What is Cyber bullying? Cyber bullying involves the use of information and communication technologies to support deliberate, repeated and hostile behavior by an individual or group, that is intended to harm others Through….. (Keith & Martin, 2004).

Technologies such as: , cell phone pager text messages, instant messaging (IM), defamatory personal web sites defamatory online personal polling web sites (Keith & Martin, 2004).

DIFFERENCES BULLYING DIRECT Occurs on school property Poor relationships with teachers Fear retribution Physical: Hitting, Punching & Shoving Verbal: Teasing, Name calling & Gossip Nonverbal: Use of gestures & Exclusion CYBERBULLYING ANONYMOUS Occurs off school property Good relationships with teachers Fear loss of technology privileges Further under the radar than bullying Emotional reactions cannot be determined {McKenna & Bargh, 2004; Ybarra & Mitchell, 2004} From ‘Demystifying and Deescalating Cyber Bullying’ by Barbara Trolley, Ph.D. CRC, Connie Hanel, M.S.E.d & Linda Shields, M.S.E.d.

Cell phones – Middle school years In 2004 – 45% online teens have a cellphone In 2006, 66% of online teens have a cellphone 68% of cellphone owners txt (2006) Skype

Today’s Teen –

Today Older Kids: Habbo Hotel, Gaia Online & Second Life Younger Kids: Webkinz, Whyville, Club Penguin Profiles: Switchboards for social life

Teen Reality Mobile gadgets allow them to enjoy media and communicate anywhere 84% report owning at least one personal media device: a desktop or laptop computer, a cell phone or a Personal Digital Assistant 63% of all teens own a cell phone

Kaiser Family Foundation, Generation M, March 2005

Recently, i-SAFE America conducted a national survey of more than 1500 students -ranging from fourth to eighth grade.

Gaming – on-going. Oldest video gamers who grew up with it are entering their forties, so some of the younger kids have parents who game. More than 2/3rds of online teens play computer or video games.

– “It’s for old people”

Mobility – gaming (DS, PSP), and now continuous presence applications – take social networks mobile –Twitter –Pownce etc etc etc –Teens don’t use these – yet.

Online Behavior: Parent & Teen Attitudes 81% of parents and 79% of teens agree that kids are not as careful as they should be about the information they give out online 62% of parents and 62% of teens agree that kids do things online that they wouldn’t want their parents to know about Overall, most parents believe that the internet is a good thing for their children

Where are the kids going? MySpace.com Blurty.com BlogLines.com Xanga.com Live Journal.com Dead Journal.com StudentCenter.org Bolt.com eCrush.com

Who engages in Cyber bullying?

CYBER BULLYING PREVALENCE Cyber bullying typically starts at about 9 years of age and usually ends after 14 years of age; after 14, it becomes cyber or sexual harassment due to nature of acts and age of actors (Aftab) Affects 65-85% of kids in the core group directly or indirectly through close friends (Aftab)

Sugar & Spice? Little girls are taught that it’s much prettier to be nice Result = covert forms of aggression – Relational Aggression (RA)

Relational Aggression is… Emotional violence and bullying behavior focused on damaging an individual’s social connections within the peer group. RA is “conditional friendship”

More Examples of Relational Aggression: Spreading Rumors Verbal Insults Teasing Intimidation Eye Rolling Taunting Manipulative Affection Three-Way Calling Cyber bullying – Girls are twice as likely to participate in cyber-bullying than are boys

Why Use Technology to Bully? Anonymity Rapid deployment and dissemination Immediate Rich medium Natural

How Do People Cyber bully Others? Exclusion Outing Polling Stalking Libel Blackmail Flaming Websites Piling” via IM Impersonation

What is the Impact of Cyber bullying? Psychological, physical, and emotional depression, anxiety, anger, school failure, school avoidance, suicide, and school violence Role modeling for others which increases likelihood of increased bullying

You can’t see me – I’m invisible Removes concern of detection, approval or punishment Lack of Feedback interferes with empathy Rationalization- “everybody does it” Role Playing- take on another personality, avatar, persona [reinforces “just a game”] What promotes it?

CYBER BULLY CATEGORIES “Inadvertent” –Role-play –Responding –May not realize it’s cyber bullying “Vengeful Angel” –Righting wrongs –Protecting themselves “Mean Girls” –Bored; Entertainment –Ego based; promote own social status –Often do in a group –Intimidate on and off line –Need others to bully; if isolated, stop “ Power-Hungry ”  Want reaction  Controlling with fear “ Revenge of the Nerds ” (“Subset of Power-Hungry”)  Often Victims of school-yard bullies  Throw ‘cyber-weight’ around  Not school-yard bullies like Power-Hungry & Mean Girls {Parry Aftab. Esq., Executive Director, WiredSafety.org}

What We Can ALL Do …

Prevention –Bully proof child with confidence and resilience –Pay attention to traits that may lead to victimization –Combat the “tell all’ phenomenon –Discuss it with your child –Discuss consequences –Do not support on-line retaliation

Monitor –Keep computer in open, public place in home –Periodically investigate files, history, online activities [cookies] –Search your child’s name online, profiles, postings, blogs –Watch for secretive behavior as you approach computer –Install key-stroke monitoring software –Learn the controls that are available from your ISP –Engage in computer activities to determine their savvy

What if it happens? –Assist your child »Develop personal guidelines for using the net »Make realistic evaluation of quality of online community »Learn to respond assertively, not aggressively –Change address, account –File complaint with ISP, web host –Gather evidence and keep it –Do not delete – but don’t let your child visit that site again –Block or filter

Continued…. Contact cyber bully's parents [caution] Contact school staff [if happens from school equipment] Contact local law enforcement Civil litigation

Internet – install monitoring and filtering programs WiredSafety.org –Teen Angels SpectorSoft eBlaster NetNanny SpyAgent SoftProbe ActivityLogger

Resources Online column about cyberbullying ( /cyberbullying-sabella.doc) /cyberbullying-sabella.doc –Parent’s guide –Educators guide more! –News reports –National Alliance for Safe Schools Provides training, technical assistance, and publications to school districts interested in reducing school based crime and violence.

Resources National Education Association’s National Bullying Awareness Campaign National School Safety Center –Provides training, technical assistance, and resources on school safety and school crime prevention; offers training films on various issues; conducts national public service campaigns. The Olweus Bullying Prevention Program Bully.pdf Bully.pdf –A model program of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The program is a multilevel, multi-component school-based program designed to prevent or reduce bullying in elementary, middle, and junior high schools.