Cyberbullying

Abstract  Bullying has been around since the beginning of recorded history, and probably well before then, as well.  However, many people express a belief that people are becoming more aware of and sensitive to bullying.  While it may be true that there is a heightened awareness of bullying, the increased sensitivity to bullies may be a misconception.  The nature of bullying has changed and evolved with technological changes.  With the advent of cyberbullying, victims are no longer able to escape from bullies.

 Instead, bullies can follow victims into almost any setting.  The inability of victims to escape from their bullies for even small amounts of time seems to be exacerbating the impact of those bullies.  Victims seem more vulnerable, and victims may be taking dramatic actions, up to and including suicide, in the hopes of ending the bullying.  In this article, the author discusses cyberbullying.  The discussion begins with a definition of cyberbullying.  Next, it discusses the statistics surrounding cyberbullying.

 As technology has evolved, so have laws, and the article discusses laws addressing cyberbullying.  Then, the author provides the reader with some examples of cyberbullying, and contrasts bullying with mean behavior that does not reach the level of bullying.  The author addresses the small and large effects of cyberbullying.  Finally, the author discusses some tips on how to prevent cyberbullying.   Introduction Bullying is a seemingly straightforward concept, which can be surprisingly difficult to discuss.

 That is because there is some disagreement about what type of behaviors constitute bullying.  In fact, as awareness of bullying as a social problem has grown, so has the tendency to label non-bullying behaviors as bullying.  While it is never pleasant for people to be ugly or mean to each other, not all unwanted behaviors properly fall under the bullying umbrella.  Including them there only confuses real discussions about bullying.  That is because bullying is often dismissed as a normal type of behavior.

While being mean or aggressive on occasion may be within the range of normal behaviors, bullying behavior really does fall outside of the norm.  Normalizing it by conflating it with any type of aggression makes it difficult to identify bullying and successfully intervene in it.   In addition, many school districts have unwittingly taken actions that may actually help bullies.  That is because many schools have adopted zero-tolerance policies.

 The goal of these policies it to eradicate bullying behavior by intervening at the first sign of behaviors that could signal a bullying problem.  Unfortunately, when the behaviors are treated without a thorough examination of the underlying context, the result is often that the victim of bullying receives the same punishment as the actual bullies.  That is because bullying is not the same as aggressive or even violent behavior.  Instead, refers to a pattern of behavior.

 “Bullying is unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance.  The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time” (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2019).   When considered in the context of this definition, it becomes clear that bullying is extremely context dependent.  The very same behaviors that are bullying in one scenario may not be bullying in another scenario.  That is because of the balance of power.

 “Kids who bully use their power- such as physical strength, access to embarrassing information, or popularity- to control or harm others” (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2019).  However, it is also important to realize that power can shift, even when discussing a closed group of people.  Victims can hit a growth spurt and become much bigger than bullies, get embarrassing information that allows them to be in a bullying position, or simply become more popular.

 Therefore, while history between the victim and the bully can be important, it is equally important to realize that it may not be determinative. Cyberbullying Definition Cyberbullying refers to “the use of technology to harass, threaten, embarrass, or target another person.  By definition, it occurs among young people.  When an adult is involved, it may meet the definition of cyber-harassment or cyberstalking, a crime that can have legal consequences and involve jail time” (Hirsch, 2014).

  Some types of behavior that may be included in cyberbullying include threatening behavior, spreading rumors, spreading embarrassing pictures or texts, verbal attacks, and excluding people.  One way that kids may cyberbully someone is to create fake accounts in the victim’s name, or to create accounts or threads with the sole purpose of attacking the victim.  However, sometimes cyberbullying can be difficult to detect.  The use of technology can make it difficult to discern tone and intent in some online and social media interactions.

 As a result, a text, tweet, or post that one person posts with no intention of being harmful may be taken in a very negative way by a person.  If this is an isolated incident, even if it is capable of being repeated, it might not be cyberbullying, even if it otherwise fits the definition.  However, if there are repeated incidents of the same behavior, it probably qualifies as cyberbullying.   Cyberbullying Statistics Many people want to know how many kids are the victims of cyberbullying.

 However, it can be very difficult to provide those statistics.  This is due to several factors.  First, while cyberbullying can leave proof of the bullying, it often happens in child-only atmospheres that are outside of the regular supervision of adults.  Unless a child reports the bullying to an adult, it is unlikely to be accidentally discovered.  This makes cyberbullying different from more traditional types of bullying, where it is possible for an adult to inadvertently discover the behavior.

  In addition, bullying is a behavior that many victims take pains to hide from the adults in their lives.  For whatever reason, bullying victims often want to keep their parents ignorant about the bullying and may not turn to other trusted adults for help, either.  In some instances, this may be because the kid is being bullied for something related to the parents, such as a lack of money or perhaps a parent’s addiction or other issue.

 In other instances, bullying victims may fear that reporting the bullying will actually make it increase, rather than stop.  Whatever the cause, many bullying victims never report the bullying, even if it is severe.   Despite these limitations, researchers have been able to estimate the frequency of cyberbullying.  Recent studies about cyberbullying rates have found that about 1 in 4 teens have been the victims of cyberbullying” (Hirsch, 2014).

 Some studies suggest that half of teens have experienced some type of abuse through social or digital media, even if these incidents do not rise to the level of bullying (Hirsch, 2014).  Perhaps even more alarming is that research has also found that about 1 in 6 teens admit to having cyberbullied someone in the past (Hirsch, 2014).

 This figure reveals one of the insidious things about cyberbullying; the online environment seems to help contribute to the ability of people to bully, which not only increases the frequency of bullying incidents, but also the number of bullies.   Cyberbullying Laws Because the behaviors that qualify as cyberstalking are generally going to fall under the umbrella of state laws, cyberbullying laws are often going to be state specific.  However, this is not always the case.

 Many cyberbullying incidents occur in venues that are nationwide, which may bring some of the behaviors under the umbrella of existing federal laws.  Therefore, it is important to keep in mind that this article provides an overview of cyberbullying laws, but is not exhaustive.   In all honesty, the legal environment did not evolve quickly enough to cover cyberbullying as a crime.

 Until the mid-2000s, there were no laws to address cyberbullying, and very few laws that were designed to cover the same type of harassment even when committed by adults against adult victims.  Many states have written laws to cover cyberbullying, but often these laws are linked to the school system and require school system enforcement. One of the things to keep in mind is that cyberbullying may be chargeable under other criminal offenses.  For example, there are criminal harassment statutes that may cover cyberbullying behavior.

 In addition, if a state already has laws against bullying, those laws will usually cover bullying that happens in an online environment.  Therefore, even if a state does not have a law that specifically addresses cyberbullying behavior, those behaviors may be covered under existing laws.  However, almost all states have cyberbullying laws in place, though they can differ significantly in the types of behavior that they prohibit and the sanctions available for violating those laws.   At this time, there is no federal law specifically addressing cyberbullying.

 However, some acts of bullying may violate federal laws.  For example, sharing photos of a naked victim or a victim in a sexual situation would probably qualify as cyberbullying in many states.  In addition, it may qualify as possession of child pornography, which could be a violation of other state laws and even federal law.   Cyberbullying Examples Cyberbullying covers a tremendous range of different types of behavior.

 Examples can range from the mildly innocuous to concentrated campaigns aimed at the total destruction of the victim’s life.  Cyberbullying can incorporate various different types of technology to accomplish the bullying, including: personal websites, e-mail, blogs, social media, chat rooms, texting, message boards, instant messaging, photographs, and even video games (Pacer, 2019).   A number of different behaviors can be examples of cyberbullying.

 Sending mean messages on email, text, or through instant messaging is clearly bullying, but many people may not realize that sending neutral or even positive texts may also be bullying, if the sender sends so many texts that it is harassment.  Posting hurtful things, rumors, or gossip about people on social media or online is another way to harass someone.  Making fun of someone in an online environment that encourages multiple people to make fun of the same person is another example of cyberbullying.

 Sharing photos of someone can be harassment, if the photos are embarrassing or especially if they are sexual in nature.  Online threats or intimidation are another form of cyberbullying.  Cyberbullies may also engage in a type of identity theft, where they pretend to be someone else and create a fake online profile, either to mock the victim or to cause the victim to believe in the existence of this fake person.

 Finally, attacking or killing characters in an online game can be a form of bullying as well, as the behavior is focused on intimidating other the victim player and isolating them by keeping them outside of the game.   Effects of Cyberbullying Cyberbullying can have some serious negative effects, not only on the victims, but also on the bullies and on the other students at their schools or in their peer groups.

 Surprisingly, victims and bullies can experience some of the same side effects from severe and frequent cyberbullying.  These effects include stress-related disorders, anxiety, and depression.  Many people are aware of the risk of depression as an effect of bullying.  In fact, there have been a number of cases where bullying victims have responded to the stressors and pressure by committing suicide.  In fact, both bullies and victims are at a higher risk for suicidal ideations, suicide attempts, and completed suicides.

  Of course, parents and even educational professionals may not be able to recognize whether a child is experiencing depression, anxiety, or a stress-related disorder.  However, adults can look for some of the signs of cyberbullying that are easier to detect.  Victims and bullies may exhibit heightened emotions when using technology, such as being emotionally upset or withdrawn when using cell phones, tablets, or computers.  In addition, they may appear nervous when they are using social media or other technology.

 Both victims and bullies may be protective and secretive about their digital life.  In fact, victims may try to keep the bullying secret because of fears that detection will mean that they will be told to give up their technology.  Bullying often causes withdrawal from a child’s regular support group, including friends and family members.

 Victims may start trying to avoid any kind of group gatherings or even going to school; victims may even fake illnesses to miss school or engage in their own bad behavior in order to be suspended or expelled.  Victims and bullies may experience a decline in their grades.   How to Prevent Cyberbullying When discussing cyberbullying, one of the primary concerns is how to prevent it from happening.  Unfortunately, there is no single answer that can address how to prevent or end all cases of cyberbullying.

 In fact, the only sure way of avoiding cyberbullying is to unplug from the internet.  However, while completely unplugging may keep a victim from first-hand experience with cyberbullying, it does not prevent bullies from using cyberbullying tactics to continue to harass and belittle a victim.

 After all, while some aspects of cyberbullying are directed immediately towards the targeted victim, other tactics, such as smear sites, using the internet or social media to spread rumors, or identity theft, can effectively bully a victim who is not even on the site in question.    Like other forms of bullying preventing bullying from ever starting is probably the most effective way to prevent cyberbullying.  This means that parents need to be involved in a child’s use of technology.

 Parents should be involved in their children’s online world.  This means following children on social media, being aware of all sites and games that a child visits, and discussing technology with children constantly.   Once bullying has commenced, it can be harder to stop.  The first step is to block the bully.  This means blocking the bully on all social media sites, as well as instant messaging and texting.

 This may not be enough to stop a bully from contacting a victim, but is an important first step.  If a bully is using a mandatory program, such as a classroom chat group, to bully the victim, then it is important to make sure that the school takes steps to separate them, even on the school site.   The next step is to limit the victim’s access to technology.  While it may seem counterintuitive, many children who are cyberbullied find it impossible.