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WHITE PAPER April-2017

CYBERBULLYING:
EDUCATIONAL
ADVICE FOR
TECHNOLOGY
SCHOOLS
IN SCHOOLS

w w w . i a o . o r g
Table of Contents
1 Executive Summary

2 Cyberbullying Overview
What is Bullying?
The Historical Evolution of Bullying
Cyberbullying
Traditional Bullying vs Cyberbullying
Current Statistics
In the News

7 Cyberbullying Who Cyberbullies?

Gender
Age
Race

10 Cyberbullying Forms
Harassment
Flaming
Cyber stalking
Posing
Blackmailing
Denigration

12 Cyberbullying Mediums
Mobile Phones
Social Media
Emails
Blogs
Online Gaming

14 Cyberbullying Prevention

What can parents do?

What can educators/ teachers do?
What can students do?
Recognition of Problem
Share it with Others
Secure Privacy
Know Who to Trust

17 Conclusion
Executive Summary

Technology is exploding with limitless, positive potentials

in education. There are numerous opportunities emerging
for students and teachers. Internet plays a very important
role in education. Students can access to any solution of
the problems they come across during their learning
process.

Over the internet they are provided with immediate

answers to questions, access to any information within no
time, and boundless resources for research. Socializing and
staying connected was never so easy. Students and
teachers are now connected with each other and friends
via mobile devices and computers. Internet has spread its
roots in every corner of the world.

However, technology can take us down to the dark path, where mostly the end turns into a suicide. It is the
new emerging crime in schools that has harassed many kids and still continues. It is Cyberbullying. This crime
has overtaken many schools around the world, students and even teachers are becoming victim of
Cyberbullying. Students who are cyberbullied can quickly become subdue before parents or teachers see the
warning signs. Students may hesitate to attend school, become depressed, their grades may drop and in the
most extreme cases, they commit suicide.

In this white paper you will read about cyberbullying and its effects on students lives. The awareness and
measures against the crime, and what role can the educators play in order to stop cyberbullying in their
schools and classrooms. Students have always been the core existence of IAO, therefore, we want them to stay
safe from all issues and live a happy and successful life. IAO with reference to this white paper raises voice
against cyberbullying.

1 Executive Summary
Cyberbullying Overview

What is Cyberbullying?

Everyone sometimes in their past have been a victim

of bullying. We have lived the feeling of being
bullied or when we have bullied someone else. Many
authors, teachers and students define bullying from
their own perspective, but we define it as:

The negative act of harassment, when a person,

the victim, is bullied by a bully, through physical,
verbal, or other means in order to gain a sense of
superiority and power.

The Historical Evolution of Bullying

The act of bullying was always there from the very beginning but it was never given recognition until the
19th century. In the early phase, the terms bully and bullying referred to a more general quality of
aggression and supremacy, particularly in regard to politics. By the mid-century a usage more similar to
modern understanding occurred. Bullies were identifiable social figures associated with aggressive and
pugnacious behavior. The behavior of bullying was in particular associated with acts of physical violence,
conducted by adult males.

It was not until 1978, that a report was published against a scientific research regarding bullying to be
prevalent in schools and bringing the idea of bullying as a serious problem into public awareness. Bullying
started increasing in schools and many students became the victims. Parents increasingly recognized the
negative effects of bullying over their children and demanded the school administrations to take actions
against the people who were involved in it. This issue became a serious crime as students started
committing suicides or suffered from depression. Many countries passed law against this crime in order to
stop it from increasing. Strict punishment was announced against the bullies and awareness programs
were organized to educate students, parents and teachers in order to control and overcome such
behaviors.

2 Educational Technology in Schools - Overview

The last decade, however, has witnessed an intense
growth in the attention given to young bullying. The
culture and tradition has repeated again, but via the
means of internet. The emergence and excessive use
of internet and social media sites has given birth to a
new crime, cyberbullying.

A wave of youth suicide cases, linked to this new crime prompted a surge of media attention. The schools
are the most targeted bodies of cyberbullying. The availability and access of mobile and other electronic
devices in schools has made bullies take complete advantage of the situation. School administrations and
other organizations are working to raise awareness against this crime among the students, teachers and
parents.

Cyberbullying

Likewise traditional bullying, Cyberbullying involves an imbalance of power, aggression, and a negative
action that is often repeated. If we break it into simple words, cyberbullying can be best defined as an
intentional and repeated harm, caused via the use of computers, cell phones and other electronic devices.
This definition is self-explanatory as it portrays all the elements involved, very clearly and accurately.

Cyberbullying can be in different forms, its usually indirect as the Internet and cell phones are used as a
medium for communication. Negative behavior such as sending menacing and cruel messages via cell
phones, any social media account online, or through email, as well as dispersing rumors with intent to
damage a persons image involves cyberbullying. Also, the spreading of images that portray another
person in a negative or ugly role via different devices. Hacking or breaking into someones personal
account, posting on their behalf to damage someones image and integrity of their account is also classified
as cyber bullying.

3 Educational Technology in Schools - Overview

Traditional Bullying vs Cyberbullying

Bullying and cyberbullying are quite similar to each other in terms of form and techniques, yet there are many
new and different aspects that separate them from each other:

Dispersal of offensive comments and humiliating pictures over social media sites spread like fire, hurting the
reputation of the victim.

Cyberbullying is 24/7. Being an online crime, it may start from the homes and continue to expand into school
environments, neighborhood, and everywhere.

Because its online and mobile, its much harder for parents and teachers to notice and take quick action
against it.

Unlike traditional bullying, cyberbullying allows the delinquent to disguise or hide his/ her identity behind a
computer.

Being online, gives the offender the freedom to use cruelest words and take worst actions as they do not have
to face the victim compared to traditional face-to-face bullying situation.

4 New Technology Trends Emerging In Schools

10 Conclusion

Current Statistics
The problem gets worse as children spend more and more time online. These stats of cyberbullying will astonish
you as they are increasing day by day in schools and at homes and wherever the use of internet is involved.

5 New Technology Trends Emerging In Schools

In the News

Due to increase in young suicide cases, cyberbullying was all over the news. There are several unforgettable
cases of cyberbullying that left the world stunned. Not only the victims that suffer, but also their families.

6 New Technology Trends Emerging In Schools

Cyberbullying Who Cyberbullies?

Initially, people believed that the effects of bullying faded with time, but it wasnt always as thought. Studies have
proven the impact of bullying on an individual, whether verbal, physical or psychological, remains until they are
brought out of it and result in lasting painful and negative emotions.
The impact of cyberbully is different when compared by gender, age, race, aggressor and victims. The following
reports show the effects of cyberbully on the basis of:

Gender:
Both girls and boys are the aggressor and victims of cyberbullying. But in a study conducted by the Cyberbully-
ing Research Center, it was revealed that girls are more emotionally hurt than boys. Boys maintaining their tough
and strong personality hide their feelings or do not share it with anyone, whereas, girls take great impact and
break down emotionally and mentally.

As far as rumors and humiliation is concerned, girls are more likely to be involved in spreading rumors or
humiliating other boys or girls on their appearance, looks, style, financial status, personal belongings, etc. To the
contrary, boys are mostly involved in physical violation and humiliation.

7 New Technology Trends Emerging In Schools

Age:
The age limit of bullying and cyberbullying is pretty much the same. Both of them occur among mid-age teens,
i.e. 13 years to 17 years. According to another study presented by Cyberbullying Research Center, revealed that
high school students have a more frustrated and angry responses against bullying, whereas, elementary school
children felt sad and embarrassed after being bullied. The difference between the two is that the elder students
either take revenge or spit out their anger and frustration, whereas the younger kids are concerned, they keep it
to themselves and feel afraid to face it. Unfortunately, regardless of the initial emotional reaction to bullying,
these emotions have the ability to continue to develop with serious clinical implications.

In the process of bullying, both the offenders and the victims are emotionally effected resulting in loneliness,
humiliation and insecurity, causing them the fear of not going to school, lacking focus in studies and rapid
downfall of health. According to a National Vital Statistics Report, suicide is the third leading cause of death
among youth ranging in age from 15 to 24 years. Among these, female victims are more likely to opt the option
of killing themselves to get relieved from such menace.

8 New Technology Trends Emerging In Schools

Race:
The rate of cyberbullying by race is very low as compared to others aspects. According to different surveys and
studies, Asian Americans are mostly targeted, followed by the Whites. The new data from the U.S. Justice and
Education departments reveal that 62% of Asian Americans survey reported being harassed online once or twice
monthly, while only 18.1 percent of whites were cyber bullied.

9 New Technology Trends Emerging In Schools

Cyberbullying - Forms

Its been a decade that cyberbullying is spreading like a virus which has no cure. People just cant avoid talking
about other people whether, it is a celebrity, a public figure or someone random. It has become a source of
entertainment for others. This torture can be found in different forms to harm someone online, such as:

Harassment
Harassment involves the act of consistently sending offensive texts to
someone, torturing them to commit something worse or hurt their image
via social media sites. There have been cases in which people use it as a
revenge from their rivals. The offenders threaten by sending personal
pictures after nasty or indecent editing.

Flaming
Flaming is another form of cyberbullying
that involves sending rude, angry and
insulting messages directly to the person.
This form of cyberbullying occurs usually in
an online community like forums, group
conversations and gaming chats. This
results in the victims destruction of
self-confidence and self-esteem.

Cyber Stalking
Cyber Stalking is a threat that a victim feels
that he/ she is not safe anymore. This
occurs when someone posts their personal
data or images on the social media sites like
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Foursquare
and others. The stalkers misuse this information and start threatening the victim by sending impolite messages and
stalking them and their location.

10 New Technology Trends Emerging In Schools

Posing
Posing is a form of cyberbullying which is the most difficult one to deal with. Posing occurs when someone breaks
into your account and acts or poses like you. The offender post words, images, audio and video about others,
which ruin the reputation of the victim. Facebook is one of the social networking sites that are filled with posers,
posting status updates, images and videos that will result in bullying.

Black-mailing
Blackmailing is also one form of
cyberbullying in which the delinquent
targets the customer threatening of leaking
any private or secret information into public.
This is usually done to get something in
return, usually money. The victim stays in
stress and depression until it doesnt stop.
Blackmailing has often lead victims to take a
bold and dangerous steps.

Denigration
Denigration is the distributing information
about other person that is offensive and
false through posting it on a web page,
sending it to others through email or
instant messaging, or posting digitally
reformed photos of someone.

11 New Technology Trends Emerging In Schools

Cyberbullying Mediums

Cyberbullying is concerned with the modern technology means of communication in which the bully has easy
access to repeatedly threaten and harass their victims. The offender may use different modes to target their
victims, among which the following are used most often:

Mobile Phones
Kids, these days carry phones as an important part of their life. They
want to stay connected to their friends and mates even after
school. This makes them happy and have strong bonds of
friendship. Unaware of the dangers, they keep their cell phones
with them 24/7 and this is when they are made victims by their
rivals or sometimes friends. Kids start receiving text messages or
even frequent missed calls by unknown figures. They start feeling
insecure and unprotected. Fear takes over them resulting in severe
emotional and mental breakdowns.

Social Media Channels

Social media sites such as, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube,
Messenger, etc. are the most common medium to bully someone
online. Facebook is used the most for cyberbullying. The victims are
targeted by posting offensive or negative comments, humiliating
videos, foul images or statuses giving them a bad name and
spoiling their reputation. The aggressors do not leave any chance
to degrade their victims.

Emails
25% of the targeted victims say they are cyberbullied via
emails. They receive emails from offenders of their own
school. The language used is humiliating and targeting
the victims personality.

12 New Technology Trends Emerging In Schools

Blogs
Blogs are used by people to express their thoughts and feelings. Blogs are the most read and visited sites on the
internet. This medium can also be used as a source of cyberbully by posting text, images, or videos about
someone, ruining his/ her name and reputation in the society.

Online Gaming
Cyberbullying via online gaming is the most frequently used medium to humiliate opponents. Exchange of nasty
and offensive comments and messages are quite common. The threat of password theft and virus malwares are
also observed during online gaming.

13 New Technology Trends Emerging In Schools

Cyberbullying Prevention

Cyberbullying is rapidly increasing among junior and high

school kids. As more and more kids are getting engaged in
modern modes of communication, they are becoming the
victims of cyberbullying.

All human beings are not the same. Those who are
emotionally and mentally weak give up on their lives by
committing suicide, as they dont find any solution to get rid of such humiliation. But, we believe that killing
yourself is not an option. One should never give up until they find a pleasing solution.

The following tips may be very useful to prevent yourself and your kids from cyberbullying:

What can parents do?

The parents of the present era are very much concerned about their childrens wants and needs. They do their
best to provide their children with every facility and luxury. But somewhere or the other they lack in securing their
kids from threats like cyberbullying. It is good to be caring and loving parents and give everything to your kids,
but at the same time they should be monitored frequently, especially when using internet and chatting over
phone and social media sites. The parents must build a friendly relationship with their children so that they do not
hesitate when they fall down into any mess. Educate your children on rapidly increasing issues like cyberbullying.
Secure your children by telling them the after effects and impact of such issues on their lives. Make them realize
how they would feel if they are bullied by someone and what impact they will put on others when they bully
them.they bully them.

What can educators do?

School is by far the most common place that youths report cyberbullying. This is when the teachers and educators
step in to play their active roles. Students spend most of their time at school with their teachers, peers and school
mates.

It is more likely the place where students become victims of cyberbullying either by their schoolmates or even by
teachers. The school administration must help children learn and educate about these issues that mostly appear
in schools. Students along with their parents must be provided awareness to stay safe and face the problem with
courage. Schools must provide professional development for teachers and staff to help them recognize and
respond to cyberbullying. Teach digital literacy and citizenship in K-12 schools so that all kids learn how to be
responsible, respectful, and safe digital citizens.

14 New Technology Trends Emerging In Schools

What can students do?
Recognition of Problem
The very first step to prevent Cyberbullying is the recognition of the problem. Parents, educators and the law
enforcement officers must work on how to educate the children so they are aware of the problem before hand
and do not get dragged by the problem. Students and parents together should be provided awareness regarding
the problem, given solutions and also being told about the laws placed against the problem. When the kids and
their parents are aware of such issues, they are supported by the school and the law enforcement officers, which
makes them feel secure and motivated to face the problem boldly.

Share it with Others

The major problem our kids face today is that they dont
share their problems with their parents, elder siblings or
teachers. Kids feel embarrassed or terrified to share
their fears with others. Keeping it within them make
them more depressed and emotionally weak from
inside. This may also result in the childs loneliness, fear
of going to school or in neighborhood, meeting friends
or talking to them, and rapid downfall in their health.
Parents, siblings and teachers here must not delay in
detecting their childrens emotional and physical
change and immediately talk to them in private. A soft,
polite and friendly tone can work best to take all
frustration and fear out from the child. The victims on
the other hand must never feel afraid of sharing their problem with the ones they trust. Sharing can bring out
better solutions to face the problem of cyberbullying. Parents and siblings can play the most crucial role in cheering
and motivating their children.

Secure Privacy
Anything you do online must be secured with a privacy coding or passwords so that any unknown figure or whom
you dont wish to show your stuff, stays protected. Facebook and other related social media channels provide with
plenty of options to secure your personal information, images, videos and statuses, restricted to be viewed or
commented by strangers and people you dont like.

15 New Technology Trends Emerging In Schools

Avoid putting statuses regarding your location or traveling destinations, as unwanted people may start stalking you
and try to bully you online. Phone numbers and house addresses must not be added to your personal details. Even
if you do so, try to put privacy on them so that no one breaks into it. You can secure yourself better online in order
to save yourself from such threats. Parents and elders here must keep a keen eye on their children specially when
they use social media sites or play online games. Regular monitoring and feedback will let parents have a follow up
of their childs activities and can easily detect any issue their child faces before it is too late.

Know Who to Trust

It is very important for children to know whom they can trust completely, especially when online. Children feel
happy to share their photos and feelings with their friends and the world, but are these audiences trustworthy?
Giving trust to wrong people can bring harm to the children. It might have a lifetime effect on their lives. It might
hurt them physically, emotionally and psychologically. Teachers and parents must guide and educate their children
to prevent posting personal stuff over social media sites and texting back unknown figures. If children are educated
and warned beforehand, they recall your advice while facing such situations.

16 New Technology Trends Emerging In Schools

Conclusion

Cyberbullying has taken a strong place in the society. As more and more children are getting in touch with the
modern means of communication, they are getting more involved in such issues. History has reported many
cases of cyberbullying where the students were left with no choice but to finish off their lives to end their
problems. Cyberbullying is one of the social issues faced by young generations across the world. Some face it,
others let go themselves.

These issues cannot be eliminated completely due to how deep-seeded they have become in our competitive
society. But it can be controlled to prevent our youth from taking worst actions and killing themselves. The law
enforcement officers taking the cases into keen consideration, enforce laws and rules against the offenders.
Measures are taken for spreading the word to educate students, parents and schools so that the issue can be
dealt before any worse situation takes place.

Schools here play a dynamic role preventing kids from becoming victims of cyberbullying. Schools are best to
proceed as they always teach students about what acceptable behavior is and calling those who misbehave to
account, while supporting victims and their families with care.

17 New Technology Trends Emerging In Schools

 AL AC C R
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Contact IAO

IAO, 10685-B
Hazelhurst Dr. #11524
Houston, TX 77043, USA

Phone: 1-866-2768-IAO (426)

Email: contact@iao.org

Website: http://iao.org