School Bullying Council

Study: Cyberbullying often begins between friends

By Claire O’Sullivan

Wednesday, November 07, 2012

Parents and teachers need to realise that cyberbullies can very often be friends of their victims, according to psychologists.

Traditionally, it has been thought that friendships provide support against bullying. However, research shows that cyberbullying also happens among friends.

An academic study of 16- and 17-year-olds in Dublin showed how bullying often starts with a “trigger incident”, whereby one friend annoys another.

Such bullying can take place through text, with inappropriate comments about or pictures of the victim on Facebook, and through anonymous sites such as Ask.fm, where the bully can remain anonymous.

The research also found how cyberbullying by friends makes it even harder for the victim to talk to other friends and to parents.

The research, to be presented at the Psychological Society of Ireland conference later this week, shows how this type of cyberbullying often occurs “if someone did something stupid” or as “a way to get back at them” for some incident.

The teenagers interviewed also said cyberbullying of friends is often motivated by jealousy or insecurity and can be more prevalent among girls than boys.

When your best friend enjoys cyber bullying you on twitter #WhatAFriend :/ @lwhiteside34

— l o g a n ღ(@LOGO_2_3) November 6, 2012

According to interviewees, cyberbullying among friends can impact seriously on a group, causing fights, affecting trust, and leading to a rejection of the bully or the victim by other friends. It is also seen as confusing and isolating for victims, who cannot come to terms with how the dynamic has changed among their friends.

The research was conducted at UCD by Moya Farrell under the supervision of Suzanne Guerin.

Meanwhile, one Dublin primary school has revealed how nearly 100 of its 450 pupils have said they have Facebook accounts.

Facebook policy states children under the age of 13 should not up sign up to the social media site.

A number of the children using Facebook at Holy Rosary Primary School in Firgrove on Dublin’s southside were as young as 8.

Pretty sure I’m the only human being who hasn’t seen cyberbully

— Amy Cameron ☮ (@missamycameron) November 6, 2012

School principal Max Cannon conducted the research after an incident at the school where one pupil was found to be sharing unsuitable messages.

“We thought this was phenomenal, and I have no doubt that you will find similar numbers in most schools around the country,” said Mr Cannon. “It is with this in mind that we are working to update our school bullying policy to include cyberbullying. We’re trying to be proactive.”

In the aftermath of the survey, the school sent a letter to all parents warning them of their responsibility to monitor their children’s internet usage, and that children under 13 should not be on the site.

* Read more:
Study: Cyberbullying often begins between friends
Victims fear abusive content will resurface
url=http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/education-chief-wants-calm-after-erin-death-213200.html] Education chief wants calm after Erin death[/url]
Student added to panel after newspaper letter
Most teen depression admissions are girls

© This appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Wednesday, November 07, 2012

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/cwkfmhkfsnsn/rss2/

I am upset to hear another suicide because of bullying. I try to persuade kids to tell an adult if they know a bully or someone is being bullied either online or in school. Helpful Links: http internetsafetycenter.com Make sure to say a prayer for the Morales’ family. Thank you, Timmy

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This is my second video on bullying but this video is on cyberbullying. Check out my other videos and don’t forget to suscribe! Thanks!

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Brandon DeMarco is an average teenager in an ordinary High School that becomes the target of relentless harassment and vindictive cyberbullying. His story’s been seen by thousands of students all over the globe.

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why wont anyone be a bully?? i mean its just acting!!

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‘Cyberbullying’ was developed by John Ogilvie High School and was awarded a special commendation in the performance category of the 2010 Anti-bullying Week competition.

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Edie Raether tackles bullying and cyberbullying at the SMILE conference in Chicago, IL.

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Please help and join the resistance to help stop cyber-bullying all across the world, globe, and universe. This needs to be STOPPED!

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Online spats between school children are spiralling out of control, leading to hate messages, violence and death threats. Picture: The Daily Telegraph
Source: The Advertiser

ONLINE spats between school children are spiralling out of control, leading to hate messages, violence and even death threats.

Experts say 10 per cent of all children now claim to have been cyber-bullied, The Daily Telegraph reported.

The enraged father of one teenage schoolgirl became so incensed by comments he believed a boy had made about his daughter on a social networking site that he accosted him in the street and threatened to “slit his throat”.

The man approached the Year 8 boy as he walked to a bus stop on the state’s mid-north coast and pushed and threatened him before boarding the bus, where he issued further death threats to the boy and other students.

In another disturbing case, a mum went to a school in western NSW and urged her Year 10 daughter to assault another girl after an exchange on a social networking site.

Both girls were suspended, police were called and the mum was banned from entering the school under the Inclosed Lands Act.

In the Tuggerah Lakes area on the NSW central coast, comments on a social networking site led to a Year 8 female being assaulted by another Year 8 girl.

One of the students, who sustained swelling to her forehead and complained of feeling dizzy and nauseous, was taken to hospital. The other girl injured her hand.

Schools increasingly are asking police to investigate serious student online bullying and have shored up cyber safety programs in a bid to head off more trouble.

The NSW Department of Education and Communities has enlisted international expert Professor Donna Cross to help advise students and families about online behaviour.

Professor Cross, from Edith Cowan University in Western Australia, specialises in preventing and responding to aggression. She said about 10 per cent of children now reported being cyber-bullied.

Children who cyber-bullied also were 18 times more likely to bully others in the real world, Professor Cross said.

She said bullies often had higher levels of depression than the victims: “They’re also more likely to be engaging in problem behaviour – unsafe sexual behaviours, smoking, using drugs, graffiti, stealing and truanting.”

Bullying peaks in children at about Year 5 and again at about Year 7 or Year 8.

The first peak coincides with children discovering the power of the peer group and creating their own social pecking order. The second peak occurs when children move from primary school to secondary school.

Researchers have found cyber-bullied kids suffer poor academic achievement, anxiety, depression, poorer physical health, higher school absenteeism, increased loneliness and low self-esteem.

The Department of Education said Facebook could not be accessed on school computers. Its Digital Citizenship website, which deals with bullying and other issues, has received thousands of hits from all over the world. 

http://www.news.com.au/technology/cyber-bullying-spiralling-out-of-control-in-nsw-schools/story-e6frfro0-1226233680802

Edie Raether tackles bullying and cyberbullying at the SMILE conference in Chicago, IL.

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Cyberbullying = bullying that uses internet/mobile phones/any new technology Think before you click. Words can hurt. Images can hurt too. If you are cyberbullied: report block delete What can you do to STOP cyberbullying? Music used with permission: “Spaces” by ArmchairMusician All images and content original. Want to learn more? Visit: againstcyberbullying.wordpress.com This video is licensed under a: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

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At Orange High School in Pepper Pike, Ohio, students are mapping their school to locate the spaces where bullying takes place. After identifying the “bully hotspots,” including the cafeteria, media lab, and locker rooms, students created a flash freeze demonstration to raise awareness about bullying, and opened the conversation about how to create a safer school. Narrated by Yul Kwon. To learn more about standing up to bullying visit Related links Orange High School: www.

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The Australia Communications and Media Authority has launched an out of home campaign – a first for the government body – as it looks to raise awareness about digital reputation, sexting, geolocation and cyberbullying among teenagers in Sydney. The posters contain QR codes that enable teens to directly access the cybersmart website by using their cameraphones. Creative and media were devised by Mediabrands.

ACMA is using outdoor following research from the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, which suggested that teenagers pay attention to ads on street fixtures.

“The key message is presented in a strong bold typeface, in a tone of voice that aims to speak with the target rather than at them,’ explained ACMA chairman, Chris Chapman.

The campaign runs until June 19.

The cybersmart website hosts a video targeted at parents that helps them understand the online space in which their children exist.

June 13th, 2011 at 5:11 pm

Have your say

http://mumbrella.com.au/acma-tries-outdoor-to-reach-teens-on-cyberbullying-48922

Vancouver is the cyberbullying
capital of Canada
according to the results of a survey released today by Norton Canada.

The statistics in the Norton study suggest that children and teens in Vancouver are more likely to be involved in online bullying than children in the other four major cities across Canada that were part of the survey.

Among parents
with children aged eight to 18, some 40 per cent of Vancouver
parents reported their child had been involved in online bullying, compared to
25 per cent of parents across Canada.
Toronto comes second to Vancouver, with 31 per cent of parents there
reporting that they have cyberbullying kids.

Close to three out of
four said their child was a victim, while 16 per cent said their child was the
bully. Eighteen per cent said their child witnessed a cyberbullying incident.

Photo by Chris Mikula, Ottawa Citizen

Among the Vancouver parents, 17 per cent said their children are
guilty of online bullying, putting Vancouver
only second to Calgary
at 22 per cent. Toronto was third at 15 per
cent, Montreal fourth at 11 per cent, followed
by Halifax at
eight per cent.

The majority of Vancouver parents ignore
the prohibition on many social media web sites that’s supposed to stop kids
under of 13 from joining. Some 55 per cent of parents here say they’re fine
with their kids joining such sites as long as they are supervised.

The survey found girls
are more likely to be bullied online than boys and social media channels are
the communications weapons of choice for cyberbullies. Social networks account
for 63 per cent of the online bullying, compared to 25 per cent for email and
19 per cent by phone.

“The connectivity and
immediacy of social networking sites has adults and children alike tethered to
the online world as a means of communicating,” said Lynn Hargrove, director of
consumer solutions for Norton Canada said in a release. “Words said online have
a different impact than words exchanged on a playground, because online
messages and posts have the potential to live on for an indefinite amount of
time.”

Tweens – those eight to
12 years of age – are somewhat more likely to be involved in online bullying.

While parents used to be
able to monitor their kids’ online activities by keeping their computers in the
kitchen, the family room or another spot where they could keep an eye on them,
the rise of mobile Internet access has lessened that control. Cyberbullying via
cell phones was the most common among kids aged 13 and 14.

More
than 50 per cent of the parents surveyed said they use online monitoring
software to keep tabs on their children’s Internet use and 42 per cent check
the browser history when their kids are surfing to see where they’ve been
online.

 The
statistics came from an online survey with a random sample of 507 men and women in Calgary, Halifax, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver, who have a
child between the ages of 8-18. The respondents are members of the Impulse Research
proprietary online panel and the survey was conducted last February. The survey
has a margin of error of  +/-3 per cent
at the 95 per cent level of confidence.

http://communities.canada.com/vancouversun/blogs/techsense/archive/2011/05/17/vancouver-the-cyberbullying-capital-of-canada.aspx

(Today’s cyberbullying conference at Neumann University included resources for students, parents, school officials, and law enforcement professionals.)

ASTON, Pa. (CBS) – Educators and law enforcement officials are comparing notes on cyberbullying today at Neumann University.

Sadly, cyberbullying these days can begin in elementary school, and its victims can suffer emotionally and academically.

Now, adults in the classrooms and the courtrooms are trying to craft a way to respond.

Dr. Kathleen Conn, a cyberbullying expert at Neumann University, opened the daylong conference by stressing the seriousness of such situations.

“It’s not a joke,” she told the group.  “Students who are caught cyberbullying, they say, ‘Oh, it was just a joke.  I just meant it as a joke.’  It’s not a joke.  It’s not funny, and it can actually be a felony.  And you don’t want either your child or your student dragged off.”

Conn cited an National Education Association study that said 46 percent of school employees said they lacked the training to know how to intervene in a cyberbullying case.

Reported by Mike DeNardo, KYW Newsradio 1060