“Cyber-bullying” is a term many parents, teachers,
health officials and media outlets buzzed about during the last few
years. And as more kids and teens take to the Web,
they’re finding it easier to torment each other with the use
of social networking sites or their cell phones.
How to keep it from happening or -- at the very least -- reduce the
instances of it is now the question.
Kids at risk
According to a 2008 survey by Telnor, two out of every three
kids said they experienced bullying via the Internet or cell
phones.
The survey also shows parents are uncertain about what to do about
this kind of bullying.
Research Fellow Tove Flack from the Centre for Behavioural Research
(SAF) at the University of Stavanger in Norway has extensive
experience in counseling work regarding bullying.
The center’s program “Zero” gives schools advice
on how to prevent or detect cyber-bullying, and to also solve
problems and create continuity among kids.
Flack has worked with bullying cases and conducted bullying
research in schools, with a focus on “hidden
bullying.”
According to Flack, cyber-bullying is usually just one part of how
kids are harassed or threatened.
“This may mean that they never have any protected place. At
school, they are left out or maligned and when they come home they
receive insults on mobile phones and Net. Access to social media in
recent years has unfortunately given us some new bullying tools,"
said Flack.
Lower Threshold
Flack explains the term “bullying” means experiencing
harassment on a regular basis over time.
When it comes to cyber-bullying, she said it’s important to
distinguish between those kids who are regularly harassed and those
who have experienced only occasional harassment.
But perhaps because of the anonymous feeling the Internet provides,
many kids -- especially those who would never have to courage to
bully in person -- feel brave enough to be bullies when sitting at
a computer.
Flack points out cyber-bullying can come in both image and text
forms. Kids spread embarrassing photos of their victim via cell
phone, they shoot off offensive text messages, they post
disparaging things on someone’s Facebook wall, and countless
other online forums.
Since cyber-bullying is so easy to hide, many parents don’t
catch on until most of the damage has been done.
“For adults, it can be difficult enough to discover
traditional bullying. Digital media creates new and demanding
challenges. It is important to have zero tolerance for bullying via
the Internet in the same way as there should be zero tolerance for
all types of harassment,” said Flack.
Schools must take action
While cyber-bullying is largely an after-school event, Flack feels
schools must be proactive in controlling bullying situations, both
in real life and online.
The first step is to know the different forms of bullying by
developing their ability to see and understand what is happening in
communication and interaction between students.
“When it comes to cyber-bullying, special strategies are
required," said Flack.
Flack says teaching younger kids about being polite online, or
“netiquette” is a good first step, along with informing
just how public the Internet is, despite the fact it feels so
anonymous.
“[Kids] do not consider that what they broadcast can be
tracked down and that they may be accountable for their actions
online. Many do not realize that they may be prosecuted when they
violate or threaten others via the Net,” said Flack.
Don’t take the phone or computer away…
yet
Research Fellow Arne Olav Nygard at the Reading Centre followed
high schoolers’ use of computers and cell phones and found
many are on social networking sites during school hours.
Between Facebook and online gaming, Nygard said today’s teens
have “an almost constant social discourse going with friends
in other classes and at other schools.”
So the answer to cyber-bullying is not what many parents and
teachers might assume -- to take away their child’s access to
cell phones or the Internet.
“To deny students the use of technology at school or at home,
is the wrong way to go," said Nygard. “We must be careful to
turn bullying into a technological question. In my view, bullying
is first and foremost a social problem. To remove the PC and mobile
phone is the easiest solution, but it should be the last one, for
that is not where the problem is.”
Nygard said the only thing parents and teachers achieve by taking
away cell phones or computers is removing themselves from the real
issues.
And while Nygard realizes kids will always find new ways to bully
each other online, adults still need to engage in, observe and
learn the logic of the digital world. By doing this, it will make
it a little more difficult for kids to have secret digital
lives.
Nygard suggests putting the computer in a living room or another
central part of the house and staying in that room while their kids
are online. “We need to set the limits for mobile and
computer usage, but the technology is not something to be afraid
of.”
Some advice to avoid or deal with cyber-bullying:
- Take bullying through social media seriously
- Talk with children and young people about Internet use and netiquette
- Get involved in the children's Internet use and become friends with your children on Facebook
- If harassment or threats occur, save them on the hard drive or cell phone as proof if the police need to be involved.