RAISING DIGITAL CITIZENS
By: Karen A. Fiorillo EdD and Elizabeth Young EdD
ABSTRACT
Raising digital citizens is the job of all stakeholders. Parents, supervising school personnel,
administrators, and the local authorities play a role in cyber-safety. A need exists to implement
programs and training opportunities related to cyberbullying awareness and prevention.
Behaviors of cyberbullying are difficult to identify. Increasing awareness of the dangers of
cyberbullying and inappropriate websites may encourage school age children to make better
decisions when using personal digital devices such as cell phones, iPads, and the computer to
interact with peers. It is never too early to introduce children to netiquette. All stakeholders
must educate themselves on the trending websites designed to lure unsuspecting victims into the
sites.
PAPER
The purpose of this exploratory single-case study was to discover through personal
interviews how K-12 guidance counselors perceived the covert behaviors of cyberbullies and
cyber-victims as well as suggest ways administrators might provide training to help supervising
personnel identify cyberbullying behaviors. Participants in the study were guidance counselors
from a Southeastern Pennsylvania Suburban School district who handled cases of cyberbullying
in the school environment. Counselor interviews occurred in a face-to-face setting then
culminated in a focus group to explore the cyberbullying behaviors and training. Data were
transcribed using Dragon Naturally Speaking® software and verified with counselors using the
member checking process. Interview data were analyzed using NVivo 10® software to uncover
three themes: all users of personal digital devices are susceptible to cyberbullying, any student
can be involved in cyberbullying, and behaviors of the cyberbully and cyber-victim are difficult
to identify. Focus group data were analyzed to uncover two themes: parents, supervising
personnel, administrators, and the local authorities play a role in cyber-safety and a need exists to
implement programs and training related to cyberbullying awareness and prevention. Behaviors
of cyberbullying were difficult to identify resulting in a recommendation for training of staff and
students. Guidance counselors perceived the need for additional training for teachers and staff to
be more proactive when managing cyberbullying behaviors of students.
School system administrators who experience budget cuts or reduced technology
spending implement policies allowing students to bring your own device (BYOD) to school
(Burfield, 2011). The intent of BYOD is to supplement the schools’ lack of adequate technology
to accomplish instructional goals. Researchers agree even when cyberbullying does not originate
at school, cyberbullying activity filters into the school and becomes a school problem (Ang &
Goh, 2010; Bauman, Rigby, & Hoppa, 2008; Burrow-Sanchez, Call, Zheng, & Drew, 2011;
Cassidy, Brown, & Jackson, 2012). The BYOD initiative was designed to save school districts
money, but management of student behavior while using PDDs can be daunting (Goff, 2011;
Gatewood, 2012). A moral and legal obligation exists for school personnel to protect students
from inappropriate cyber-activity (Nye, 2014; Shariff & Hoff, 2007) Educators must recognize
cyberbullying behavior to maintain a safe environment for students (Cassidy, Brown, & Jackson,
2012, Force, 2013). When cyberbullying becomes a problem at school, counselors are most
often the personnel who become involved.
The general problem in this exploratory single-case study was supervising personnel
cannot always identify the covert student behaviors that often lead to cyberbullying (Davison &
Stein, 2014). The specific problem in this exploratory single-case study was cyberbullying can
occur at school because supervising personnel do not have specific training provided by
administrators in identifying the cyberbullying behaviors (Katzer, Fetchenhauer, & Belschak,
2009; Swan & Park, 2012). In the personal interviews and focus group, guidance counselors
provided answers to help explore the problem of supervising personnel not always being able to
identify the behaviors associated with cyberbullies and cyber-victims. The guidance counselors
in this exploratory case study work with all students in the K-12 environment.
To support the purpose of this exploratory case study, two central research questions
were constructed to seek a more thorough understanding of covert student cyberbullying
behaviors. The first central research question was how do guidance counselors perceive the
covert behaviors of cyberbullies and cyber-victims. The second central research question was
posed to the counselors in the focus group, what suggestions can be offered to school
administrators to help supervising personnel identify the covert behaviors of cyberbullies and
cyber-victims. During the focus group, the guidance counselors discussed strategies and
programs to implement in the district. Recommendations included training of supervising
personnel by district instructional technology teachers and specialists.
Emergent Themes from the Study
Theme 1: All users of personal digital devices are susceptible to cyberbullying. If students
possess a PDD, interact on social media, contribute to blogs, post videos of oneself or others, or
text, the school age children are susceptible to cyberbullying. One comment can spur a viral
spread of positive or negative remarks. Perceptions of comments may be misconstrewed by
readers and cause a trickle down effect. Comments made to a post can grow and morph into
more than a child can handle or deserve.
Based on the perceptions of the guidance counselors, early intervention is essential when
identifying covert incidences of cyberbulling. If a student is mature enough to make the correct
decision and act quickly by removing the post and blocking any inappropriate commenters,
severe repercussions may be averted. If the posts are more than the child can handle, referring
the situation to a responsible adult is a feasible coping skill to resolve the problem.
Theme 2: Any student can be involved in cyberbullying School age students must be aware
and prepared to interact safely on PDDs. No matter who the student is or what demographic the
student represents, each child can be a victim of cyberbullying behavior. Students who are
cyberbullied may retaliate and become cyberbullies. Students who have been face-to-face
bullied in the past may find cyberbullying as a new platform to strike back at the students who
have bullied in the past.
The anonymity of users on the Internet enables school age children to verbally attack
others easily and without consequence. The ease in splicing together videos using online
applications such as Vine® enables cyberbullies to make deceiving videos. The short videos
may be unrelated but appear as if a school age child did or said something viewers might see as
entertaining. Video cyberbullying is another example of the deliberate harm shown to other
students using PDDs. Unsuspecting students may be victimized when students have done
nothing to deserve the mistreatment.
Theme 3: Behaviors of the cyberbully and cyber-victim are difficult to identify. Because
cyberbullying activity is a quiet and personal experience at first, recognizing symptoms is
difficult. Unless a student reaches out for help, a parent presents evidence of cyberbullying
activity, or a bystander steps up to report an incident, supervising personnel have no way of
knowing what students are doing on their PDDs. Although members of the sample provided
several scenarios that might describe a student involved in cyberbullying activity, no definining
characteristics or signs surfaced to clearly identify a student involved in cyberbullying as a
perpetrator or victim.
Because more students are bringing PDDs to school, supervising personnel who are
teaching now have another responsibility in the classroom when managing the technology use of
all students. Students may appear engaged on the devices when actually, the school age children
may be accessing sites to harm others. Supervising personnel must not compromise student
rights. At the same time, supervising personnel also need to maintain the safety of all students.
Emergent Themes from the Focus Group
Theme 1: Parents, supervising personnel, administrators, and the local authorities play a
role in cyber-safety. Early and frequent intervention by responsible adults who are role models
to the school age children involved in cyberbullying behavior are key to managing the activity of
students at school especially when the behavior carries into the home. The same intervention
should take place at home so the problem is solved before it carries into school. While at school,
supervising personnel should inform students of the dangers of the Internet.
Preparing the school age children with reporting options, mediation activities, clubs, and
coping skills to withstand the treatment are steps toward combatting cyberbullying. Local law
officials may address the students through the D.A.R.E. program, which is presented to the
students in small groups. Giving the students a voice and a chance to ask questions in a nonthreatening environment may prepare the students for digital interaction. The training may also
give the students a reporting voice to help protect other students who may be victimized by
cyberbullies.
Allowing supervising personnel to participate in the D.A.R.E. activities may give the
school staff an opportunity to communicate with the students who may not feel comfortable
reporting cyberbullying activity to a staff member. Knowing supervising personnel care and
want the students to have a voice against cyberbullying is a step toward reducing incidences of
victimization.
Theme 2: A need exists to implement programs and training related to cyberbullying
awareness and prevention. Cyberbullying awareness and prevention programs for all
stakeholders including students, parents, bus drivers, coaches, supervising personnel, and
guidance counselors should be offered by administrators. The training may be an in-service
program, after school workshop with technology integration specialists or members of the
instructional technology team, online video training, summer workshop, or self-paced webinar.
If all stakeholders participate in the training, are taught how to recognize cyberbullying
behaviors, and can empower students to speak up against cyberbullying, awareness and coping
skills will continue to flourish.
All stakeholders should become more aware of Internet jargon, be familiar with the new
social media platforms and applications the children are using. Teachers and support staff can
participate in role play in the classroom to demonstrate for the children what cyberbullying looks
like and what cyberbullying can do to a person’s self-esteem. Guidance counselors and
technology integration specialists can be invited to speak to the teachers students about the
dangers and repercussions of cyberbullying behavior. Students should be encouraged to step up
and take a stand against cyberbullying.
The perceptions as articulated by the guidance counselors in this exploratory study do not
suggest the need to modify an existing theory; rather suggest the need for additional research.
Any student can assume the role of a cyberbully or cyber-victim. The roles of students can
change . Supervising personnel and student training are needed in the area of digital citizenship
and Internet safety pertaining to identification of cyberbullying behaviors.
References
Ang, R., & Goh, D. (2010). Cyberbullying among adolescents: The role of affective and
cognitive empathy, and gender. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 41, 387-397.
Bauman, S., Rigby, K., & Hoppa, K. (2008). U.S. teachers’ and school counselors’
strategies for handling school bullying incidences. Educational Psychology 28, 837-856.
Burfield, C. (2011). Extending face-to-face learning through cloud tools. Distance
Learning, 8, 1-5.
Burrow-Sanchez, J., Call, M. E., Zheng, R., & Drew, C. J. (2011). How school counselors can
help prevent online victimization. Journal of Counseling and Development: JCD, 89, 310.
Cassidy, W., Brown, K., & Jackson, M. (2012). Under the radar: Educators and cyberbullying
in schools. School Psychology International, 33, 520-532.
doi:10.1177/0143034312445245
Davison, C. B. & Stein, C. H. (2014). The dangers of cyberbullying. North American
Journal of Psychology, 16, 595-606.
Force, C. M. (2013). An exploratory case study of how middle school principals of small rural
schools address cyberbullying (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from ProQuest
Dissertations & Theses. (UMI No. 1444162801)
Goff, W. (2011). The shades of grey of cyberbullying in Australian schools. Australian
Journal of Education, 55, 176-181.
Gatewood, B. (2012). The nuts and bolts of making BYOD work. Information Management, 46,
26-30, 47.
Katzer, C., Fetchenhauer, D., & Belschak, F. (2009). Cyberbullying: Who are the victims? A
comparison of victimization in Internet chatrooms and victimization in school.
Journal of Media Psychology, 21, 25-36. doi:1010.1027/1864-21.1.25
Nye, M. R. (2014). A case study of promising practices of anti-cyberbullying efforts in a middle
school. (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations and Theses.
(UMI No. 1559196104)
Shariff, S., & Hoff, D. L. (2007). Cyberbullying: Clarifying legal boundaries for school
supervision in cyberspace. International Journal of Cyber Criminology, 1, 76118.
Swan, G., & Park, M. (2012). Students need a digital driver's license before they start their
engines. Learning & Leading with Technology, 40, 26-28.