Cyber Bullying in Schools - Term Paper Example

? Cyber Bullying in Schools Full Part I: Proposal ment of Purpose The aim of this paper is to examine and explore cyber bullying, with a focus on the implementation of legislation and school programs for prevention of cyber bullying as a strategy for curbing the vice. The seriousness of the problem of cyber bullying cannot be overstated. It is therefore imperative that a lasting solution to cyber bullying is devised. The paper looks at the various methods that are used in perpetrating cyber bullying, including emails and social media sites. The study also looks at the various stakeholders who can act in order to create and implement legislation and school programs that will help in diminution or extinction of cyber bullying; these include governments and the school administrations. There is a dearth of research on plans of action for curbing cyber bullying and this paper seeks to fill that loophole. Various scholars have identified that cyber bullying is not a new problem but rather an evolution of the traditional form of bullying. It is harder to control this form of bullying as it is done on the cyberspace. In some cases it becomes hard to trace the perpetrators as they can conceal their identity. This paper therefore explores the historical aspect of cyber bullying with an aim of showing how best policy makers can approach the problem. This study is significant because it gives solutions to a problem that has been recognized as a global predicament. Research Methods This paper relies heavily on peer reviewed journal articles. The journal articles were retrieved from the internet as well as from the library. This is so because of the fact that it is important to note what various scholars have proposed as solutions to cyber bullying. The research has also used journal articles so as to present different perspectives of the concept of cyber bullying. This is important so as to have a wide scope of what cyber bullying is. The research has also gained meaningful information from various documentaries and interviews that have been aired on television on the subject of cyber bullying. Although these sources are not listed they helped provide the author with insight on cyber bullying. The various documentaries on cyber bullying were helpful as they acted as indirect primary data for the research. The paper also seeks to critically analyze the legal framework and policies that are in place to combat the problem of cyber bullying. To this end, the paper has relied on information from various pieces of legislation. The paper will concentrate on implementation of legislation and school programs to prevent and stop cyber bullying in schools. The research will therefore not explore in detail the other ways of combating cyber bullying; like reporting cyber bullying to parents, not responding to emails that are meant for bullying, among others. The paper recognizes that cyber bullying is not only a vice found among children but also adults. The study however does not look into the issue of cyber bullying among adults. Outline The paper is divided into three major parts. The first part is an introduction of the paper. This part outlines the concept of cyber bullying giving the various definitions that have been given by various authors. The introduction gives the various methods used in cyber bullying including use of the internet as well as mobile phones. This part also introduces the concepts of implementation of legislation and school programs to combat cyber bullying. These are the major action plans identified by the paper as solutions to the problem of cyber bullying. The introduction also identifies the various stakeholders who are the key players in the proposed solutions. These are also the audience of the paper, and these are identified as lawmakers, school heads, parents and students. The second part of the paper provides a background and a historical perspective of cyber bullying. In this part, cyber bullying is identified as a form of bullying that emerged as a result of the development in electronic technology. This part also gives the statistics that have been given on cases of cyber bullying over the years. This part shows the reader that as the years advance, cyber bullying becomes more and more rampant. The historical perspective of cyber bullying also serves to show the reader the seriousness of the problem of cyber bullying. The second part also briefly discusses the other solutions available for cyber bullying focusing on the merits and demerits of each approach. This part is mainly to show the reader that there are various options available and to also show how appropriate and effective the methods proposed by the study (implementation of legislation and school programs against cyber bullying) are. The last part of the study provides a summary of the issues presented in the paper. The conclusion summarizes the advantages of implementing legislation and school programs against cyber bullying, and shows how practicable the solution is. This part also addresses salient issues on cyber bullying, including the long term effects of cyber bullying and why it is important to nip this problem at the bud. Sources The paper has made use of a number of journal articles, which are listed hereunder. Beran, T. & Li, Q. (2007). The relationship between Cyber Bullying and School Bullying. Journal of Student Wellbeing, 1(2), 15-33. Campbell, M. A. (2005). Cyber bullying: An old problem in a new guise?. Australian Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 15(1), 68-76. Erb, T. (2008). A Case for Strengthening School District Jurisdiction to Punish Off- Campus Incidents of Cyber Bullying. Arizona State Law Journal, 40, 257-287. Hawker, D.S.J. & Boulton, M.J. (2000) Twenty years’ research on peer victimization and psychosocial maladjustment: A meta-analytic review of cross-sectional studies. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 41(4), 441–55. Li, Q. (2005). New Bottle but Old Wine: A Research of Cyber Bullying in Schools. Computers in Human Behavior, 1-15. Li, Q. (2007). Bullying in the New Playground: Research into Cyber Bullying and Cyber Victimization. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 23(4), 435-454. Petersen, L. (2001). Anti-bullying programs- Avoiding bullying the bullies. In Promoting Wellbeing, AGCA Conference proceedings, 51-60. Quinn, D. (2003). Legal issues in educational technology: Implications for school leaders. Educational Administration Quarterly, 39(2), 187-207. Raywid, M. (2000). Musings in the wake of columbine – What can schools do? Phi Delta Kappa, 81(6), 444 - 449. Snider, M. & Borel, K. (2004). Stalked by a cyberbully. Macleans, 117, 76-77. Cyber Bullying in Schools: A Policy Paper Introduction Bullying can be defined as an act of frightening or harassing a person who is supposedly weaker or smaller (Petersen 2001). This behavior is triggered by various aspects. For instance a person can be bullied because of their race, their gender, their sexual orientation, religion, weight, disability or even talent. Bullying can take many forms including physical bullying where a person can be kicked, hit or pushed. Bullying can also be verbal or through technology, which is referred to as cyber bullying. Bullying mostly occurs in schools and is mostly physical and verbal but cyber bullying is fast emerging as the preferred way of bullying (Beran and Li 2007). Bullying has two players involved, namely the bully and the victim. The victims of bullying vary depending on the form of bullying. For instance bullying can take place as early as kindergarten; this is especially for physical and mostly verbal bullying. At this stage however it is very rare to have cyber bullying for example. Cyber bullying is mostly common among teenagers, who are the frequent users of technology and more so the cyberspace. Canadian teacher Bill Belsey is recognized for having coined the word cyber bullying. Belsey described cyber bullying as the use of technology for repeatedly communicating harmful and hostile messages to others. In understanding cyber bullying, one must realize that there are various forms of cyber bullying and there are tools that are used to commit cyber bullying. According to Campbell (2005), cyber bullying is done using mobile phones, chat rooms, emails, text messages, phone and digital cameras among other forms of technology. Using technology a person is able to write derogatory messages about another person that circulate among many people, causing them to be harassed and humiliated. Offensive pictures of a person may also be posted on social media sites in order to harass a person. Cyber bullying is also practiced where people start a website specifically for insulting or writing offensive messages about a particular person and inviting other people to do the same. For example a cyber bully can start a website where students get to vote the ugliest or geekiest boy or girl in school. This can be very humiliating for the people targeted. Li (2007) also identifies that a group of cyber bullies can also bombard a victim with ‘flame’ (attacking) emails or threatening emails. Cyber bullying can also take place where a person is excluded from participating in cyberspace activities, or what may be referred to as silent treatment which is meant to ostracize the victim. Cyber bullying can also be in the form of masquerading as a person in order to tarnish their image. Cyber bullying as has been seen is multifaceted. In the 21st century technology is rapidly changing and new ways of doing things are always emerging. This is why cyber bullying is increasingly becoming a big problem replacing physical and verbal bullying. With cyber bullying it is easier for the bully to hide their identity than it is with physical or verbal bullying. This is why finding a lasting solution to cyber bullying is difficult. For instance when a bully on the playground or on the school corridors harasses a person, it is easy for other students to see and report. It is even easy for the victim to go and report and identify the bully. A teacher can also stop bullying which he or she witnesses. However when it comes to cyber bullying, the victim may not even know the bully. Others may also not witness the person doing it because it is done with personal devices such as mobile phones or computers. There are however various solutions that have been devised to combat cyber bullying in schools. The major ones that have been emphasized in this paper are implementation of legislation and school programs against bullying. These are the strategic plans that if painstakingly undertaken can ensure that cyber bullying in schools is significantly reduced. One of the ways of resolving cyber bullying is by educating students in schools. This is by creating awareness. This has been well done through the media which has highlighted the issue in talk shows, documentaries and films. This means that students are made aware of the effects of bullying especially cyber bullying as a way of cautioning those who are or would want to engage in it. Students can also be lectured on the forms of bullying so that they are cautious of what they say or do on the internet. Students can also be made aware of the different remedies they have when they are bullied. It is important to raise awareness of bullying in schools because in some extreme cases students who are bullied are driven to suicide. It has also been seen in some cases that some victims of bullying turn against everyone and end up killing a number of students in anger. These are some of the psychosomatic consequences of bullying and more so cyber bullying which is harder to control. Creation of awareness about cyber bullying and bullying in general, also includes informing young people in schools that bullying is not a rite of passage and should not be treated as a normal occurrence. Creation of awareness is a primary approach to controlling cyber bullying. Another way of curbing cyber bullying is by ensuring supervision of technology use. This can be done by parents and teachers. Supervision means that teachers in schools are vigilant on the use of mobile phones to spread scandalous messages and the control of internet including limiting the sites that can be accessed by students. Parents at home also have to keep abreast with the technology that their children are using. Parents also have to take seriously incidents where their children are reported to be bullies or victims of bullying. This is however not easy to achieve as the young people are usually able to hide a lot from their teachers and parents. For example a parent may think that a child has only one My Space account, yet they have another one, which the parent does not know about. Supervision is however important in reducing cyber bullying. A parent or teacher may also be able to discover a cyber bully and guide them to desist. Supervision of internet usage by a responsible adult is also important in preventing access to pornographic sites or sexual predation. Cyber bullying can also be resolved using legislative means. This means laws can be put in place and implemented that outlaw the activities that constitute cyber bullying. This means that legal sanctions are put in place to curb the vice. In this way any person who is found cyber bullying is criminally liable and therefore can be imprisoned or sent to a juvenile institution if they are a minor. Legislation has been enacted in order to criminalize some extreme forms of cyber bullying. In Canada, for instance the Criminal Code under section 264.1(1) stipulates that it is a crime to keep communicating to someone messages that cause them to fear for their safety or the safety of others. Threatening a person is also a criminal offence under the legislation. In 2006, the state of South Carolina in the United States passed the Safe School Climate Act which requires that school districts prohibit all forms of bullying including cyber bullying. Florida also enacted the Jeffrey Johnston Stand Up for All Students Act in 2008. This was after a 15 year old boy, Jeffrey Johnston, killed himself after being cyber bullied. Louisiana also enacted Act 230 (R.S. 17:416.15) to prevent and reduce cases of cyber bullying. It is through such enactments that cyber bullies fear repercussions for their actions and cease their bad habits. It is however noted that bullying or cyber bullying is not a criminal offence, but such activities as defamation, hacking into someone’s email or other cyberspace accounts, threatening someone or impersonation are criminal offences. These activities are the ones which form the elements of cyber bullying. Therefore cyber bullying is a criminal offence indirectly. Legislation is usually an enactment of existing policies, therefore there must be a policy even though there is no legislation governing cyber bullying in a particular place. This is owing to the fact that cyber bullying is a major problem among young school-going people and the fact that it has serious ramifications on the victims. In the UK, there are various laws which do not directly mention cyber bullying but which criminalize the activities that are constitute cyber bullying. These laws include The Protection from Harassment Act 1997, The Defamation Acts of 1952 and 1996, The Malicious Communications Act 1988, Public Order Act 1986 and section 127 of the Communications Act 2003. Putting in place and implementing effective legislation shows that the government recognizes the graveness of cyber bullying and any acts of harassment for that matter. Implementation of legislation also means that cyber bullying that occurs outside school premises is also covered. This is because cyber bullies act on the assumption that whatever they are doing in their privacy cannot be regulated by school officials and so they cannot get caught. The concept of cyber bullying is still relatively new and there has not been any reported case of prosecution of a cyber bully. There are however measures that are undertaken by school boards to punish those who are guilty of cyber bullying. This is where implementation of school programs to prevent cyber bullying comes in. These programs are useful as they provide schools with guidelines on how to deal with cyber bullies and also provide students with ways of dealing with cyber bullying (Quinn 2003). School programs geared towards prevention of cyber bullying ensure that internet usage in the school compound is carefully monitored. Programs in schools which are implemented for the prevention of cyber bullying can also ensure that filters are put in place to block certain sites. Implementation of school programs ensures that cyber bullies’ activities are monitored in school and that incidents of cyber bullying are dealt with school officials accordingly. The solutions that are available to combat cyber bullying show that there are various key stakeholders involved in curbing the vice. The stakeholders are also the implementers of the solutions provided. These include teachers and parents, school boards and administrations, governments, as well as the students. Historical Context of Cyber Bullying in Schools Cyber bullying can be traced back to traditional bullying. Erb (2008) explains that for a long time bullying has been seen as part of the growing up that most children have to go through. This is why in most cases parents and teachers ignore it as a normal occurrence. This is also the reason why it goes on even up to higher learning institutions such as universities. Bullying has vast research materials dating back to the 70s. A Norwegian scholar, Olweus, was recognized as the first person to carry out research on bullying in schools. In his research he identified the different elements of bullying the major ones being repeated exposure to negative actions which inflict emotional, physical and mental pain. It was not until late in the 20th century that American authors started giving due attention to the subject of bullying (Hawker and Boulton 2000). The researches at that time mostly dealt with general bullying but there were also initial researches on cyber bullying. This is because this was also the period in which computer, internet and mobile technology was slowly being unveiled. During the 90s the subject of bullying started receiving major attention in America because of serious reported incidents of bullying in schools; the most memorable being the 1999 Columbine High School incident in Columbine Colorado. In this unfortunate incident, two students who were victims of bullying killed twelve of their schoolmates and one teacher and wounded 24 others before killing themselves. Raywid (2000) reports that the two boys were part of a group which identified itself as ‘the trench coat mafia’. The group had also adopted Nazi ideologies and even salutations. These students also made homemade bombs and it was discovered that the two who had been ostracized by their peers in school, had planned the revenge for almost a year. It is such incidents as the Columbine High School that brought to the fore the serious ramifications of bullying in schools. However cyber bullying was not brought to the limelight until the beginning of the 21st century when incidents of cyber bullying started emerging from various countries across the globe. For example, in 2003 in Quebec Canada, a video of a 15 year old boy imitating a Star Wars scene was leaked to the internet by a group of bullies. The video caused the boy agony for which he sought counseling; his parents also filed a lawsuit against the perpetrators (Snider and Borel 2004). Another reported incident of cyber bullying was in Japan where a picture of an overweight boy taken in a locker room circulated among his peers causing him embarrassment and a lot of anguish. In 2003 in Calabasas High School in California in the US, a scandalous and vicious website where racist and other derogatory comments were posted was discovered to have greatly and negatively impacted on the larger population of the school. In the UK, it was reported in 2002 that one of four children aged between 11 and 19 years had experienced cyber bullying. This survey showed that cyber bullying was fast becoming a menace in schools. A study in 2004, in Westchester, UK also revealed that only 6 out of 200 children indicated that they had not experienced some form of cyber bullying. This indicated that the majority of youngsters had experienced cyber bullying. There are not many researches based on cyber bullying as it is still not easy to trace the incidents of the vice. There are however emerging studies on cyber bullying that are slowly shedding light on the subject including the different solutions to cyber bullying. As earlier mentioned there are various solutions to cyber bullying depending on where it is taking place and the avenues used to perpetrate it. For example if a cyber bully does not hide their identity it is easy for authorities to charge the bully with harassment, defamation or threatening someone. This is the advantage of having laws that govern against activities that form part of cyber bullying. Enactment of legislation ensures that a cyber bully can be confronted by the law and face the consequences of his or her actions. This serves to warn the rest of the bullies against continuing with their bad habits. The disadvantage of enacting legislation as a way of combating cyber bullying is that the cyber bullies tend to device new methods of hiding their identity, so as to circumvent the sanctions of the law. This makes it hard to trace the perpetrators and thus the victims continue to suffer without remedy. Courts have also not decided any landmark cases on the issue of cyber bullying which makes prosecutors reluctant to take up such cases as most of the time they are seen as trivial. The law may also be used to help a cyber bully to get away. For instance, a person can argue that they have a right to freedom of speech which is a constitutionally protected right. Bully prevention school programs are also advantageous in that they ensure that the main actors in schools are able to take control of cyber bullying. This means that the school administration collaborates with other actors such as teachers and the school board in order to formulate a clear and extensive program to combat cyber bullying in schools. Implementation of school programs is intertwined with the implementation of legislation. This is so because most legislation, especially those dealing directly with the issue of cyber bullying, require that schools or school boards put in place policies or programs to curb the vice. Therefore implementation of legislation and school programs are an effective way of dealing with cyber bullying. These two methods are also highlighted in this paper because they encompass the other solutions, such as supervision and creation of awareness. This is because most school programs advocate for children being taught how to identify and report bullying and what to do in case of cyber bullying. School programs for bully prevention also incorporate supervision, where both teachers and students are required to be vigilant on the activities of students especially on the internet. The disadvantage of school programs however is that most of the time they create paper solutions, meaning some of them are never implemented. The other remedies to cyber bullying also have their merits and demerits. Supervision of internet usage both in school and at home means that cyber bullying can easily be identified and stopped before it becomes very serious. Supervision also serves as a prevention measure. This is because if teachers and parents are able to monitor the activities of students then it would be easy to notice a bully and more so a victim of bullying. Supervision is however not an effective remedy as parents and teachers are not able to keep up with the various forms of technologies used by the children. Creation of awareness also has several advantages including the fact that those who are ignorant of the consequences of bullying are informed. The disadvantage is that students, especially teenagers do not pay attention and are rebellious. This is why it is important to create sanctions for cyber bullying through legislation and school programs. Conclusion Cyber bullying is a relatively new phenomenon but looking at the history of traditional bullying, it can be realized that it is just another form of bullying that can be restrained. Li (2005) explains metaphorically that cyber bullying is an old wine but in a new bottle. It is important for the various stakeholders especially government and school administration to implement legislation and school programs that are able to effectively combat cyber bullying. Many countries, especially those that are technologically advanced have put in place legislation addressing cyber bullying. Implementation of legislation which outlaws cyber bullying is a monumental step in reducing cases of cyber bullying. This is because outlawing acts of cyber bullying like sending of flame or threatening emails, will ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice. Implementation of legislation will also ensure that bully prevention programs are implemented in schools. These programs make sure that students are equipped with knowledge to identify cyber bullying and to seek remedies when they fall victims. It is very achievable to implement effective legislation and school programs. The various stakeholders have to cooperate in order to come up with the best strategies. This is important seeing as cyber bullying is a major problem in schools that can have dire consequences if not properly addressed. This paper has examined the concept of cyber bullying giving the different definitions advanced and the avenues used to perpetrate it. Most importantly the paper has highlighted solutions to cyber bullying with a focus on implementation of legislation and school programs that are anti-cyber bullying. The various stakeholders have also been identified in order to show that the solutions proposed can be achieved. References Beran, T. & Li, Q. (2007). The relationship between Cyber Bullying and School Bullying. Journal of Student Wellbeing, 1(2), 15-33. Campbell, M. A. (2005). Cyber bullying: An old problem in a new guise?. Australian Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 15(1), 68-76. Erb, T. (2008). A Case for Strengthening School District Jurisdiction to Punish Off Campus Incidents of Cyber Bullying. Arizona State Law Journal, 40, 257-287. Hawker, D.S.J. & Boulton, M.J. (2000) Twenty years’ research on peer victimization and psychosocial maladjustment: A meta-analytic review of cross-sectional studies. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 41(4), 441–55. Li, Q. (2005). New Bottle but Old Wine: A Research of Cyber Bullying in Schools. Computers in Human Behavior, 1-15. Li, Q. (2007). Bullying in the New Playground: Research into Cyber Bullying and Cyber Victimization. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 23(4), 435-454. Petersen, L. (2001). Anti-bullying programs- Avoiding bullying the bullies. In Promoting Wellbeing, AGCA Conference proceedings, 51-60. Quinn, D. (2003). Legal issues in educational technology: Implications for school leaders. Educational Administration Quarterly, 39(2), 187-207. Raywid, M. (2000). Musings in the wake of columbine – What can schools do? Phi Delta Kappa, 81(6), 444 - 449. Snider, M. & Borel, K. (2004). Stalked by a cyberbully. Macleans, 117, 76-77. Read More