CYBERBULLYING

Cyberbullying comes in a whole range of different shapes and sizes and is

something that is totally subjective to the recipient. Ditch the Label defines cyberbullying
as the use of digital technologies with an intent to offend, humiliate, threaten, harass or
abuse somebody.
Cyberbullying is bullying that takes place over digital devices like cell phones,
computers, and tablets. Cyberbullying includes: nasty messages online or on the phone,
comments on your posts or posts about you, being excluded from online groups or
forums, embarrassing photos being put online without your permission, rumours and lies
about you on a website, offensive chat on online gaming, fake online profiles being
created with an intent to defame you, sending, posting, or sharing negative, harmful, false,
or mean content about someone else. It can include sharing personal or private
information about someone else causing embarrassment or humiliation. Some
cyberbullying crosses the line into unlawful or criminal behavior.

The best ways to combat bullying online are through communication and
awareness. Students experience bullying constantly, whether they are being bullied, are
the bully, or simply witness the bullying. It is important that these children know that the
best way to deal with it is to talk about it. Before students can communicate, they need to
be aware of what bullying is. Technology has put kind of a grey area in the definition of
bullying. Students need to realize that whether it is face to face or through technology,
any act that brings mental, emotional or physical harm to someone so that they feel
unsafe is bullying. The most important thing is that the cyberbullying comments or pictures
are much more permanent.
Once students are able to recognize bullying, they should know whom they can talk
to. It is important that adults let the students know that they are trustworthy and can be
talked to. Parents need to talk to their children on a daily basis about what is going on
inside and outside of school. Most importantly, parents need to monitor their child’s
technological devices to ensure they are being used responsibly. Adults and children
should work together, this is my stand position.

Cyberbullying can occur at different age levels and in different geographical areas.
For example, a survey was conducted in 2004 involving 432 Grade 7 to 9 students from
nine junior high schools from middle-class, ethnically diverse communities in Calgary,
Canada. The results showed that more than two thirds of students have heard of
cyberbullying incidents and about one quarter have been cyberbullied (Beran & Li, 2005.

Another study of 177 seventh-grade students in Canada showed a similar pattern

(Li, 2007).Particularly, almost 15% of the students admitted that they cyberbullied others.
A theme that emerged was the anonymity associated with this type of behavior in that
over 40% of the cyber victims had no idea who the bullies were. Further, less than 35%
of the bystanders reported the incident to adults.

Cyberbullying can be devastating for victims and their families. The psychological
harm inflicted by cyberbullying, just like bullying, is reflected in low self-esteem, school
failure, anger, anxiety, depression, school avoidance, school violence, and suicide. It is
even possible that the damage from cyberbullying would be greater than bullying because
there is no escape for the victims; harmful material could be easily preserved as well as
quickly and widely spread. Further, many people who would not harass others face-to-
face might cyberbully peers because they believe that they could hide or it would be
acceptable to engage in such behavior virtually (Beran & Li, 2005;Willard,2004).

Patchin and Hinduja (2006) conducted an online survey involving 384 respondents
who were under 18 years of age. Their results showed that various forms of bullying
occurred online, including being ignored (60.4%), disrespected (50.0%), called names
(29.9%), threatened (21.4%), picked on (19.8%), made fun of (19.3%), and having rumors
spread about them (18.8%). Despite the relatively large sample size, some scholars
(Hoover, Wilkins, Miltenoff, Downing, & Davis, 2007) cautioned readers not to
overgeneralize this result because this work consisted of a convenience sample. Using
data from a multinational DAPHNE project, Thompson et al. (2008) studied the incidence
of cyberbullying among adolescents. In examining the group dynamics of cyberbullying,
the study shows important relationships not only between traditional bullying and
cyberbullying, but also between the cyberbullying participant role and individual levels of
self-esteem and loneliness. Data from Australia demonstrated similar patterns. Cross,
Epstein, Clark, and Lester (2008) surveyed 10,000 Australian children aged 8 to 15 years
in 2007 to investigate the nature and extent of cyberbullying, and to assess the extent,
mechanisms, characteristics, and social, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral affect it had
on the students who were bullied in this way. Their preliminary analysis showed that 20%
of the students reported they were cyber victims and 10% were cyberbullies. Text
messaging over mobile phones was the most common medium used for cyberbullying.

Approximately 34% of students report experiencing cyberbullying during their

lifetime (Hinduja & Patchin, 2015)

Over 60% of students who experience cyberbullying reported that it immensely

impacted their ability to learn and feel safe while at school (Hinduja, 2018).

The conclusion is addressing cyberbullying should be a collective effort on the part

of schools, families, students, and society. Because cyberbullying happens outside of
school boundaries, schools might direct such issues back to parents, saying that they
have no legal jurisdiction. However, cyberbullying can be rooted in school or vice versa,
even if the incidents appear to be initiated using school property. This requires schools to
consider the development of comprehensive programs to fight cyberbullying, including
detailed and unified policies as well as effective programs to educate students.

The following are some recommendations intended to solve the problem. First,
schools need to establish systematic programs to stop cyberbullying. Such programs
should develop strong policies on both traditional bullying and cyberbullying.
Administrators should investigate current acceptable-use policies for technology (e.g.,
mobile, Internet) in the schools. Telling others such as school adults or family members
remains an effective strategy for combating cyberbullying. It is important to establish easy
and multiple ways of reporting. For example, we could create help lines (e.g., a phone
line), e‐mail, or Web links, and provide a box or similar device in hot spots in schools so
students can report incidents or offer suggestions anonymously.

Second, schools should educate school adults, students, and parents about cyberbullying
and provide clear procedures to follow when cyberbullying occurs. At the fundamental
level, adults, including teachers and parents, need to keep pace with new technology to
understand how students communicate and how cyberbullying happens.

On the part of students, a key group in fighting cyberbullying, need to learn responsibilities
associated with the use of technology. They should be aware of the consequences of
misuse of technology so that responsible behaviors can be promoted at an early age.
They need to understand the dangers that exist and the importance of getting help from
responsible adults when cyberbullying occurs. When reporting incidents to responsible
adults, students should understand that they might need to be persistent to ensure that
adults recognize the seriousness of the incidents. They can also ask the adults what they
plan to do to solve the problem.