Cyberbullying

A New Twist to an Age-Old

Problem

What Students Need to Know

By Mary Alice Osborne

SIS Bayside Librarian
What is Cyberbullying?
 Betrayal
A clique of 8th grade girls
sleeping over at one friend’s
house, pretend to befriend
an unpopular girl on Instant
Messenger. They persuade
her to divulge her inner-
most feelings, secrets, and
crushes. The next day at
school they show everyone
a print-out of the
conversation, and she is
mortified.
A Breach of Privacy
Marty, a high school junior,
secretly takes a cell-phone
photo of Joseph, an over-
weight kid, who is
undressing in the gym locker
room. Within minutes, the
photo is sent to Marty’s
friends in English class.
When Joseph finds out, he is
so embarrassed he refuses
to return to school.
 Unwanted and Threatening
Postings
14 year old Joy has created a Web Blog,
all about herself. An anonymous
person starts posting threatening
sexual comments with links to porn
sites on her blog.
 What is Cyberbullying?
 Using e-mail, chat rooms, websites and
other forms of electric communication
to:
• send mean-spirited messages
• make cruel and harmful remarks about
individuals
• post unflattering or derogatory photos
• make direct threats or encourage acts of
violence
• sexually harass
 Cyberbullying
 Cyberbullying is the repeated
misuse of these technologies
to harass, intimidate, bully,
or terrorize another person.
 THE VICTIMS
12 year-old girl from Virginia:
“Being bullied makes me feel really bad,
and I often get depressed later at home. I
would also plot revenge and privately
express my 'hatred' towards the bully, but
I doubt I would really do anything about
it...I don't usually go to adults to 'tattle'
on people, even though I know it's not
tattling, it's real.”
14 year-old girl from New Jersey:
“Being bullied over the internet is worse. It's
torment and hurts. They say "sticks and
stones may break my bones, but words
will never hurt me." That quote is a lie and
I don't believe in it. Sticks and stones may
cause nasty cuts and scars, but those cuts
and scars will heal. Insulting words hurt
and sometimes take forever to heal.”
14 year-old girl from Illinois:

“I still cry when I think of what she

said. After awhile you start believing
all of the things people tell you that
aren't true. When I look in the mirror
I wonder if I'm fat (I'm not) after
what my ex-friend said.”
15 year-old girl from the United Kingdom:

“One of my friends started hassling me on msn

messenger; she was sending me nasty messages
and text messages and this carried on at school. I
told my parents, my friends, and a teacher. she
was spoken to a few times but it still carries on a
bit now but not as bad because i have blocked her
online. This really affected me at home and at
school; I couldn't concentrate on school work and
I was always upset and down now I just ignore it
and get on with it, I have plenty more friends and
i don't need her anymore. Maybe one day she will
give up and grow up.”
Ryan Patrick Halligan was bullied for months online. Classmates sent the
13-year-old Essex Junction, Vt., boy instant messages calling him gay.
He was threatened, taunted and insulted incessantly by so-called
cyberbullies.

In 2003, Ryan killed himself.

“He just went into a deep spiral in eighth grade. He couldn’t shake this
rumor,” said Ryan’s father, John Halligan, who became a key proponent
of a state law that forced Vermont schools to put anti-bullying rules in
place. He’s now pushing for a broader law to punish cyberbullying —
often done at home after school — and wants every other state to
enact laws expressly prohibiting it.
 How Extensive is Cyberbullying?
In a new survey of 5,500 teens by
MindOh!, an educational company
that studies youth trends, nearly 80
percent said they have read or
spread gossip online; more than half
said they had seen Web sites that
made fun of their peers.
Who are the Cyberbullies?
• Individuals:
 with no strong relationships

 who are immature

 who are involved with hate

groups
 who have been bullied

themselves
• Cliques
 THE OFFENDERS
15 year-old boy from undisclosed
location:

“Well the only reason I bullied is

because the same person I was
doing it to, did it to me like a week
before. It wasn't the right thing to do
but at the time it felt like I was
getting revenge.”
15 year-old girl from Canada:
Sometimes I get insulted for no reason
because i said my mind so then I get into a
fight and feel good when i convince the
person/change their perspective/prove I'm
right because it shows I have an impact on
people. Once I got into a huge fight because
these girls were bullying one of my friends
and I tried to tell them to stop resulting in
them insulting me very badly but me getting
insulting them all the same. They made
threats to beat her up, what else could I do?
They printed out what I said but not what
they said and showed the principal. I got in a
lot of trouble but talked my way out of it
telling the TRUTH (something THEY didn’t
do) and got let off with a warning.
 Why do people bully?
 Continuation of face-to-face bullying
 Anger
 Jealousy
 Peer pressure
 Fun
 Why the Internet can Foster
Cyberbullying
 No tangible feedback
 Sense of being anonymous
 Multiple on-line personas
 Encouraged by role-playing games
 Sense of power
 No responsible adult in evidence
ImmppaacctoonnVVicctimmss
 Why is it so pervasive?

 With Cyberbullying, this is a 24/7

problem and often occurs in the
supposed safety and security of the
home.
 There is a social stigma attached to
reporting these incidents to an adult
- parent or teacher.
 Adults may be out of the loop

They aren’t paying attention!

Teachers and Parents should:
• Know what kids are doing on-line.
• Keep computers in a public area.
• Periodically look at files on the computer
• Search for your child’s name on-line
 Why Don’t Victims Ask for
Help?
 Kids view the Internet is a lifeline to
their peer group.
 Kids don’t want adults to know they
have a problem with cyberbullying
because they fear that adults will
take their computer away.
 Don’t Be a Victim!
 Talk about bullying in general with friends,
teachers and family.
 Discuss what personal information is
appropriate to tell others, and what is not.
 Visit some popular teen sites with your
parents, teachers, or friends and discuss
what you see there and what could be a
danger.
 Learn to develop realistic expectations for
both personal and on-line relationships.
 How to Stop a Cyberbully
Tips from WiredSafety.org
 Be private - keep passwords,
pictures and secrets to yourself.
 Take five - don’t reply in anger.
 Stop, block and tell - don’t reply,
block the sender, tell someone.
 Save the evidence - on your
computer or print out.
 Google yourself.
 Have You Experienced
Cyberbullying?
 Try this Cyberbullying Quiz from
Wired Kids Website:

 http://www.wiredkids.org/ktt_universal/ga
 Steps to Take if you believe you
have been a victim of
Cyberbullying
 Determine if cyberbullying is actually going on.
 Save the evidence.
 Identify the sender - contact your ISP (Internet
Service Provider) if necessary.
 Contact the offender’s parents - who may or may
not be supportive. Back up your remarks with
written evidence.
 Contact your school.
 If warranted, contact an attorney.
 Threats, extortion, sexual harassment should be
reported to the police.
 Online Resources about
Cyberbullying
 WiredSafety.org: This website helps victims of all types of
cyber crimes including cyberbullying.
http://www.wiredsafety.org/youth.html

 Internet Super heros Website: Delivering smart, safe

and responsible surfing messages to children, teens,
schools and parents, online and offline.
http://www.internetsuperheroes.org/
 Cyberbullying Website, created by Bill Belsey as a
partner site to http://bullying.org / http://cyberbullying.org
/
 Educator’s Guide to Cyberbullying, Center for Safe and
Responsible Internet Use: explains cyberbullying and ways
to stop it. http://cyberbully.org/docs/cbcteducator.pdf
 News reports about Cyberbullying
http://cyberbully.org/newsreports.html
 Bibliography
 Koessler Family Library Media Center,
Nardin Academy, Buffalo, NY. http://
www.nardin.org/Library/Cyberbullying_files
 Foiling Cyberbullies in the New Wild West.
By Mark Franek, Educational Leadership;
Dec2005/Jan2006, Vol. 63 Issue 4, p39-43, 5p.
 THE WEB: The Bully's New Playground, by
Bob Meadows, Jenni Bergal, Steve Helling, Jennifer
Odell, et.al., People; 3/14/2005, Vol. 63 Issue 10,
p152-156, 4p, 6c