Youth Victimization Cyberbullying

Presentation by : Katarzyna Szklanny

Introduction: Traditional bullying. Cyberbullying. Methods of cyberbullying. Who is in danger? Digital Abuse Survey. Virtual Violence II. Ditch the Label’s Annual Cyberbullying Survey. Cyberbullying and the Law. Children who cyberbully. Conclusion.

Bullying - is unwanted, aggressive behaviour among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance.

(Olweus, 1993b)

direct behaviour: e.g. hitting, kicking, having money or other things taken or damaged, taunting, malicious teasing or name-calling.

indirect behaviour: e.g. rumour-spreading, social exclusion or shunning, manipulation of friendship.

other types of bullying includes sexual comments and gestures, threats, taunts based on race or ethnicity.

The earliest studies of bullying with children were conducted in Norway and Sweden in the 1980s. In anonymous survey with over 150, 000 children and youth, Olweus found out that approximately 15% of the questioned between 8-16 years old had been involves in problem with bullying.

(Olweus, 1993a)

‘What makes cyber bulling so dangerous…is that anyone can practice it without having to confront the victim. You don’t have to be strong or fast, simply equipped with a cell phone or computer and a willingness to terrorize.’ (King, 2006)

Cyberbullying, also known as electronic bullying or online social cruelty, is defined as bullying through email, instant messaging (IM), in a chat room, on a Website, on an online gaming site, or through digital messages or images sent to a cellular phone. direct cyberbullying – sending messages directly to the other children

or youth. Cyberbullying by proxy (indirect cyberbullying) involves using others

to help cyberbully the victim (with or without the accomplice’s knowledge).

(Feinberg, Robey, 2010)

Methods of Cyberbullying

Flaming Harassment and Stalking Denigration (e.g. JucyCampus.com) Impersonation Outing and Trickery Exclusion(Feinberg & Robey, 2010)

Who is in danger?

Boys tend to bully by "sexting" (sending messages of a sexual nature) or with messages that threaten physical harm,

Girls, on the other hand, more commonly cyberbully by spreading lies and rumours, exposing victim’s secrets, or by excluding him from emails, buddy lists, or other electronic communication.

(McQuade, Colt, Meyer, 2009)

1 355 people interviewed age 14 – 24. 24% of youths reported that someone had written something bad

about them on an internet page (up from 19% from two years prior). 21% of young people noted that someone has used e-mail, IM, or text

messages to spread untrue rumours about them (risen from 18% from two year ago).

1 in 20 children and teenagers reported that someone has impersonated them by creating a fake Facebook or MySpace profile of them.

(Digital Abuse Survey, 2011)

Digital Abuse Survey

Virtual Violence II

1 in 13 children experienced persistent and intentional cyberbullying. 23% of children reported that the bullying lasted for a year and more. 20% of children and young people indicated that fear of cyberbullies

made them reluctant to go to school. 1 in 5 (19%) reporting they experience reduced confidence and self-

esteem. 14% living in fear for their safety. 5% resorting to self-harm. 3% reporting an attempt of suicide as a direct result of cyberbullying.

(Virtual Violence II: the real impact of cyberbullying reviled, 2012)

Ditch the Label’s Annual Cyberbullying Survey

7 out of 10 young people have been victims of cyberbullying. 37% of young people have experienced cyberbullying on a highly

frequent basis. 20% of youth have experienced extreme cyberbullying on a daily basis.

(Ditch the Label, 2013)

Cyberbullying and the UK Law

Malicious Communications Act 1988. Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. Protection from Harassment Act 1997. Communications Act 2003 which according to it is criminal offence to

send:’…by means of the public electronic communications network, a message or other matter that is grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character’.

Defamation Act 2013 (came into force in 1st January 2014)(The Cybersmile Fundation, 2014)

Law in action: Kelly Houghton and Emily Moore case (2009). Nicola Brookes and Facebook case (2012).

(Bulling Facts, Bullying Laws, 2014)

Characteristics of children who cyberbully

Vengeful Angel The ‘power angry cyberbully’ Mean girl The ‘inadvertent’ cyberbully

(Feinberg & Robey, 2010)

‘Kids can be cruel. And kids with technology can be cruel on a world-wide scale.’

(McQuade, Colt, Meyer, 2009)

Conclusion

Cyberbullying and bulling shares three of the same characteristics.

The school ability to deal with cyberbullying is limited. Kids who have been cyberbullied are more likely to become the

perpetrator in the future. Research shows that young males and females are equally at risk. An estimated 5.43 million young people in the UK have

experienced cyberbullying. (Ditch the Label, 2013)

Young people are found to be twice as likely to be bullied on Facebook as any other website. (Ditch the Label, 2013)

There need to be far more research done on cyberbullying and it prevention.

References Beat Bullying (2012). Virtual Violence II: the real impact of cyberbullying

reviled. [Online]. Available at: http://archive.beatbullying.org/dox/media-centre/news-archive/Feb%202012/Virtual-Violence-II-The-Real-Impact-Of-Cyberbullying.html [Accessed: 11/02/2015].

Bulling Facts, Bulling Laws (2014). Anti-Cyberbullying Laws in UK. Available at: http://nobullying.com/anti-cyber-bullying-legislative-matters-in-the-uk/ [Accessed: 16/02/2015].

Crown Prosecution Service (2012). Interim guidelines on prosecuting cases involving communications sent via social media. Available at: http://www.cps.gov.uk/consultations/social_media_consultation.pdf [Accessed: 12/02/2015].

Ditch the Label (2013). The Annual Cyberbullying Survey 2013. [Online] Available at: http://www.ditchthelabel.org/annual-cyber-bullying-survey-cyber-bullying-statistics/ [Accessed: 13/02/2015].

Feinberg, T., Robey, N. (2010) Cyberbullying: Intervention and Prevention Strategies. National Association of School Psychologists. [Online] Available at: http://www.nasponline.org/resources/bullying/Cyberbullying.pdf [Accessed: 13/02/2015].

Hunter, N. (2012). Cyber bullying. Hot topics. [Online] Available at: http://www.vlebooks.com/vleweb/Product/Index/54689?page=0 [Accessed: 15/02/2015].

King, L. (2006). No hiding from online bullies. [Online] Available at: http://www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20060815 [Accessed: 12/02/2015].

Knowledge Networks (2011). Digital Abuse Survey. [Online]. Available at: http://www.athinline.org/pdfs/2011-MTV-AP_Digital_Abuse_Study_Full.pdf [Accessed: 12/02/2015].

Kowalski, R., Limber, S., Agatson, P. (2008). Cyberbullying: bullying in the digital age. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.

McQuade, S., Colt, J., Meyer, N. (2009). Cyber bullying. Dawson era. [Online]. Available at: https://www.dawsonera.com/abstract/9780313351945 [Accessed: 08/02/2015].

Olweus, D. (1993a). Bullying at school: What we know and what we can do. New York: Blackwell

Olweus, D. (1993b). Victimization by peers: Antecedents and long-term outcomes. In Rubin, K. & Asendort, J. (Eds.) Social withdrawal, inhibition, and shyness. Pp. 315-141. Hillsdale NJ: Erlbaum.

The Cybersmile Fundation (2014) Cyberbullying and the Law. Available at: http://www.cybersmile.org/advice-help/category/cyberbullying-and-the-law [Accessed: 12/02/2015].

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