxy can occur when the perpetrator hacks into the victim’s Facebook account and post hurtful statements in the wall of the profiles of the victim’s friends. The following table was taken from the article Cyberbullying: Prevention and Intervention to Protect Our Children and Youth (Snakenborg et al., 2011, p.91) to exemplify the severity of how technological advances such as the e-mails can be misused.

              As illustrated above, commonly used devices can be used to threaten, hurt, or diminish a person in a matter of seconds, and yet the anonymity makes it hard to track the perpetrators. Thus, it is vital to teach the students that they have a limited expectation of privacy at schools or in community buildings, so they must always remember to log out when they are done using the computer to minimize the opportunities for account hacking incidents.   

Additionally, the popularity of social networks has increased the cyber-world usage among young people. The reason countless parents allow their children to use the Internet is because “online experiences allow children and adolescents to participate in social networks and develop social competency by being afforded the chance to express thoughts, feelings, and ideas” (Snakenborg et al., 2011, 88). However, there are no educators in place to teach the children how to navigate online, and what they can and cannot do. Parents need to get involved, monitor, and teach their children how to network and use social networks to keep in contact with their friends, not to ostracize others.  It is necessary to emphasize in children that the photos they choose to include in their profile coupled with the capacity to represent and associate themselves with others, “make up a virtual picture that can be controlled, shaped, and edited across time” (Snakenborg et al., 2011, 89), and some youngsters will use it to create a fantasy virtual profile to hurt others. In the article done by Wong-Lo and Bullock (2011), the authors stated that “the majority of perpetrators in cases of cyber violence are men and the majority of the victims are women” (67). Consequently, the children must be taught to speak out when they see any signs of cyberbullying taking place within their profile or their friends’ profiles. If cyberbullying is happening through phones or emails, blocking the individual can be a simple solution.

Furthermore, intervention and prevention programs have been developed in some states such as North Carolina, which enacted the “Protect Our Kids/Cyberbullying legislation (S.L. 2009-551) making it a misdemeanor to engage in cyberbullying, … [or] Ohio and Virginia, [which] have amended existing legislation to address cyberbullying” (Snakenborg et al., 2011, 90). Preventative measures can include: “(a) laws, rules, and policies to regulate the use of media and to establish controls related to cyberbullying and other forms of abuse; (b) curricular programs designed to educate children and youth about safe Internet and electronic media use and … [address] the consequences; [and] (c) technological approaches to prevent or minimize the potential for cyberbullying” (Snakenborg et al., 2011, 90). For example, The Cyber Bullying: Prevention Curriculum, is a program which consists of eight sessions designed to help students understand “the concept of cyberbullying, the consequences of participating in this behavior and ways to resist or intervene in cyberbullying” (Snakenborg et al., 2011, 92). Most of the programs that have been developed include videos, websites, lesson plans, and activities that can be used as references in cyberbullying discussions and prevention plans. Activists groups like the Anti-Defamation League have developed workshops for educators, school administrators and parents, which include the Trickery, Trolling, and Threats: Understanding and Addressing Cyberbullying; and Youth and Cyberbullying: What Families Don’t Know Will Hurt Them (Snakenborg et al., 2011, 92). However, if as a parent it becomes difficult to obtain programs that can facilitate teaching children about cyberbullying, there is a four step process mentioned in the article Cyberbullying: Prevention and Intervention to Protect Our Children and Youth, which is easy to remember and will help the children properly address cyberbullying; the four steps are STOP, SAVE, BLOCK, and TELL. These four steps are used to teach students to abstain from responding to the bully, to save or print the incident, to block further instances of communication, and to reported to an adult whom they trust (Snakenborg et al., 2011, 93). It is essential for parents to take initiative in the psychological well-being of their children by getting together with school officials to instill educational programs and develop guidelines to be enforced if a student decides to partake in cyberbullying.

The reason why cyberbullying is a difficult issue to tackle is due to a large “disagreement among parents and schools as to who is responsible for monitoring and preventing children and young people from bullying their peers online” (Wong-Lo et al., 2011, 66). Thus, teachers have always been hesitant of knowing how and when to take disciplinary action in cyberbullying occasions due to the possibility of facing civil actions from the parents. In the article Cyberbullying: A Review of the Legal Issues Facing Educators, the authors encapsulate the Supreme Court cases that have outlined the instances when the educators have the responsibility to take disciplinary action against cyber-bullies and was summarized as follows: “Educators have the authority to restrict expression and discipline students for inappropriate speech or behavior that occurs at school if that speech causes a substantial disruption at school, interference with the rights of students (Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District 1969), or is contrary to the school’s education mission (Bethel School District v. Fraser 1986 and Morse v. Frederick 2007), and if the speech has created a hostile environment for a student (Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education 1999)” (Hinduja and Parchin, 2011, 73). Despite the effort to stop cyberbullying, Wong-Lo and Bullock state in their article that some “researchers have noted that students, civil liberties advocates, and some parents defend student rights to free expression in cyber space, whereas educators, teachers’ unions, other parents and government officials want to restrict them” (Wong-Lo et al., 2011, 66). Advocates of free-speech and of anti-monitoring of devices, oppose school officials’ need to monitor student’s devices such as the cell phone to verify the accuracy of cyberbullying claims.

            Regardless of whether there is disagreement on what the school officials need to do to stop cyberbullying or if parents feel that educators are infringing the rights of their children, students should be held responsible for their actions. For these reasons, the importance of educating young people about cyberbullying and its consequences to ultimately improve current preventative methods cannot be over-stressed. By teaching the children to respond appropriately and having them recognize the severity of the consequences associated with such behavior, including expulsion (school discipline), litigation, and criminal prosecution in some states, cyberbullying will be reduced (Snakenborg et al., 2011, 94). The children also need to understand there is always going to be a limited expectation of privacy when it comes to the cyberworld, especially if it is creating a hostile environment for children at school. Cyberbullying can be stopped with parents’ involvement and school enforcement through codes of conduct and legislation; previous court cases have set the framework that dictates when educators have to act on the behalf of the other students that are being harassed. The best method to tackle this issue is to have parents as well as educators well informed about what is happening in and outside school, and how is affecting other students as well as creating a penalty system that deals accordingly to the severity of the student’s involvement with cyberbullying.

REFERENCES:

Adam Hirsch. (2010, April 16). Dosomething.org. Retrieved from http://www.dosomething.org/tipsandtools/11-facts-about-cyber-bullying

Hinduja, S., & Patchin, J. W. (2011). Cyberbullying: A Review of the Legal Issues Facing Educators. Preventing School Failure, 55(2), 71-78. doi:10.1080/1045988X.2011.539433

Snakenborg, J., Van Acker, R., & Gable, R. A. (2011). Cyberbullying: Prevention and Intervention to Protect Our Children and Youth. Preventing School Failure, 55(2), 88-95. doi:10.1080/1045988X.2011.539454

Wong-Lo, M., & Bullock, L. M. (2011). Digital Aggression: Cyberworld Meets School Bullies. Preventing School Failure, 55(2), 64-70. doi:10.1080/1045988X.2011.539429