Stop Cyberbullying

together we can make a difference



 Main Menu


Contact







Cyberbullying

Bullying is aggressive behavior that is intentional and involves an imbalance of power or strength. Usually, it is repeated over time. Traditionally, bullying has involved actions such as: hitting or punching (physical bullying), teasing or name-calling (verbal bullying), or intimidation through gestures or social exclusion. In recent years, technology has given children and youth a new means of bullying each other.

Cyberbullying can involve:
  • Sending mean, vulgar, or threatening messages or images
  • Posting sensitive, private information about another person
  • Pretending to be someone else in order to make that person look bad
  • Intentionally excluding someone from an online group
Children and youth can cyberbully each other through:
  • E-mails
  • Instant messaging
  • Text or digital imaging messages sent on cell phones
  • Web pages
  • Web logs (blogs)
  • Chat rooms or discussion groups
  • Other information communication technologies
How common is cyberbullying?
Although little research has been conducted on cyberbullying, recent studies have found that:
  • 18% of students in grades 6-8 said they had been cyberbullied at least once in the last couple of months; and 6% said it had happened to them 2 or more times (Kowalski et al., 2005).
  • 11% of students in grades 6-8 said they had cyberbullied another person at least once in the last couple of months, and 2% said they had done it two or more times (Kowalski et al., 2005).
  • 19% of regular Internet users between the ages of 10 and 17 reported being involved in online aggression; 15% had been aggressors, and 7% had been targets (3% were both aggressors and targets) (Ybarra & Mitchell, 2004).
  • 17% of 6-11 year-olds and 36% of 12-17-year-olds reported that someone said threatening or embarrassing things about them through e-mail, instant messages, web sites, chat rooms, or text messages (Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, 2006).
  • Cyberbullying has increased in recent years. In nationally representative surveys of 10-17 year-olds, twice as many children and youth indicated that they had been victims and perpetrators of online harassment in 2005 compared with 1999/2000 (Wolak, Mitchell, & Finkelhor, 2006).
Who are the victims and perpetrators of cyberbullying?
In a recent study of students in grades 6-8 (Kowalski et al., 2005):
  • Girls were about twice as likely as boys to be victims and perpetrators of cyberbullying.
  • Of those students who had been cyberbullied relatively frequently (at least twice in the last couple of months):
    • 62% said that they had been cyberbullied by another student at school, and 46% had been cyberbullied by a friend.
    • 55% didn't know who had cyberbullied them.
  • Of those students who admitted cyberbullying others relatively frequently:
    • 60% had cyberbullied another student at school, and 56% had cyberbullied a friend.
What are the most common methods of cyberbullying?

In recent studies of middle and high school students, (Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, 2006; Kowalski et al., 2005; Wolak, Mitchell, & Finkelhor, 2006) the most common way that children and youth reported being cyberbullied was through instant messaging. Somewhat less common ways involved the use of chat rooms, e-mails, and messages posted on web sites. A study of younger children (Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, 2006) showed that they were most often bullied through e-mail, comments on a web site, or in a chat room.

Where are children and youth cyberbullied?
In a recent telephone survey of preteens (6-11 year-olds) and teens (12-17 year-olds) (Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, 2006):
  • 45% of preteens and 30% of teens who had been cyberbullied received the messages while at school
  • 44% of preteens and 70% of teens who had been cyberbullied received the messages at home
  • 34% of preteens and 25% of teens who had been cyberbullied received the messages while at a friend's house
Do children tell others if they are cyberbullied?
According to one telephone survey of preteens and teens (Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, 2006):
  • 51% of preteens but only 35% of teens who had been cyberbullied had told their parents about their experience
  • 27% of preteens and only 9% of teens who had been cyberbullied had told a teacher
  • 44% of preteens and 72% of teens who had been cyberbullied had told a friend
  • 31% of preteens and 35% of teens who had been cyberbullied had told a brother or sister
  • 16% of preteens and teens who had been cyberbullied had told no one
How does cyberbullying differ from other traditional forms of bullying?
Although there is little research yet on cyberbullying among children and youth, available research and experience suggest that cyber bullying may differ from more “traditional” forms of bullying in a number of ways including:
  • Cyberbullying can occur any time of the day or night
  • Cyberbullying messages and images can be distributed quickly to a very wide audience
  • Children and youth can be anonymous when cyber bullying, which makes it difficult (and sometimes impossible) to trace them
Information was obtained from: http://stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov/adult/indexAdult.asp?Area=cyberbullying
Other resources include:
Kowalski, R. et al (August, 2005). Electronic Bullying Among School-Aged Children and Youth. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association. Washington, DC.

Opinion Research Corporation (2006). Cyber bully pre-teen. Available at: www.fightcrime.org/cyberbullying/cyberbullyingpreteen.pdf.

Opinion Research Corporation (2006). Cyber bully teen. Available at: www.fightcrime.org/cyberbullying/cyberbullyingteen.pdf.

Wolak, J., Mitchell, K., & Finkelhor, D. (2006). Online victimization of youth: Five years later. National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

Ybarra, M. L., & Mitchell, K. J. (2004). Youth engaging in online harassment: Associations with caregiver-child relationships, Internet use, and personal characteristics. Journal of Adolescence, 27, 319-336.
 
Did you find the information provided to be useful?
Yes, very useful.
Yes, somewhat useful.
No, not very useful.
No, not useful at all.

Click above to vote

 




I am soooo fake pre-loading this image so the navigation doesn't skip while loading the over state. I know I could use the sliding doors technique to avoid this fate, but I am too lazy.