CYBER BULLYING
“What makes cyber bullying so
dangerous…is that anyone can
practice it without having to confront
the victim. You don’t have to be
strong or fast, simply equipped with
a cell phone or a computer and a
willingness to terrorize.”
(King, 2006)
KEY AREAS
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WHAT IS CYBER BULLYING?
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EXAMPLES OF CYBER BULLYING
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WHAT A STUDENT CAN DO
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WHAT PARENTS / GUARDIANS CAN DO
What is cyber-bullying?
“Cyber-bullying involves the use of information
and communication technologies such as email, cell phone and pager text messages,
instant messaging, defamatory personal Web
sites, and defamatory online personal polling
Web sites, to support deliberate, repeated, and
hostile behaviour by an individual or group, that
is intended to harm or upset others.”
(Bell Belsey, www.cyberbullying.ca )
Characteristics of Cyber-bullying
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Unequal power
Repetitive behaviours
Bully can remain anonymous
Bully can pretend to be another person
Bullying can happen anywhere, anytime, given
that cyber-space is everywhere all of the time
Bullying can take many forms within the cyberspace environment
Capacity for instant and limitless sending of
words and images
Vehicles for cyber-bullying
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Email
IM – MSN
Social networking sites – Facebook
Web sites
Chat rooms
Virtual learning environments – school work sites
Mobile phones
Camera phones
On line and interactive games
Blogs
Wikis
Bashing site – Rate My School
Internet polling – Doodle
I fell out with my friend
and she has told all my
friends to block me on
MSN messenger.
Someone keeps
ringing my phone
laughing and
hanging up. I don’t
know who it is
This week I
have had 4
texts saying
“I hate you”.
Someone took a
picture of me
being pushed,
over on their
phone and
sent it to
everyone in
my class.
Someone set up a
voting page on
how ugly I was
I told my friend my
email password
and when we fell
out she emailed
nasty messages
to my friends so
now they are not
talking to me.
I split up with my
boyfriend and he
posted personal
information about
our relationship
on the internet
Someone has
set up a hate
page about
me
Why cyber-bully?
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Motivations of anger, revenge or frustration
For entertainment or laughs
They are bored and have too many tech toys
To get a reaction
By accident – they reacted impulsively
Power-Hungry - to torment others and to boost
their ego or status
Students may start out defending themselves
from traditional bullying to find they enjoy the
buzz
Often girls do it to sustain their social standing
Some think they are righting wrongs or
defending others
Percentage of Bullying per
Technology
How does it make children feel?
I don’t want to come to school
 Everyone hates me
 I feel really left out
 I can’t tell anyone because they will take my
phone off me
 No one will understand
 There is no escape
 Who else is involved?
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HOW YOU CAN
SUPPORT VICTIMS
OF BULLYING
What can students do?
Phone a friend
Tell a teacher
Speak to an
adult
Text a friend
Look
online
and
email a
website
for
advice
What can students do?
Keep the
messages as
evidence
Block the bully
from your
phone, email,
messenger etc
Don’t reply
Find support and help
from websites like
Don’t give
your
passwords to
ANYONE
WHAT YOU CAN DO
AS A PARENT OR
GUARDIAN?
WHY IS IT DIFFICULT TO ADDRESS
CYBER BULLYING?
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Generational gap
Difficult for parents to understand as they didn’t
experience this as children
Lack of knowledge of IT/technology
Hard for parents to monitor (a lot happens at night
when asleep)
Its moving at a faster rate than our
research/understanding and safety measures
WHERE TO BEGIN?
Spend some time learning about cyber
technology
 Get involved with your children’s online
activities, validate their skills and learn from
them
 Get on the internet and mobile phone and
learn how it works. Ask your children to show
you
 Talk with other parents
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IMPLEMENT SAFE TOOLS NOW!
Have the computer in a place that you can
see it (not hidden away in child’s bedroom)
 Choose products with parental controls
 Have a suitable filter on the computer to stop
inappropriate material or sites
 Ensure you as the parent has access rights to
your children’s computers and passwords
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TALK WITH YOUR CHILDREN
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Talk regularly with your child about online activities he or she is involved in.
 Talk specifically about cyber bullying
 Encourage your child to tell you if he
or she is aware of others who may be
the victims of such behaviour
 Explain that cyber bullying is harmful
and unacceptable behaviour
STEPS TO TAKE IF YOU FEEL YOU
CHILD IS BEING CYBER BULLIED
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Create a safe environment for technology use
Monitor your child’s “cyber” usage
Talk with your child about their usage
Block future contact from the cyber bully
Contact your child’s school
Consider contacting the cyber bully’s parents
Keep proof of the cyber bullying (e.g., copies
of an e-mail message) in case you need them
as evidence
THANK YOU
ANY QUESTIONS PLEASE