Flor Lee
Good Work
The Modern Bully
Billitteri, Thomas J. "Cyberbullying." CQ Researcher 18.17 : 385-408. CQ Researcher
Online. Web. 11/11/2013.
This article presents the prevalence of cyberbullying in youth , ranging from mild insults
to more severe, emotionally detrimental attacks. Among millions of teens and young adults,
more girls than boys experience cyberbullying, particularly in younger ages. Though some
cyberbullies are frustrated outcasts or vengeful loners, experts note that others can be wellknown, confident students attempting to solidify their social standing by belittling those below
them. Billitteri argues that the prevalence of technology use and higher presence of social media
led to the increase in cyberbullying. Another possible cause for this increase stems from an
“angrier” culture, according to Marke Weiss, education director of Operation Respect. This
source also expands on the possible necessitation of new laws to limit cyberbullying, and what
precautions Congress is taking currently to curb the online attacks. Toward the end of the
journal, Billitteri includes a pro and con list regarding school control of off-campus
cyberbullying, both sides represented by professionals.
This source definitely exposes the obviously negative nature of cyberbullying, but it
brings up interesting opposing viewpoints regarding free speech and online expression. For this
reason, I do think Billitteri’s journal is credible and fairly unbiased. He cites numerous scholars
and professionals in the field, which solidifies the credibility of his work. According to his blurb,
he earned a BA in English and an MA in journalism at Indiana University and has written about
education and mental-health policy, which establishes his extensive knowledge regarding
students and their emotional responses to cyberbullying.
"Cyber Bullying: Statistics and Tips" i-SAFE. i-SAFE Inc, 2012. Web. 5 Dec, 2013.
<http://www.isafe.org/outreach/media/media_cyber_bullying>.
Dehue, Francine, Catherine Bolman, and Trijntje Völlink. "Cyberbullying:
Youngsters' Experiences and Parental Perception." Cyber Psychology and
Behavior 11.2 (2008): n. pag. Print.
This journal describes parental perceptions of cyberbullying, and how most adults
establish rules for their children regarding Internet usage, though many did not know that their
child participated in bullying or was a victim of bullying. The percentage of parents stating that
their child bullied others online, 4.8%, is significantly lower than the percentage of children
claiming that they have bullied others online, 17.3%. This journal provides many useful statistics
and data regarding parental perspectives on bullying, and shows that more parents must be aware
of cyberbullying surrounding their kids.
This source is credible because it is a scholarly journal compiled by three authors who
have earned Ph.D’s, and the study was commissioned by the Southern Limburg Regional Public
Health Service, the Netherlands. It provides well-constructed data directly extracted from
surveys to support its claims.
Feinberg, Ted, and Nicole Robey. "Cyberbullying." Principal Leadership: High School
Edition 9.1 (2008): 10-14. Education Full Text (H.W. Wilson). Web. 4 Dec. 2013.
This magazine geared toward educators, such as principals and teachers, provides useful tips
for both students and parents on how to face cyberbullying. It also mentions the types of
cyberbullying, including flaming, harassment, denigration, impersonation, trickery, and
exclusion. Cyberbullying can result in depressive psychological effects: “depression, anxiety,
low self-esteem, physiological complaints, problems concentrating, school failure, and school
avoidance” (Feinberg). Cyberbullies can remain anonymous and persistent, for they cannot face
any dire consequences. Solid and working relationships with parents and peers tend to mitigate
these harmful effects of cyberbullying.
I used this source mainly for my “Tips for Parents and Students” section, where I clearly
catalog the main precautions both parties should take toward cyberbullying. I thought it was
credible because the National Association of Secondary School Principals published the
magazine.
Hannah, Margaret. "Cyberbullying Education for Parents: A Guide for Clinicians."
Journal of Social Sciences 6.4 (2010): 532-6. ProQuest. Web. 5 Dec. 2013.
This guide, based on child development, parenting, and cyberbullying research, educates
clinicians on how to assist parents with various methods of preventing cyberbullying. Parents
have a misconstrued perspective that they cannot keep up with today's digital age, using that as
an excuse to not interfere with their children's online lives. In addition, teenagers attempt to keep
their online lives hidden from their parents. Hannah notes that although the problem of
cyberbullying is fairly recent and new to the parental generation, the common issue of bullying
isn't. Parents should feel confident in their knowledge of the latter, which has been a societal
problem for many, many years.
This source is credible because it is a guide given to professionals from the Journal of Social
Sciences.
King, Alison Virginia. "Constitutionality of Cyberbullying Laws: Keeping the Online
Playground Safe for both Teens and Free Speech." Vanderbilt Law Review 63.3 (2010): 84584. ProQuest. Web. 12 Nov. 2013.
The second section of this article, titled “The Need for Cyberbullying Legislation,” pinpoints the
lack of legislation against cyberbullying. Victims can only depend on laws against several
criminal offenses (harassment or cyberstalking), which aren’t specific and direct enough to
punish cyberbullies and compensate victims. These “backdoor” approaches include the basic law
against defamation and the Communications Decency Act (CDA), which allows Internet-service
providers immunity from any liabilities posed by distributors’ content. On the downside, these
providers essentially provide leeway for cyberbullies to attack victims, though they are not
obligated to prevent these attacks.
This article is credible because I found it on the database ProQuest through the
Georgetown Library resources and the publisher is Vanderbilt Law Review. I will use this source
mainly for the legislative foundation of my research, since it provides in-depth information about
laws revolving around cyberbullying.
Lenhart, Amanda, et al. "Teens, kindness and cruelty on social network sites."
Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project. The Pew
Charitable Trusts, 9 Nov. 2011. Web. 11 Nov. 2013.
<http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/Teens-and-social-media.aspx>.
This research report from Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project
speaks to the pervasiveness of social media, where teenage social lives flourish and deteriorate.
The emphasis on social networking strives to reveal teen reactions to negativity on the internet
when they both indirectly and directly experience it. The researchers ask teenagers about how
they responded to cyberbullying and how they observed others’ reactions. This source also
delves into privacy issues, and the levels of parental regulation.
The report is credible because the findings come from the Pew Research Center’s Internet
and American Life project, Family Online Safety Institute, and Cable in the Classroom. It
includes interviews with experts, real students, and a nationwide “random-digit-dial telephone
survey of teens and parents,” in which 799 teens and parents participated. One of the subtopics of
my research project is social media because it seems to be the main arena for cyberbullying. For
this reason, I specifically looked for a source regarding social media and its effects among
students.
Meier, Tina. "Megan Meier Foundation" Megan Meier Foundation. December 2007. Web.
6 Dec 2013. http://www.meganmeierfoundation.org/.
This non-profit organization, created by Megan's mother Tina in December 2007, fosters
awareness through education about cyberbullying and its harmful effects. Megan Meier, a 13year-old girl, committed suicide after receiving numerous hurtful messages online from a boy
she thought she trusted. This cyberbullying is called "masquerading," since the boy had simply
been a facade for a grown adult woman. The mother of Megan's friend who lived down the street
had created the account to find out Megan's opinions on her daughter.
This source is credible because the website had been created by the victim's mother, who now
strives to prevent cyberbullying and mistreatment of "different" individuals. I browsed for a
cyberbullying case that would show the repercussions of not intervening enough in a child's
online life.
PATCHIN, JUSTIN W., and SAMEER HINDUJA. "Cyberbullying And Self-Esteem."
Journal Of School Health 80.12 (2010): 614-621. Nursing & Allied Health Collection:
Comprehensive. Web. 5 Dec. 2013.
This scholarly journal strives to make a connection between cyberbullying and self-esteem in
middle school students. Prior findings on traditional bullying showed that victims of bullying
fostered more insecurities. Researchers wanted to expand the findings to cyberbullying, given
that it has been prevalent in contemporary society. In March and April 2007, they surveyed 1963
middle school students from various schools about Internet use and cyberbullying incidents.
Findings included correlations between self esteem and experiences with cyberbullying: both
victims and bullies showed lower confidence levels than those who have no experiences with
cyberbullying. This source also presents solutions regarding increased education of
cyberbullying engrained in school curriculum. Patchin and Sameer support the involvement of
educators in student cyberbulling incidents, since the psychological effects of cyberbulling can
conflict with grades and academic life.
This source is credible because it has been peer reviewed and is based on a series of
analytical findings. Justin W. Patchin is an associate professor in the Department of Political
Science at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and Sameer Hinduja is an associate professor
in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Florida Atlantic University. Both
professors are academically capable of producing a legitimate research on cyberbullying.
Vandebosch, Heidi and Van Cleemput, Katrien. "Cyberbullying among youngsters:
profiles of bullies and victims." New Media & Society. Series. Volume 11 No 8. (2009): 13491371. SAGE Journals. Web. 5 Dec. 2013.
This source clearly categorizes the different subsets of cyberbullying into “direct
bullying” and “indirect bullying.” It also describe the basic profile of bullies and victims of
cyberbullying. Cyberbullies are more likely to bully other outside of the Internet as well
(traditional bullying). Victims of cyberbullying use the Internet excessively, have lower self
esteem in terms of popularity, and are most likely “a bystander and perpetrator of internet and
mobile phone bullying,” though not perpetrators of traditional bullying. Various of possible
methods for preventing cyberbullying are also presented in this source.
I used a table from this source that demonstrated the various types of cyberbullying
because I liked how the authors classified each cyberbullying method under “indirect” or
“direct.” It also compares traditional bullying with cyberbullying, showing that cyberbullying
can be even more dangerous and harmful than traditional bullying. Bullies can get more creative
with how they torment their victims online. The source is credible because it is a scholarly
journal and has been funded by the Institue of Society and Technology at the request of the
Commission for Culture, Youth, Sport and the Media of the Flemish Government.