Adolescents
have grown up in a world filled with ever-changing advances in technology. As communication has become quick and
instantaneous, children are more networked today than ever before. The youth today now have access to text
messaging, social networking, email, and many other forms of
communication.
Bullying
is not a new concept in schools, but technology has altered the actual act of
bullying. Kowalski, Limber, and
Agatston (2012) defined bullying as, “aggressive behavior that is intentional
and that involves an imbalance of power or strength” (p. 18). This imbalance may be based on
differences in physical strength, social power, jealousy, or social
status. Bullying is usually not a
one-time occurrence, but occurs repeatedly over time (Kowalski, Limber, &
Agatston, 2012). Technology has
changed the form of bullying, and has taken it to a completely new level. In the past, bullying occurred during
recess, in school hallways, and in the lunchroom. With the many different forms of communication created by
technology, bullying can now happen anywhere and at anytime. Students may be alone in their room,
hanging out with friends, or on a family vacation, and still receive bullying
messages. Cyberbullying is
different from traditional forms of bullying because it can occur twenty-four
hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year (www.stopbullying.gov).
Holladay
(2011) described cyberbullying as, “
the repeated use of technology to harass, humiliate, or threaten” (p. 4). The various forms of communication,
present today due to technological advancements, allow users to post comments
anonymously. As Draa and Sydney
(2009) explained their definition of online disinhibition as individuals being
more likely to post comments online that they would never even consider
speaking in a face-to-face conversation.
This disinhibition occurs because many perceive technology as a buffer,
lessening the impact of the words or images being presented.
Sheri Bauman, the
University of Arizona’s director of the master’s degree program in counseling
noted, “You can pass around a note to classmates making fun of a peer, and it
stays in the room, but when you post that same note online, thousands can see
it. The whole world becomes
witness and is invited to participate” (Holladay, 2011, p. 5). If you conduct a YouTube search of
“cyberbullying”, you will receive a long list of videos depicting several
heartwrenching stories of victims of cyberbullying. Their stories have gone viral, just as the bullying did that
led them to a breaking point.
The
Internet offers various forms of free communication. A single person can hold a large number of email accounts
and be a member of multiple social network sites without cost. These free sites give cyberbullies an
avenue to communicate and attack a victim using multiple email addresses and
identities (Kowalski, Robin, & Agatston, 2012).
When
the term cyberbullying is used, the reader tends to picture the actions of
adolescents. Adults can be victims
of cyberbullying, but the consequences for the bully are much more severe
because it can be considered harassment (Kowalski, Robin, & Agatston, 2012). Teachers, among other adults, can be
the victims of cyberbullying by adolescents. Students now have a way to act out against teachers in an
anonymous and instantaneous way.
Both
cyber bullying and traditional bullying can have varying effects on the
victims. Victims of both
traditional bullying and cyberbullying reported feelings of “depression, low
self-esteem, helplessness, social anxiety, reduced concentration, alienation,
and suicidal ideation” (Kowalski, Limber, Agatston, 2012, p. 113). We have all heard the stories of young
people taking their lives after being the victims of cyberbullying. Many of these individuals have
experienced bullying of various forms.
Some bullying occurs for no apparent reason, in other instances, an
adolescent makes a mistake, and it is available for the world to see. Many young people do not realize that
their actions online can be permanent.
A tragic example is that of Amanda Todd. As a middle school student, Amanda enjoyed chatting
online. A man convinced her to
flash him, and he in turn snapped a picture and transmitted that image through
Facebook and other online media.
Amanda switched schools, created a YouTube video about her story, and
eventually committed suicide as the bullying followed her everywhere (http://abcnews.go.com/US/bullied-teen-amanda-todds-video-passes-13m-views/story?id=17548856#.Ua97zYWaw4A). Amanda was bullied on the Internet, but
she also had many encounters in her daily interactions with people.
It
is extremely important for kids to be educated about the dangers of the
Internet and on how they should conduct themselves. Ohler (2012) explained, “We need to talk to children about
how to live digital lifestyles that are informed, safe, and healthy” (p.
17). As technology changes,
children need to understand the importance of how they conduct themselves
online. The latest controversial
program, Snapchat, allows users to take a photo, send it to others, and specify
the amount of time the picture is viewable. If the viewer takes a screenshot of the image, the picture-taker
is notified (www.snapchat.com). Unfortunately,
not all young people are aware of the risks of taking explicit photos, or sexting. Parents must educate their children on Snapchat,
among many other programs, and help their children understand the importance of
virtual responsibility. One
picture can cause massive amounts of cyberbullying and other reputation ruining
events to occur. Where should this education occur? Should schools be responsible for educating students on the risks and responsibilities of technology?
I found the following Stone Soup comic in the paper today. I thought that it was appropriate to the topic of conversation. It seems that many young people do not even realize they are bullying someone, or at least underestimate the damage they are causing.
http://www.gocomics.com/stonesoup/2013/06/05
I found the following Stone Soup comic in the paper today. I thought that it was appropriate to the topic of conversation. It seems that many young people do not even realize they are bullying someone, or at least underestimate the damage they are causing.
http://www.gocomics.com/stonesoup/2013/06/05
References:
Draa, V., & Sydney, T. D. (2009).
Cyberbullying: Challenges and actions. Journal
Of Family & Consumer Sciences, 101(4),
40-46.
Holladay, J.
(2011). Cyberbullying. Education Digest,
76(5), 4-9.
Kowalski, R. M.,
Limber, S., Agatston, P. W,, ebrary, Inc. (2012). Cyberbullying: Bullying
in the digital age. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
Ohler, J.
(2012). Digital citizenship means character education for the digital age. Education Digest, 77(8), 14-17.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/bullied-teen-amanda-todds-video-passes-13m-views/story?id=17548856#.Ua97zYWaw4A
www.stopbullying.gov
www.snapchat.com
Ashley,
ReplyDeleteCyberbullying is a significant problem among teens and adults. The availability of information and potential venues to harass or bully an individual are frightening. The anonymity of the Internet also gives people much more courage to say and do things that they wouldn’t even imagine doing in a face-to-face encounter…even if they are bigger than their chosen target.
Bullying today is much different than when I was a kid. Someone might push you, knock your food out of your hand, steal your cookies, etc. until the kid decided to stand up for himself. As an 8th grader, a kid tried to bully me one time. He poured water in my shoes before gym class and then pushed me into a wall and said, “It’s fun picking on you because you are so little.” I am only about 6-1, 190-193 pounds as a grown adult. As an 8th grader, I was about 4-8, and about 80-90 pounds. I was a very tiny human being as a kid. During band class that same day, Jason (true name...I remember)kept elbowing me as we were playing our instruments, I looked at the teacher and he gave me the signal of approval by nodding his head. I asked Jason to not elbow me again, but he didn’t listen. Wrong decision. Although I was little, I was a lion. The bandstand that held my sheet music became my weapon of choice. Big Jason hit the floor and was helpless. The teacher let this go on for a bit, until Jason was clearly apologetic. After that, I never had any problems. In fact, he was quite deferential/scared of lil ol me for the rest of the year. I tell this story not to condone violence, but to illustrate that was the extent of the bullying. Just as quickly as it began, it ended just the same. This is not the case for the youth of today as the stories about Amanda and hosts of others prove.
My little cousin (14-15 years old at the time) sent a naked picture of herself to a boy a couple of years ago after he told her that he loved her and would never hurt her. He lied. He sent that picture to some of his friends and it spread like wildfire through her school, neighboring schools, Facebook, email, and other web based platforms. She was distraught. She got into several fights at her school because of that picture and her lack of understanding of how quickly things can get out of hand. Once a person pushes send…it’s gone. She transferred three times and finally had to leave the state to escape that one picture. Sad situation, but it happens more often than many people would like to believe.
I am in absolute agreement with your evaluation that it is very important for kids to be educated about the dangers of the Internet and the appropriate netiquette. Kids and adults need to be highly informed regarding their Internet choices and the potential consequences of those choices. Cyberbullying is a terrible thing and, as we all know, can lead to a variety of states…even death.
The fact that someone can hide behind a computer screen and bully another person 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days per year is problematic. As you so accurately stated, one picture and/or someone with malicious intent can lead to significant amounts of cyberbullying from that person and others as well as lead to other reputation ruining events to occur. As parents, leaders, and educators, I think it is critically important that we inform our youth and those who lack the necessary knowledge regarding the dangers of the Internet. If we don’t advise them and teach them the importance of personal responsibility and accountability on the Internet, we will have a lot of kids who will have to legally change their names and potentially faces at some point in their lives.
~ Disciple of Experience
p.s. – apologies for such a long response.
Disciple of Experience,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your response. Thank you for sharing your personal stories of bullying. The Internet and its forms of communication are extremely powerful. It is scary to think that we entrust our youth with the immense power. I truly hope that parents are able to educate their children right away on appropriate use of this power. I think this form of education must start at home! Do you feel schools also need to take the time to educate students on proper Internet ethics?
Ashley
Ashley,
DeleteI do think that schools need to educate students on proper Internet ethics. Often times, parents are so detached from significant Internet use that they might not be aware of appropriate netiquette or the potential dangers of the Internet.
While a school can't make a student do anything, I think it is important that they engage in appropriate dialogue regarding Internet ethics so that the students are exposed to it and can make a determination regarding the type of virtual footprint they wish to have.
~ Disciple of Experience
I appreciated your discussion of cyberbullying. I know there has been a fair amount of attention in the last couple of years paid to bullying. I have encountered some parents who had children who were being bullied that transferred out of what I call regular school and have them going to online high school. Clearly there is bullying in cyberspace. Clearly from disciple of experience's story once it is out there it is really hard to get away from it. Do you think parents have a better chance of keeping kids from internet sites and activities that would increase the likelihood of them being bullied ?
ReplyDeleteMary-Elise,
ReplyDeleteI think that parents need to teach Internet responsibility to their children. I do not think that parents are going to be able to keep kids from all sites were bullying may occur. Bullying can take many virtual forms, including text messages, Facebook, Twitter, email, etc. I feel that it would be a disservice to children to not have access to some forms of online communication, such as email, but it is important that they understand the risks and responsibilities associated with these forms of communication. Do you think there should be an age limit set for cell phones and other electronic communication? Many sites say that users must be at least 13 years old, but there are many ways to get around this issue. When are children old enough to make smart Internet decisions? (I realize there is no real response to these questions, but thought that they would be good reflection points.) I have two small children, and I am already nervous about cell phone usage and other communication.
Good post, enhanced by D of E's personal story. It is interesting that we have a generation of helicopter parents who seem disconnected when it comes to the digital identity of their children. We need children and adults to understand ethics and etiquette online, and we need parents aware of and connected to their children. If we are raising our kids to be good citizens in society, we should be also extending that lesson to the web.
ReplyDeleteIt is worrisome how widespread the occurrence of cyber bullying has become. As you noted, this harassment is greatly enabled by all of the tools of social networking, microblogs, and email. I have had faculty come to me concerned about being victims of cyber bullying by their students. My colleagues have had to deal with students being harassed by others, which is in direct violation of our discrimination and harassment student handbook policies. Some anti-discrimination bills like the Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Act might be useful, but pundits have asked if this will then erode free speech (Johnson, 2013). Whilst policies and sometimes legislation are required to help address cyber bullying, I want to see more education effort to help stop it from happening in the first place.
ReplyDeleteIt seems incredible as you wrote that many young people do not even realize they are bullying someone, or at least underestimate the damage they are causing. That lack of awareness is shocking and I’m certain that many individuals engage in cyber bullying fully cognizant of the nefarious results. I also wonder to what extent that cyber bullying is underreported because victims are afraid of retribution. I recall watching a documentary on how students in Korea are all required to participate in a web ethics course and learn about the hazards of Internet use and appropriate behavior. Perhaps that is a model we can help get started in the U.S.
Works Cited
Johnson, B. (2013, April 3). Lautenberg, Holt say Mike Rice incident highlights need for Tyler Clementi bill. Retrieved June 7, 2013, from N.J. News: http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/04/lautenberg_holt_say_mike_rice.html
I am always amazed how transparent teens (and even a few adults) can be when they use an electronic device to communicate to friends and strangers but I am even more dismayed how emboldened folks can be when they communicate via an electronic device.
ReplyDeleteAs a school administrator, I have encountered a handful of cases each year of kids misusing their cell phones and email accounts to bully and tease peers or teachers. Unfortunately, this school year has illustrated a spike in parent misbehavior on the internet with faculty, their child's peers, and other parents. I had one parent "pose" as her son using his school email account to harass a teacher and me. I know mom was the culprit because her use of language on email was not the profile of a 14 year old and the information she described mirrored that of emails she sent on her personal account.
Its hard to prove when there is cyber abuse and if a school does prove it, the laws are not punitive enough. I think school policies and state legislation are not reacting or protecting the innocent quick enough from the cyber predators. Furthermore, proactive measures have tapered in the media. The national DARE program has taken measures to address cyber bullying in their curriculum but I am not familiar with other national organizations such as PTO or NEA taking a stand against the problem.
Emboldened is an excellent term for the situation! My husband is a head wrestling coach, and the emails he has received from certain parents are very disrespectful, to say the least. I know these parents would never even imagine speaking these words out loud!
DeleteI appreciate your comments regarding education, and your experiences with parents and students. Does your school have specific policies for these offenses?
I must confess, I was the kid that did the bullying to other kids, specifically bigger, tougher kids in my grade school through high school. I grew up in a very tough community in Brooklyn, NY and those that survived learned to exert their will on others; at least that is what was shown to us as kids. The adults in my community taught us all wrong. They taught us to be "quicker to the punch," meaner and more serious, and to pounce on those that were considered a threat. I built a reputation on making the toughest kid on the playground feel insignificant because I thought that was the only way that I would survive.
ReplyDeleteThe reality is, I was extremely insecure, lacked confidence, and hid behind my ability to harass people as a defense mechanism. Have you ever heard the saying, "Your reputation precedes you" well that was me. All it took was anyone to tell me the truth, help me feel more secure about myself, and help instill in me true confidence. Whose responsibility was it?
The adults in my community taught us what they knew based on their life. Was it my teachers? They were simply trying to survive the day of the chaos that was my school system. So fast forward to present day. Take the added pressures of children growing up in a society in which "keeping up with the Joneses" is the social norm because we are wired 24/7. Their heroes, spokespeople, and idols are celebrities with the latest and greatest gadgets. Their lives are not their own, but a film study of what others have in the social lime light. We celebrate the Kardashians, the Paris Hilton's, the Real Housewives of (pick a place), and the Real World as our heroes. They see how these individuals deal with life and the only thing they can do to get their voices heard is the create some way of bringing attention to themselves. "I too can be famous if I can just do..." Cyber-bullying seems to be a perfect way to do that and bring mass amounts of attention to something you created. Our kids are starving for attention from us, but we seem to continue to isolate ourselves from acknowledging that need while we play on our smartphones, tablets, and other devices. We say we don't have time for personal interactions so we allow ourselves to stay connected to the world through media's portrayal of what life should be.
How do we curb cyber-bullying? Great question! I believe it starts with us shutting down the machine and re-investing ourselves back into the lives of each other, young and old. An old man saved me from a life of embarrassment and continued destruction by simply talking to me and giving me something that no technology could ever do; he showed me I was valuable.
Friend
Friend,
DeleteThank you for your story. I appreciate your unique perspective on bullying. Your advice is spot on! We need to take the time to realize that there are people on the other end of our virtual interactions. Relationships must be developed and cared for beyond the computer screen. Your personal story is an extremely important example of how one person can truly make a difference in the lives of youth. Many parents are so distracted by their devices, that they do not even realize that their children need to feel important too.
Thank you again for sharing!
Ashley
Love the comic strip as it is so true. We often fail to think about the impact of the messages we send. I found the following article very interesting. It contends that teens are tired of hearing about bullying. (http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/life/sc-fam-1127-teen-bully-20121127,0,1936239,print.story) I often refer to behaviors as bullying and get similar responses as were cited in the article. Perhaps we need to help people of all ages learn to ask themselves a series of questions before they send a message. Simply asking oneself if the message or image could humiliate or hurt someone is a good internal filtering skill. At the same time, having parents/teachers/peers like the mom in the comic is super important to reinforce consistent use a personal filter before sending a message.
ReplyDeleteA quick true story.. a teenage boy I know made a cruel post about another teenage boy on Facebook. A third teenage boy who wasn't even friends with the target of the bullying behavior confronted the bully. He simply told him that the remark was mean and hurtful and he was disappointed that his friend had posted it. Finally, he asked his friend to remove the post. It was removed within the hour. The teen and the mother in the comic are true heroes in my book.
Jane,
DeleteYour story is a very powerful example of the good that can occur in our youth today. It is important to teach our children to stand up for what is right, even if it is difficult. This boy was definitely a hero!
Ashley
I have a comment from Sarah Miller from section 2. We are having technical issues, and it is not allowing her post to be visible!
ReplyDeleteAshley,
Great post! I'm in section 2 and also wrote about cyberbullying. So many personal stories of bullying on your blog here - it is great that so many people are willing to share about such a hard topic to discuss. This is such a huge issue in schools today - and it is an issue that is hard to fix.
I remember as a kid being bullied - one day coming home from school on the bus where a boy had written a curse word on my forehead in black permanent marker while another kid held me down. How do we prevent such issues from happening? The truth is I am not sure we can. Another student in my section wrote in his blog that it is easy to hide behind the computer screen and with that comes a great deal of truth. Anyone can hide behind a screen or a phone and press send - not many people these days will actually say something in person. I live by the mantra that I will not say, post, or do anything behind your back that I would not say to your face. This helps to keep me grounded.
Another lesson I have learned is in terms of emails/status updates/texts. Wait 24 hours before sending something if you think it's hateful or that you wrote it at a time when you were not at your best. After 24 hours when you re-read it if you think it is okay to send then hit send. If not, do not send!
Thanks for your post!
Ashley, I enjoyed your post. Cyber bullying is on the forefront of serious concern for many schools, and I have a feeling it will take a turn for the worse if not addressed quickly. Your examples and references hit close to home, as I continue to see cyber bullying taking on new life in schools and beyond.
ReplyDeleteI have spent many years trying to understand, educate, and resolve bullying issues at the schools in which I have worked, yet the difficulties lie within the continued lack of education about bullying. Barbara Coloroso is one of my absolute favorite authors and speakers to address bullying. In her book The Bully, the Bullied, and the Bystander, she lays out a solid foundation for teaching and understanding all aspects of bullying. We used to have her come speak to several private schools in our area, and she would always bring a different and somewhat tough perspective on the roles of the bully, the bullied, and the bystander, making it clear that when we educate our children, parents, and teachers on the importance of each role and how recognizing the impact each role has on ending the bullying cycle. If you haven’t read it, I highly suggest checking it out.
What fascinates me about cyber bullying, is that I firmly believe that just as quickly as it has become a new form of bullying, I believe it can be eradicated much more easily and quickly than traditional bullying. I say this because it is my belief that bullying in education most often occurs when teachers or adults are not around. For instance, as a principal I often used to tell parents that if we didn’t have recess and lunch, we probably wouldn’t have a bullying problem.