CYBERBULLYING
- What is Cyber-bullying?
- Is Cyber-bullying a new form of bullying?
- How widespread is it?
- What is the difference between Cyber-bullying and Cyber-harassment?
- How does it show?
- What are the examples of Cyber-bullying?
- What are the consequences of Cyber-bullying on the victim?
- Does Cyber-bullying have legal consequences?
- Why does a Cyber-bully act?
- Who helps in case of needs?
- What can we do to stop Cyber-bullying?
- If a guy is bullied, how should they behave?
- What are the most efficient measures to combat Cyber-bullying?
- Useful links
1. What is Cyber-bullying?
Cyber-bullying is a phenomenon of the last years and it involves the use of the Internet, mobile-phones and computers.
Cyber-bullying can be as simple as continuing to send e-mail to someone who has said they want no further contact with the sender, but it may also include threats, sexual remarks, pejorative labels ganging up on victims by making them the subject of ridicule in forums, and posting false statements as fact aimed at humiliation.
According to one of the important expert of cyber-bullying, Peter Smith, cyber-bullying is defined as “a situation when a child is repeatedly tormented, threatened, harassed, humiliated, embarrassed or otherwise targeted by another child or teenager using text messaging, email, instant messaging or any other type of digital technology” (2008). The objective of the bully is always the same: to harass, to threat and ridicule the victim.
The phenomenon is growing, since thanks to the web or the mobile-phones the bully can hide their identity and act without being disturbed.
There is even more about it: cyber-bullying can be even more hidden to adults since kids generally have a higher IT competence than their parents or teachers.
2. Is Cyber-bullying a new form of bullying?
Experts are still debating whether cyber-bullying is simply a new form of bullying or something completely different.
Most of them estimate that it is a new form of traditional bullying and, as an evidence, there are some researches that highlight the fact that traditional bullying uses cyber-bullying more and more.
In Italy the first episode to start the debate on cyber-bullying dates back to 2006 and involved a disabled child: his classmates hit him while one of the m was filming the scene with his mobile-phone.
3. How widespread is it?
Cyber-bullying is a very recent phenomenon and therefore it is not easy to say.
Some researches have been conducted to estimate the spread of the phenomenon. In USA a survey conducted on over 1,400 primary and secondary school children shows that at least 41% of them were victimized at least once in the last year.
According to the sample interviewed, the most frequent forms of cyber-bullying are hate-speech (66%) and disclosing personal data at websites (33%).
Other researches have been conducted in Britain, Holland, Sweden, Australia, whereas in Italy the data are still limited: according to the tenth National Child and Adolescence Report by Telefono Azzurro (Italian Child-line) and Eurispes ((www.azzurro.it/index.php?id=225), 32% of the children interviewed admitted sending or posting text or images intended to hurt or embarrass, 4% used the Internet or the mobile-phone to publish false material about a mate, whereas 7.5% intentionally marginalized someone from online groups.
A survey by Istituto di formazione (Educational Institute) in Sardinia, conducted in 2008 on a sample of over 1 thousand young people between the age of 11 and 20 from Sardinia, Lazio, Marche, Sicily and Lombardy revealed that 14% of primary school children and 16% of secondary school children were victimized in the last year.
4.What is the difference between Cyber-bullying and Cyber-harassment?
Cyber-bullying exclusively refers to under 18.
Harassments conducted through technologies among adults, or between adults and children, are termed cyber-harassment.
5. What are the typical traits of Cyber-bullying?
There are some typical characteristics that distinguish cyber-bullying from the traditional one:
- no relationship between the bully and the victim: the victim finds even more difficult to defend themselves since they do not know the bully’s identity.
- anonymous identity: the bully often hides themselves behind a fake name, thinking they will not be discovered. The lack of relationship with the victim allows the bully to act with no inhibition: this is one of the aspects that makes the phenomenon so spread;
- no moral restraints: the anonymous identity and the use of web technologies take off all the bully’s inhibitions. The bully justifies their harassments thinking cyber-bullying is just a virtual game.
- no space and time limits: cyber-bullying can show at any time of night and day.
6. How does it show?
It shows in different ways:
- through the Internet: e-mails, blog, social networks, personal web sites, video chats;
- through mobile-phones: text messages, pictures, private videos.
Also the type of action has different characteristics:
- it can harass: by publishing the texts or by mobile phones;
- it can offend: by texting vulgar and offensive messages;
- it can take the victim’s identity: by entering the victim’s web site, mailing or texting in their name in order to defame them;
- it can defame: by gossiping or rumouring about the victim’s reputation and breaking their friendship;
- it can marginalize: by isolating the victim from an online group, e.g. from a friend list;
- it can publish personal data: by revealing private matters about the victim in order to embarrass them, or by publishing personal material containing intimate or sexual images;
- it can target: by sending the victim repeated and threatening messages;
- it can show through happy slapping: by filming or video-recording violent scenes to show the others or to publish.
7. What are the examples of Cyber-bullying?
Emma is a secondary school child and she had to change her mobile number and tell her friends she had lost her mobile. Every day, especially in the afternoon and in the evening, she used to receive text messages from an unknown number. The texts were always about the way she dressed or her look, ridiculing and offending her for her cheap jeans. She used to feel observed and judged when she was at school, since all the texts were sent by some of her school mates. Emma did not even dare say anything to her closest friends or her parents. Luc is 16 and several of his friends have received offensive mails from his account. Therefore they deleted him from their mailing list and excluded from the chats. At the beginning Luca did not understand, but then he found out that a class mate, whose identity was unknown, knew hi password and was sending emails from his account in order to break all his friendships and isolate him from the group.
8. What are the consequences of Cyber-bullying on the victim?
There are not yet further researches on the consequences of cyber-bullying, differently from traditional bullying. According to the most recent studies, the damages on both cyber-bullies and cyber-victims are very similar to those on traditional bullies and victims. The victims very often develop a low self-esteem, depression, anxiety, fear, school problems, relational problems and in extreme cases they think about suicide. Some researches revealed that, according to children and adolescents, offences and threats by emails or text messages impact them less than traditional bullying. On the contrary, the forms of cyber-bullying by phone-calls impact them as much as those of traditional bullying, whereas publishing pictures or videos that humiliate the victims impact them the most. In both traditional bullying and cyber-bullying, children and adolescents hardly talk about it with adults or friends.
9. Does Cyber-bullying have legal consequences?
The most severe cases of cyber-bullying can turn into criminal offenses: for instance, publishing the victim’s personal data, or harass them for sexual aims, but also severe and repeated harassments that impairs the victim’s every day life.
An online survey on a group of over 1,500 American kids between the age of 11 and 15 years revealed that 35% of the cyber-victims suffered sexual harassments out of the Web and 21% of the cyber-bullies tried to contact the victims in the real world.
10. Why does a Cyber-bully act?
Generally speaking, the cyber-bully acts in order to gain popularity within a group, or to have fun or more simply because they are bored. Particularly for cyber-bullying, some behaviours can cause the phenomenon to spring:
- an excessive use of the Internet: particularly the victim uses the Web more often than their coetaneous;
- the access to the Net without parental control: both the bully and the victim navigate the Net without being controlled by the parents or any adult;
- joining particular online groups where there might also be explicit invitations to violence;
- offensive language by emails;
- the use of webcam and social networks to help publishing personal images or data;
- the frequent use of violent videogames that reinforce the bully’s idea that web threats and offences are only virtual and therefore a game.
- the free-of-charge line 19696:available for all the children and adolescents up to the age of 18 year that wish to talk with an advisor (psychologist or pedagogist).
- the standard line 199151515:available for all the children over 14 and the adults that wish to talk about their distress.
- they refuse to talk about what they do online;
- they use the Internet until late at night;
- they abuse the Internet or the computer;
- they have low marks at school;
- they are shocked after using the Internet.
- keep the computer in a common room;
- check regularly on what their child does and therefore share some activities;
- try to talk to understand what they like online;
- look for their child’s nickname online, examining their profile or messages to understand if they are involved into bullying.
- never give personal information, e.g. name, address, phone-number, age, school name and place, friends’ names;
- never share their own passwords, either with their parents;
- never agree to meet someone known online;
- never reply a message that confuses or embarrasses them. It is better to ignore the addressor, cut the communication and report what happened to an adult;
- never use offensive language or send vulgar emails.
- never reply to offensive emails or text messages;
- never reply to anyone who offends or embarrasses;
- never reply to anyone who offends on chat-lines or marginalizes from a chat-line;
- save the offensive messages received (sms, mms, e-mail), recording the date and the time;
- change the nickname;
- change the mobile-number and give it only to friends;
- use spans to block the offensive emails;
- never give personal information (e.g. name, surname, address) to anyone known online;
- talk to an adult (either parents or teachers);
- in case of sexual harassment, immediately contact the Police.
11. Who helps in case of needs?
Since 2007 the Ministry of Education has activated the national free-of-charge line 800 669696, within the campaign for combating bullying named “Smonta in bullo”. The operators answer any questions or doubts, record acts of bullying, give information on the phenomenon and advise on the most appropriate behaviour in critical cases. The team of the anti-bullying line is made of psychologists, teachers, parents and Ministry personnel. The line is active Monday-Friday from 10.00 to 13.00 and from 14.00 to 19.00. the most frequent questions asked to the operators are available on the web site www.smontailbullo.it.
It is now also possible to contact Telefono Azzurro (Italian Child Line). The National Hearing Centre of the association is active all over the country 24h, 365 d/y.
There are two lines:
In case of danger or emergency intervention, it is possible to contact the line 114 – Child Emergency. This is a free-of-charge line available 24h and dedicated to those who wish to alert on emergency situations for the safety of children and adolescents. The line 114 is powered by Telefono Azzurro and sponsored by the Ministry of Communications in collaboration with the Ministry of Social Solidarity, Family Department, Equal Opportunities Department. In case of severe threats or sexual harassments it is possible to contact the Police or Carabinieri.
12. What can we do to stop Cyber-bullying?
Parents should notice some signals. The indicators that their own child could be involved into cyber-bullying, either as victim or as bully, can be summarized as follows:
If the parents fear that their own child is a cyber-victim, they could:
It is also important to teach children some of the basic rules about a safe use of the Internet:
13. If a guy is bullied, how should they behave?
There are practical tips also for children:
The dynamics that cause cyber-bullying are the same as traditional bullying. In order to prevent it, we can follow the same advice: try to understand and improve behaviours and relationships among children. Nevertheless, cyber-bullying could be easier to stop.
The European Commission, for instance, managed to sign an agreement with 17 web companies in order to introduce devices that make children participation to the Net safer.
This is a necessary initiative both for the increasing number of social network users in Europe (41,7 million and estimated 107,4 million in 2012) and for the increasing number of child abuse.
The agreement is in particular that the companies activate the “abuse alert”: users can click on the button to alert about inappropriate contacts or behaviours from other users. Not only that: the file guarantees that the online profiles and phonebooks of Internet site users registered as under age are automatically classified as “withheld”, and it guarantees that it is not possible to search for their profiles (on web sites or service providers).
Finally, it prevents under age users from using the services: if a social network is destined to over 13, it should be difficult for those under that age to register.
14. What are the most efficient measures to combat Cyber-bullying?
According to several associations that deal with bullying and cyber-bullying, the most efficient prevention measures are those that have involved the adults, responsibilizing parents and teachers on the importance of educating the children to the use of the new technologies.
Added to the instructions about what to teach concretely, also works on children relational capacities have been useful: respect, assertiveness, empathy, critical sense.
Also the campaigns sponsored by the Ministry of Education since 2007 have been useful, thanks to the publication of the “National guidelines and actions for preventing and combating bullying” (www.smontailbullo.it/normative/20070219_Direttiva_Bullismo.pdf).
15. Useful links
National campaign for combating bullying
www.smontailbullo.it
Site of the Ministry of Education dedicated to students
http://iostudio.pubblica.istruzione.it
Bullying, edited by the State Police
www.poliziadistato.it
Telefono azzurro
www.azzurro.it
Meglio amici che bulli (Better friends than bullies), edited by Moige
www.meglioamicichebulli.it
SOS bullying association
www.bullismo.com
Bullying, edited by Informagiovani d’Italia
www.informagiovani-italia.com/bullismo.htm
Stop to bullying
www.stopalbullismo.it
Bullying.it
www.bullismo.it
Info Bullying
www.bullismo.info
Cyber-bullying
www.cyberbullismo.com