Cyber-bullying is a dark side of living in a virtual world. Here we shall consider the preventative strategies and reactive measures that can be taken to minimise the effects of cyber-bullying, linking to the resources that are available.
What is Cyber-bullying?
Cyber-bullying is best defined by the quote by Bill Belsey, it is bullying which “involves the use of information and communication technologies to support deliberate, repeated, and hostile behavior by an individual or group, that is intended to harm others” (as cited in “Cyberbullying”, n.d.). It is bullying which occurs over mobile phones, instant messaging services, social networks, blogs, wikis, online games, the whole smorgasbord of online services which exist today and can be in the form of text, pictures, video or a combination thereof (Bamford, 2004).
The acts of cyber-bullying can include teasing, flaming (sending messages intended to provoke a heated emotional response), defamation, exclusion, sending unwanted messages and masquerading (where the bully acts like the target) (Bamford, 2004; Reach Out Australia, 2009). All of these acts have equivalents which can occur in the real world. The anonymity of internet communication could lead a person to think that anything is possible and will not be reflected onto their non-virtual lives (Bullying. No Way!, 2009b). Additionally, the loss of body language in online communication reduces the level of feedback that can be provided, creating an avenue for continual miscommunication to occur if the loss is not replaced by other means of communication (Bamford, 2004).
The effects of cyber-bullying on the victim include lowering self-esteem, frustration, feeling scared or angry, stress, anxiety, unhappiness, depression, suicidal thoughts and may make the victim become a cyber-bully (Beyond Blue, 2009; “Cyberbullying, n.d.).
Incidences of cyber-bullying are actually quite common. The Wikipedia article “cyberbullying” (n.d.) reports on several, USA based statistics and the largest proportion of survey participants that had experienced cyber-bullying was 43%. In a different survey 58% of children stated that something mean or hurtful had been said to them and the same proportion had not told their parents about that something mean had been said. This survey could be easily be misconstrued, as “something hurtful” could, in some cases, been unintentional harm. That children are not reporting cyber-bullying is a cause for concern. Reach Out Australia (2009) states that reports of cyber-bullying in Australia have been increasing since 2006 and that “56 per cent [of survey respondents] thought it was easy to get bullied online”.
Preventative Strategies
Giving the perception that its easy to be cyber-bullied, the main tool to prevent cyber-bullying is education. Education about the technologies and what should be placed on it. Also, its not just educating children, educators and parents need to know about the technologies for their own use as well as for monitoring children.
The ThinkUKnow websites for Australia (http://www.thinkuknow.org.au/) and the United Kingdom (http://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/) provide excellent, concise summaries of the different types of online interactive technologies that are available and information on how to keep control of the information that is placed there. One of the best pieces of advice they have on the Australian site (ThinkUKnow, n.d. a) is
If you aren't happy for the photo to be passed around your dinner table, or shown at your school assembly, it shouldn't be posted online.If they place that inappropriate school assembly photo online they unintentionally provide material for cyber-bullying to occur. Education of appropriate use and behaviour is a key preventative strategy.
Parents can help prevent cyber-bullying if they "cultivate and maintain an open, candid line of communication with your children" and "establish that all rules for interacting with people in real life also apply for interacting online" (Hinduja & Patchin, 2009). Restricting internet access or using external filtering is detrimental to the child's willingness to communicate. Instead parents should work with the child in self-filtering content and role-modelling appropriate behaviours (Bamford, 2004; Bullying. No Way!, 2009a).
Reactive Measures
When someone is being cyber-bullied, the following is best course of action in the order the steps should be taken.
- Take evidence of the bullying action as it occurs. This will help with the other steps.
- Do not respond to the bully. Without a response, they will not know if their action had the desired effect.
- Block the bully from that communication system.
- Talk to a trusted adult– a parent, a teacher, the school counsellor.
Taking evidence of cyber-bullying is important as it creates a record of the bullying as it occurs (Reach Out, 2009). For most internet services a screen shot is best as it records the incident as it appeared when it happened. As most operating system desktops display the time in one corner of the screen, the time of the incident is recorded, however the date will need to be recorded separately. If the cyber-bullying occurred by email, making a record of the full email headers will help the appropriate authorities track the source of the email. The headers will need to be copied separately from the body of an email, they are email specific and will be lost upon forwarding. The Cyberbullying Research Centre (http://www.cyberbullying.us/resources.php) provides instruction sheets on how to take screen shots in Windows and Apple (without specifying which Apple version) and how to retrieve email header information in a wide range of email programs.
Blocking the cyber-bully is an action which is specific to the communication system in use. All instant message and social networking technologies have the option to remove and block people from their contact list (ThinkUKnow, n.d. b). If the bullying occurred by email, the victim's internet service provider has mechanisms to block email from certain addresses and should be contacted regarding who to forward the email to with header information. Mobile phone service providers have similar options for blocking message and calls from particular phone numbers (Reach Out, 2009). Online forums and blog post comments allow users to flag posts or comments as inappropriate, altering the owner of the site that material needs to be check and removed. Other online services have different mechanisms for dealing with cyber-bullying and other unwanted content which are site specific, but can be easily dealt with by contacting the site owners (ThinkUKnow, n.d. b). It should be remembered that the anonymity which cyber-bullies use to hide themselves can easily be used by a victim to protect themselves.
Most importantly, the victim of cyber-bullying must talk to someone. Parents (and teachers) who have established that they are open to discussion are excellent in this role (Bamford, 2004). If parents are not an option, there are a range of counselling services available in Australia. These include the telephone services Lifeline and the Kid's Help Line, or face to face services at headspace Centres (http://www.headspace.org.au) or the counselling officer in most schools. Talking about incidences of bullying is important as provides an outside view to dealing with the problem (Beyond Blue, 2009).
Conclusion
Cyber-bullying on the internet is an unfortunate occurrence, however there are steps people can take to minimise their exposure and chances of being bullied. Additionally, incidences of cyber-bullying can be reported, whether to the online service provider or to the police and should always be talked about.
References
Bamford, A (2004) Cyber-bullying. AHISA Pastoral Care National Conference 2004. Retrieved from http://www.coc.edu.au/site/_documents/ahisaconference-bamfordcyberbullying.pdf
Beyond Blue (2009) Information about cyberbullying webiste http://www.youthbeyondblue.com/2009/07/23/information-about-cyberbullying/
Bullying. No Way! (2009a) Do you think parents could help? webpage http://www.bullyingnoway.com.au/talkout/spotlight/cyberBullyingParents.shtml
Bulling. No Way! (2009b) Man .. I never realised webpage http://www.bullyingnoway.com.au/talkout/spotlight/cyberBullyingConsequences.shtml
Cyberbullying (n.d.) In Wikipedia. Retrieved March 16, 2010 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyber-bullying
Hinduja, S. & Patchin, J. (2009). Preventing cyberbullying: Top ten tips for parents. Cyberbullying Research Center. Retrieved from http://www.cyberbullying.us/Top_Ten_Tips_Parents_Cyberbullying_Prevention.pdf
Reach Out Australia (2009) Cyberbullying: What is it and how to get help website http://au.reachout.com/find/articles/cyberbullying
ThinkUKnow (n.d. a) How to Stay in Control – Social Networking webpage accessed March 28, 2010 at http://www.thinkuknow.org.au/site/control_sn.asp
ThinkUKnow (n.d. b) Stop Cyber-bullying webpage accessed March 28, 210 at http://thinkuknow.org.au/site/stop.asp
No comments:
Post a Comment