Online Aggression
CYBERBULLYING
Cyberbullying
 Definition (Cyberbullying Research Center)
Willful and repeated harm inflicted through the use of
computers, cell phones and other electronic devices.
Willful = deliberate
Repeated = not isolated incident
Harm = target MUST perceive that harm was inflicted
How is it Different?
 Differs from traditional bullying in the
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following ways:
Anonymous
Not face to face (emboldens bullies)
Immediate impact of words not observed
Mass audience
Very difficult to contain/control
Less understood by adults
No refuge
Types of Cyberbullying
 “Impersonation”: Pretending to be someone else and
sending or posting material online that makes that
person look bad, gets that person in trouble or danger, or
damages that person’s reputation or friendships
 “Outing and Trickery”: Sharing someone’s secret or
embarrassing information online. Tricking someone into
revealing secrets or embarrassing information which is
then shared online
 “Exclusion”: Intentionally excluding someone from an
on-line group, like a ‘buddy list’
{Nancy Willard, M.S., J.D., Director of the Center for Safe and Responsible
Internet Use}
Types of Cyberbullying
 “Flaming’: Online fights using electronic messages with
angry and vulgar language
 “Harassment”: Repeatedly sending offensive, rude, and
insulting messages
 “Cyber stalking”: Repeatedly sending messages that
include threats of harm or are highly intimidating.
Engaging in other on-line activities that make a person
afraid for his or her own safety
 “Denigration”: Disrespecting someone online. Sending
or posting cruel gossip or rumors about a person to
damage his or her reputation or friendships
Categories of Cyberbullies
“Inadvertent”
 Role-play
 Responding
 May not realize it’s cyber
bullying
“Vengeful Angel”
 Righting wrongs
 Protecting themselves
“Mean Girls”
 Bored; Entertainment
 Ego based; promote own social
status
 Often do in a group
 Intimidate on and off line
 Need others to bully; if isolated,
“Power-Hungry”
 Want reaction
 Controlling with fear
“Revenge of the Nerds”
(“Subset of Power-Hungry”)
 Often Victims of school-yard
bullies
 Throw ‘cyber-weight’ around
 Not school-yard bullies like
Power-Hungry & Mean Girls
stop
{Parry Aftab. Esq., Executive Director, WiredSafety.org}
Extent of Cyberbullying
 Cyberbullying Research Center (2007)
2,000 middle school students:
17.3% - yes: have you ever been cyberbullied?
17.6% - admitted to cyberbullying others
12% - reported being both a victim and a bully
Extent of Cyberbullying
42.9% experienced at least one of the following
the last 30 days:
1. Received an upsetting email or instant message
2. Had something posted on Myspace that made
them upset
3. Been made fun of in a chatroom
4. Had something posted online they didn’t want
others to see.
5. Been afraid to get on the computer
Emotional and Psychological Consequences
 Depression: feelings of worthlessness,
hopelessness, lonely, rejected, isolated, suicidal
ideations
 Anxiety: fear of going to school or attending a
certain class, frequent trips to the nurse, hanging
around teachers classroom, avoidance of the
cafeteria
 Anger: feelings of revenge, wanting to get even,
wanting others to suffer the
way they have
Emotional and Psychological Consequences
 14 year old girl from Illinois:
“It makes me depressed a lot. It affected me for about 3-4 years. I
hated being cyberbullied. I would come home and just cry. It really
hurt.”
 12 year old girl from Massachusetts:
“It lowers my self-esteem. It makes me feel really crappy. It makes
me walk around the rest of the day feeling worthless, like no one
cares. It makes me very, very depressed.”
Behavioral Consequences
 Avoidance or withdrawal from others, social isolation
 Hyper-vigilance: always scanning, surveilling area
 Lack of interpersonal skills: suspicious of others, difficulty
trusting
 Likely to engage in escapism: computer gaming, substance
abuse, internet relationships (with strangers)

Lack of participation in “real-life” activities
 Self-harm or suicide
 Harm to others
Link Between Suicide and Bullying
 Cyberbullying Research Center:
ALL forms of peer aggression increased the likelihood
that the respondent attempted suicide.
Traditional bullying victims – 1.7 x more likely
Traditional bullying offenders – 2.1 x more likely
Cyberbullying victims – 1.9 x more likely
Cyberbullying offenders – 1.5 x more likely
* More likely to have ATTEMPTED suicide
Link Between Bullying and Suicide
 Bullycide and Cyberbullicide – suicides
directly or indirectly influenced by
experiences of being bullied.
 NOT likely to be the sole cause of suicide.
Oftentimes, there are underlying emotional
or social issues going on in their lives.
 Exacerbates instability and hopelessness in
the minds of adolescents already struggling
with stressful life circumstances.
Resources
 Sameer Hinduja, Ph.D
Cyberbullying Research Center
 Justin W. Patchin, Ph.D
Cyberbullying Research Center

Nancy Willard, M.S., J.D., Director of the Center for Safe and Responsible
Internet Use
 Cyberbullying Research Summaries:
 Cyberbullying and Suicide
 Emotional and Psychological Consequences
• Permission granted by Sameer Hinduja to use direct excerpts from
research summaries.
• www. cyberbullying.us
• Youtube: Anti-Bullying Animation