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Cyber bullying (cyber-bullying, online bullying) is the use of electronic information and communication devices such as e-mail, instant messaging, text messages, Blogs, mobile phones, pagers, Instant messages and defamatory websites to bully or otherwise harass an individual or group through personal attacks or other means, and it may constitute a computer crime. Cyberbullying is willful and repeated harm inflicted through the medium of electronic text. Like bullying, cyberbullying involves recurring harm and can be distinguished from peer harassment as a subset of aggressive behavior because bullying represents a pattern of behavior committed over a period of time. The term cyberbullying was first used by Canadian educator Bill Belsey, creator of the Web site www.bullying.org.
Examples of cyberbullying
One of the more recognized instances of cyberbullying occurred when Eric Harris, one of the killers in the Columbine High School massacre, put up a web site where he discussed murdering his fellow students, although no action was taken against Harris by the authorities at the time. Another notable example was the Star Wars kid whose classmates uploaded illegally obtained video footage of him posing as the Star Wars character Darth Maul onto Kazaa in 2003. The footage was downloaded extensively and modified causing the subject extensive embarrassment resulting in treatment in a psychiatric hospital.
People Magazine (March 21, 2005) reported on a case involving a 13 year old boy who committed suicide as a result of cyberbullying. Classmates had been taunting and teasing him about his size via instant messages for about a month.
Issues specific to cyberbullying
Certain characteristics inherent in these technologies increase the likelihood that they will be exploited for deviant purposes. Personal computers offer several advantages to individuals inclined to harass others. First, electronic bullies can remain “virtually” anonymous. Temporary email accounts and pseudonyms in chat rooms, instant messaging programs, and other Internet venues can make it very difficult for individuals to determine the identity of aggressors. Cyberbullies can hide behind some measure of anonymity when using the text-message capabilities of a cellular phone or their personal computer to bully another individual, which perhaps frees them from normative and social constraints on their behavior. Further, it seems that cyberbullies might be emboldened when using electronic means to carry out their antagonistic agenda because it takes less energy and courage to express hurtful comments using a keypad or a keyboard than with one’s voice. Additionally, cyberbullies do not have to be larger and stronger than their victims, as had been the case in traditional bullying. Instead of a victim being several years younger and drastically weaker than his bully, the cyberbully can be just about anyone imaginable.
Second, electronic forums lack supervision. While chat hosts regularly observe the dialog in some chat rooms in an effort to police conversations and evict offensive individuals, personal messages sent between users are viewable only by the sender and the recipient, and therefore outside the regulatory reach of the proper authorities. Furthermore, there are no individuals to monitor or censor offensive content in electronic mail or text messages sent via computer or cellular phone. Another problem is the increasingly common presence of computers in the private environments of adolescent bedrooms. Indeed, teenagers often know more about computers and cellular phones than their parents and are therefore able to operate the technologies without worry or concern that a probing parent will discover their experience with bullying (whether as a victim or offender).
In a similar vein, the inseparability of a cellular phone from its owner makes that person a perpetual target for victimization. Users often need to keep it turned on for legitimate uses, which provides the opportunity for those with malicious intentions to engage in persistent unwelcome behavior such as harassing telephone calls or threatening and insulting statements via the cellular phone’s text messaging capabilities. There may truly be “no rest for the weary” as cyberbullying penetrates the walls of a home, traditionally a place where victims could seek refuge.
Research
Hinduja and Patchin (In Review) completed a study in the summer of 2005 of approximately 1500 Internet-using adolescents and found that over one-third of youth reported being victimized online and over 16% of respondents admitted to cyberbullying others. While most of the instances of cyber bullying involved relatively minor behavior (40% were disrespected, 18% were called names), over 12% were physically threatened and about 5% were scared for their safety. Notably, less than 15% of victims told an adult about the incident.
According to a 2005 survey by the National Children's Home charity and Tesco Mobile of 770 youth between the ages of 11 and 19, 20% of respondents revealed that they had been bullied via electronic means. Almost three-fourths (73%) stated that they knew the bully, while 26% stated that the offender was a stranger. Another interesting finding was that 10% indicated that another person has taken a picture of them via a cellular phone camera, consequently making them feel uncomfortable, embarrassed, or threatened. Many youth are not comfortable telling an authority figure about their cyberbullying victimization; while 24% and 14% told a parent or teacher respectively, 28% did not tell anyone while 41% told a friend (National Children’s Home, 2005).
A 2004 survey by i-Safe America of 1,556 students from grades 4 to 8 found that 42% had been bullied online and 35% had been threatened. As well, 53% had said hurtful things to others online.
A survey by the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire in 2000 found that 6% of the young people in the survey had experienced some form of harassment including threats and negative rumours and two per cent had suffered distressing harassment. In the UK, a study in 2002 by NCH, a children's charity found that one in four students had been the victim of bullying online.
Further reading
- Berson, I. R., Berson, M. J., & Ferron, J. M. (2002). Emerging risks of violence in the digital age: Lessons for educators from an online study of adolescent girls in the United States. Journal of School Violence, 1(2), 51-71.
- Hinduja, S. & Patchin, J. W. (In Review). Cyberbullying: A Preliminary Profile of Offending and Victimization. Manuscript in review.
- Keith, S. & Martin, M. E. (2005). Cyber-bullying: Creating a Culture of Respect in a Cyber World. Reclaiming Children & Youth, 13(4), 224-228.
- National Children's Home. (2005). Putting U in the picture. Mobile Bullying Survey 2005. * Available: http://www.nch.org.uk/uploads/documents/Mobile_bullying_%20report.pdf, September 4, 2005.
- Patchin, J. W. & Hinduja, S. (2006). Bullies move beyond the schoolyard: A preliminary look at cyberbullying. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 4(2), 148-169. Available: http://yvj.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/4/2/148
- Ybarra, M. L. & Mitchell, J. K. (2004). Online aggressor/targets, aggressors and targets: A comparison of associated youth characteristics. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 45, 1308-1316.
See also
External links
"Cyber-bullying"