When bullying goes high tech
Author: Elizabeth Landau
5 additions to document , most recent about 10 years ago
| When | Why |
|---|---|
| Nov-02-14 | How teens experience social networks |
| Nov-02-14 | How teens experience social networks |
| Nov-02-14 | How teens experience social networks |
| Nov-02-14 | How teens experience social networks |
| Nov-02-14 | How teens experience social networks |
Hello! Please read the article, view the images, and provide a response to at least two of the following questions:
1.) In your own words, define cyberbullying?
2.) How can cyberbullying be prevented?
3.) Explain the consequences of cyberbullying from a victim’s perspective? From a perpetrator's prospective?
As you are reading the article, add a comment to at least one portion of the article or respond to at least one other comment. Thank you!
(CNN) -- Brandon Turley didn't have friends in sixth grade.He would often eat alone at lunch, having recently switched to his school without knowing anyone.
While browsing MySpace one day, he saw that someone from school had posted a bulletin -- a message visible to multiple people -- declaring that Turley was a "fag." Students he had never even spoken with wrote on it, too, saying they agreed.
Feeling confused and upset, Turley wrote in the comments, too, asking why his classmates would say that.The response was even worse: He was told on MySpace that a group of 12 kids wanted to beat him up, that he should stop going to school and die.On his walk from his locker to the school office to report what was happening, students yelled things like "fag" and "fatty."
"It was just crazy, and such a shock to my self-esteem that people didn't like me without even knowing me," said Turley, now 18 and a senior in high school in Oregon." I didn't understand how that could be."
A pervasive problem
As many as 25% of teenagers have experienced cyberbullying at some point, said Justin W. Patchin, who studies the phenomenon at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.He and colleagues have conducted formal surveys of 15,000 middle and high school students throughout the United States, and found that about 10% of teens have been victims of cyberbullying in the last 30 days.
Online bullying has a lot in common with bullying in school: Both behaviors include harassment, humiliation, teasing and aggression, Patchin said.Cyberbullying presents unique challenges in the sense that the perpetrator can attempt to be anonymous, and attacks can happen at any time of day or night.
Brandon Turley, 18, who experienced cyberbullying in middle school, designed the WeStopHate.org website.
Brandon Turley, 18, who experienced cyberbullying in middle school, designed the WeStopHate.org website.
There's still more bullying that happens at school than online, however, Patchin said.And among young people, it's rare that an online bully will be a total stranger.
"In our research, about 85% of the time, the target knows who the bully is, and it's usually somebody from their social circle," Patchin said.
Patchin's research has also found that, while cyberbullying is in some sense easier to perpetrate, the kids who bully online also tend to bully at school.
"Technology isn't necessarily creating a whole new class of bullies," he said.
Long-lasting consequences
The conversations that need to be happening around cyberbullying extend beyond schools, said Thomas J. Holt, associate professor of criminal justice at Michigan State University.
"How do we extend or find a way to develop policies that have a true impact on the way that kids are communicating with one another, given that you could be bullied at home, from 4 p.m. until the next morning, what kind of impact is that going to have on the child in terms of their development and mental health?" he said.
Holt recently published a study in the International Criminal Justice Review using data collected in Singapore by his colleague Esther Ng.The researchers found that 27% of students who experienced bullying online, and 28% who were victims of bullying by phone text messaging, thought about skipping school or skipped it.That's compared to 22% who experienced physical bullying.
Those who said they were cyberbullied were also most likely to say they had considered suicide -- 28%, compared to 22% who were physically bullied and 26% who received bullying text messages.
Although there may be cultural differences between students in Singapore and the United States, the data on the subject of bullying seems to be similar between the two countries, Holt said.
A recent study in the journal JAMA Psychiatry suggests that both victims and perpetrators of bullying can feel long-lasting psychological effects.Bullying victims showed greater likelihood of agoraphobia, where people don't feel safe in public places, along with generalized anxiety and panic disorder.
Tips for parents
1.Be a good example -- kids often learn bullying behavior from their parents.
2.Teach your child what it means to be a good friend.
3.Make your home a safe haven for kids after school.
4.Use teachable moments on TV to show the power of bystanders.
5.Listen.Don't be in denial about incidents that are brought to your attention.
People who were both victims and bullies were at higher risk for young adult depression, panic disorder, agoraphobia among females, and the likelihood of suicide among males.Those who were only bullies showed a risk of antisocial personality disorder.
Reporting cyberbullying
Since everything we do online has a digital footprint, it is possible to trace anonymous sources of bullying on the Internet, he said.Patchin noted that tangible evidence of cyberbullying may be more clear-cut than "your word against mine" situations of traditional bullying.
Patchin advises that kids who are being cyberbullied keep the evidence, whether it's an e-mail or Facebook post, so that they can show it to adults they trust.Historically, there have been some issues with schools not disciplining if bullying didn't strictly happen at school, but today, most educators realize that they have the responsibility and authority to intervene, Patchin said.
Mother feared bullying would kill her son
Adults can experience cyberbullying also, although there's less of a structure in place to stop it.Their recourse is basically to hire a lawyer and proceed through the courts, Patchin said.
Even in school, though, solutions are not always clear.
Turley's mother called the school on his behalf, but the students involved only got a talking-to as punishment.Cyberbullying wasn't considered school-related behavior, at least at that time, he said.
"I was just so afraid of people," says Turley, explaining why he went to different middle schools each year in sixth, seventh and eighth grade.He stayed quiet through most of it, barely speaking to other students.
Fighting back by speaking out
Turley started slowly merging back into "peopleness" in eighth grade when he started putting video diaries on YouTube.Soon, other students were asking him to help them film school project videos, track meets and other video projects.
In high school, Turley discovered an organization called WeStopHate.org, a nonprofit organization devoted to helping people who have been bullied and allow them a safe space to share their stories.
Emily-Anne Rigal, the founder of the organization, experienced bullying in elementary school, getting picked on for her weight.Although she and Turley lived on opposite sides of the country, they became friends online, united by their passion for stopping bullying.
WeStopHate.org has achieved a wide reach.Rigal has received all sorts of honors for her efforts, from the Presidential Volunteer Service Award to a TeenNick HALO Award presented by Lady Gaga.
Turley designed the WeStopHate.org website and most of its graphics, and is actively involved in the organization.In additional to Rigal, he has many other friends in different states whom he's met over the Internet.
"I got cyberbullied, and I feel like, with that, it made me think, like, well, there has to be somebody on the Internet who doesn't hate me," he said." That kind of just made me search more."
Parental controls
Ashley Berry, 13, of Littleton, Colorado, has also experienced unpleasantness with peers online.When she was 11, a classmate of hers took photos of Ashley and created an entire Facebook page about her, but denied doing it when Ashley confronted the student whom she suspected.
"It had things like where I went to school, and where my family was from and my birthday, and there were no security settings at all, so it was pretty scary," she said.
The page itself didn't do any harm or say mean things, Ashley said.But her mother, Anna Berry, was concerned about the breach of privacy, and viewed it in the context of what else was happening to her daughter in school: Friends were uninviting her to birthday parties and leaving her at the lunch table.
"You would see a girl who should be on top of the world coming home and just closing herself into her bedroom," Berry said.
Berry had to get police involved to have the Facebook page taken down.For seventh grade, her current year, Ashley entered a different middle school than the one her previous school naturally fed into.She says she's a lot happier now, and does media interviews speaking out against bullying.
These days, Berry has strict rules for her daughter's online behavior.She knows Ashley's passwords, and she's connected with her daughter on every social network that the teen has joined (except Instagram, but Ashley has an aunt there).Ashley won't accept "friend" requests from anyone she doesn't know.
Technical solutions to technical problems
Parents, extended relatives, Internet service providers and technology providers can all be incorporated in thinking about how children use technology, Holt said.
Apps that control how much time children spend online, and other easy-to-use parental control devices, may help, Holt said.There could also be apps to enable parents to better protect their children from certain content and help them report bullying.
Scientists at Massachusetts Institute of Technology are working on an even more automated solution.They want to set up a system that would give bullying victims coping strategies, encourage potential bullies to stop and think before posting something offensive, and allow onlookers to defend victims, said Henry Lieberman.
Lieberman's students Birago Jones and Karthik Dinakar are working on an algorithm that would automatically detect bullying language.The research group has broken down the sorts of offensive statements that commonly get made, grouping them into categories such as racial/ethnic slurs, intelligence insults, sexuality accusations and social acceptance/rejection.
While it's not all of the potential bullying statements that could be made online, MIT Media Lab scientists have a knowledge base of about 1 million statements.They've thought about how some sentences, such as "you look great in lipstick and a dress," can become offensive if delivered to males specifically.
The idea is that if someone tries to post an offensive statement, the potential bully would receive a message such as "Are you sure you want to send this?" and some educational material about bullying may pop up.Lieberman does not want to automatically ban people, however.
"If they reflect on their behavior, and they read about the experience of others, many kids will talk themselves out of it," he said.
Lieberman and colleagues are using their machine learning techniques on the MTV-partnered website "A Thin Line," where anyone can write in their stories of cyberbullying, read about different forms of online disrespect, and find resources for getting help.The researchers' algorithm tries to detect the theme or topic of each story, and match it to other similar stories.They're finding that the top theme is sexting, Lieberman said.
"We're trying to find social network sites that want to partner with us, so we can get more of this stuff out into the real world," Lieberman said.
Turley and Rigal, who is now a freshman at Columbia University, are currently promoting the idea of having a "bully button" on Facebook so that people can formally report cyberbullying to the social network and have bullies suspended for a given period of time.They haven't gotten a response yet, but they're hopeful that it will take off.
In the meantime, Turley is feeling a lot safer in school than he used to.
"Times have changed definitely, where people are becoming slowly more aware," he said." At my school, at least, I'm seeing a lot less bullying and a more acceptance overall.People just stick to their own."
Added November 02, 2014 at 10:09pm
Title: How teens experience social networks
Added November 02, 2014 at 10:09pm
Title: How teens experience social networks
Added November 02, 2014 at 10:10pm
Title: How teens experience social networks
Added November 02, 2014 at 10:11pm
Title: How teens experience social networks
Added November 02, 2014 at 10:11pm
Title: How teens experience social networks
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Hi, is this a formal or informal greeting?
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and making mean comments about others witch is not cool
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It would be nice to elaborate on what you mean here.
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In my opinion, cyber bullying is making threats (verbally, physically), harassing, or speaking ill will about/towards someone with the intention of causing mental, physical damage.
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For me, cyberbullying is a recent term that has emerged regarding the language and actions people use through the internet and on social media. More specifically, it is language that is used negatively to target, threaten, and/or degrade an individual in a online setting.
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Cyberbullying is the next generation of bullying, where people can attack each other through online mediums and wreak havoc on each other’s emotional wellbeing virtually.
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The issue is that “bullying” is very subjective. What happened to Turley was an extreme that does not happen much. My friends call me dumb names too, but I find it funny. Some people don’t like being called stupid, some know when it’s a joke. That being said, there is a time and place and a person you need to consider. Anything you say online that is opinionated can be taken as a personal insult, some people also need to view the other side, wether you are insensitive or very.
When I say it’s subjective I mean it. Some people truly are joking, others hear something and they take it against themselves when it had nothing to do with them. Bullying greatly depends on how the “Victim” views himself. Now with Turley that was obvious bullying. That was intended to harm him. I hope little people share his experience.
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At the time, I thought it was a little ridiculous. Now that I’m older, I certainly understand. Especially since younger and younger children are becoming active on the internet. Besides, many kids won’t seek help, not from any sort of authority figure, until the problem becomes too severe, and they no longer know how even to begin to cope.
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I agree that parent involvement is one of the most important tools in preventing inappropriate online behavior. This will require many parents to educate themselves on the new forms of social media popular amongst their kids’ generation. Not all parents have the luxury of time and resources to do this, so it would be even better if schools had an anti-cyberbullying curriculum like the regular bullying ones I remember from school. Also clear school consequences to deter cyberbullying behavior.
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To certain extent, yes, authority figures should monitor children’t online personas, but we shouldn’t interfere too much with their privacy, as we need to realize they still deserve the right to protect their personal lives. It’s a tricky situation. There’s a fine line between observing a child’s cyber activity and intruding completely on their personal space.
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In my mind, a child should not have online privacy. Children are prone to mistakes and there are some very bad things online. Now there is a point in taking something too far, but a parent has the responsibility of knowing what their child is doing.
When you say child I assume you are referring to a teenager, but those are the ones who need monitored closer. You should not hide things from your parents, especially if you feel the need to not tell them.
Thats just my opinion anyways.
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I think cyberbullying is going to continue to be very difficult to prevent, especially from school. I think a lot of the influence of bullying comes from home and the environment students are coming from. Although we can not prevent it however I do believe we can create serious consequences that teach students that bullying is not okay. It is important that teachers and parents take bullying, especially cyberbullying seriously.
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It takes a village to raise a child. Some of the points they outlined was having parents heavily involved, meaning your kids learn how to respond and socialize from the parents. Meaning they learn how to be a victim and how to bully. Parents can also use teachable moments from tv on the power of the bystander. It really is about how the victim responds that can perpetuate the bullying.
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It must feel pretty terrible to be a victim of cyberbullying, It must feel like you can never escape the abuse. It used to be getting home from school and turning on the TV or computer could provide the relief of an escape, but now the abusers even lurk in these relaxing past times. When adults don’t know how to protect you, it must feel very hopeless, like you either deserve the abuse or the world is set up to abuse you and you better get used to it as there is no way to stop it.
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Kids need to be comfortable in their own skin. Eliminating bullying completely is like living in a fantasy world. As an adult, bullying still exists, it’s just part of being human. Sometimes, people are cruel and mean, for whatever reason, and it sucks, and sometimes there’s nothing anyone can do about it, but it’s important for kids, teachers, and adults to realize that we all have something important to provide our community, and if you don’t, somebody out there still loves you.
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Because my family moved a few times, I attended 8 schools K-12, in three different states. Each time I had to reestablish my identity because you are pretty much a cypher when you arrive. I had the full range of experiences, but I did come to one conclusion…it’s a two-edged sword. Each time you have a challenge like that it’s both a threat and an opportunity, and if you grasp the opportunities the experience can be a very rewarding one.
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You’re right, Chase. Bullying as a domination tactic is used in various degrees throughout the business world. Years ago there was a business book called Winning through Intimidation that was popular. Experience with verbal techniques to counter intimidation is important, but developing self-confidence in key situations is a must.
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When students post things up on social media they are hoping for positive comments and approval. I don’t think anyone posts things up expecting to be bullyied or offended. When a student is bullied online it becomes public and quickly spreads to other students. The victim of bullying is definitely going to develop low self-esteem and feel hurt and disliked.
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Honestly, children are harshly critical people. Sally may not like Jenny’s hair or Amy may be really grossed out by the boy that asked her out and she wants to tell her friends about it. We live in a digital age and posting feelings/thoughts/concerns/criticisms on social media is second nature to children and teens today. Diaries come in the form of Facebook or blogs these days. The realization that posting such negative comments about another person on the internet becomes available to that person, and affects their self esteem does not often cross their mind as they are typing the comment.
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I like to stress to children that the Internet takes everything we say and memorializes it…kind of like the old caution about something going on your permanent record…you do not want to put things out there that you will live to regret.
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Kids (and adults) somehow gain the “courage” to say whatever they want to say because they are in the safety of their own homes and protected by their computer screens. A lot of them make posts anonymously and therefore it is harder for people to track down who made what post. Even if they are caught, the most that students get is a warning.
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Particularly among adolescents, I think it is easy to do terrible things if the trade-off is acceptance amongst peers. I also think the digital medium makes it feel less “real” so kids say things they would never say to a person’s face. You can see this same behavior in adults, just check out the comments of virtually any article, youtube video, famous persona’s facebook or twitter. I think it doesn’t feel like your words are landing on a real person. It must make the bully feel powerful and excited about the approval of other peers.
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Stories like this one is the reason why many schools have implemented nationwide anti-bully programs in October. These programs help make students aware of what exactly bullying is and looks like as well as the consequences of bullying.
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I’ve only been in a school environment as a student teacher for a few months. But withing the first week I was there I saw instances of cyberbullying where girls were taking pictures of another girl with the goal of laughing at her.
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Cyberbullying should be addressed in schools by teachers and counselors but should be reinforced by parents at home as well. I feel that parents should monitor their child’s presence on the internet, especially regarding social media sites and apps. I also feel that sites should monitor for negative comments as well (in an ideal world). I know that Facebook has an option to report a comment that is inappropriate, and more sites should have this option as well. In order to begin to stop cyberbullying, schools and parents must unite, and with the support of the sites being abused on board as well.
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Zachary, I don’t think there is a sure-fire way to protect students. All teachers, parents, and others need to remain vigilant constantly.
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Since cyberbullying occurs outside of the realm of school, I’m not sure how educators can really put a stop to this. Bullying in school and on school property is one thing but they don’t really have the authority to stop it outside of school do they? It just seems like a gray area. However, someone does need to take action in helping to prevent and fight cyberbullying and it should be the responsibility of the parents as well as the law.
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The “fighting back and you are a snitch” notion does not apply to bullying. If a child does come to an adult to speak about them being bullied, it should be taken seriously. Many children do not speak up because they are scared of what the outcome will be. On the other hand, many children are embarrassed to tell anyone that they are being bullied. In regards to speaking out, children need to be placed in an environment where they feel safe enough to come to someone in the case that they are being bullied. There is also the importance of the adult figures to take responsibility when they see something suspicious or even close to a bullying incident. There are too many cases where a child opens up to a teacher and the teacher does not do anything to resolve the problem. There was just a recent case about a 13 year old boy from Staten Island, NY Daniel Fitzpatrick, who told his teachers about the bullying but nobody did anything. Following that, he came home and committed suicide, leaving a note stating that nobody paid attention to his pleas.
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I like the idea of using advanced algorithm data processing to cut down on bullying within the cyber realm. However, the data must be constantly monitored and updated to keep track of the many creative ways kids and students learn how to ridicule others. Furthermore, As they said, it’s not justly effective to kick people off, but rather, educate them on bullying, and the consequences of their actions, and then if nothing changes, kick them off completely.
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Are these polls that people have taken? I found the racial differences graph most interesting. Even though there are more Hispanic users on social networks than White and the difference between the numbers of Hispanic and Black seems insignificant, the Hispanic population found that their peers were “mostly kind” to each other.
I’ve also noticed this trend on sites like Youtube, where the videos are often trolled by cyberbullies.
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Thats 90% black compared to 83% white who have social media. Im not sure if that has anything to do with what you said because I kind of trailed off but theres some numbers. With the lower number of colored people of course the percent will change more.
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The graphs are a little confusing to me. I am having a hard time drawing a conclusion from the data. It seems like cyberbullying is pretty evenly spread amongst the different users of internet. The only one that really stuck out to me was the higher proportion of cruel online behavior reported by females. This doesn’t surprise me as I think about the scrutiny women are under in other public mediums, like politics or the red carpet, where their appearance is constantly brought under comment and ridicule at a much higher rate than their make counterparts.
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