Cyber and Traditional Bullying Among School Children - Research Paper Example

Cyber and Traditional Bullying Among School Children Abstract It is extremely popular among teenagers to assert themselves at the expense of others, built on the principle of self-aggrandizement through humiliation others in opinion of associates. It is known that bullying was always popular among teenagers. Along with the development of the Internet and, in particular, developing social networks and bullying in the online environment. Nowadays, traditional bullying and cyberbullying are major problems among schoolchildren. This tendency affects the mental health of students and fraught with negative consequences. However, there are measures allowing to reduce or avoid bullying of schoolchildren. Keywords: traditional bullying, cyberbullying, mental health, depression, countermeasures. Introduction School bullying as a special form of aggressive behavior, violates the rights of other people, became the object of systematic research in the early 70-ies of XX century. Such aggressive actions appear either permanently or for a long time implemented by a team or individual in relation to the victim, who cannot easily defend himself in order to cause physical or psychological harm. (Nickerson, Schnurr, Collen, 2014, p.158) Defining it as targeted aggressive actions, the researchers turned to the analysis of various factors, and psychological relationships of bullying. There are the main types of these actions: physical bullying; verbal bullying; bullying related to social exclusion or relational bullying; cyberbullying. Bullying usually occur in connection with the following issues: race, color, worldview, ethnic and national origin, immigration status or nationality religion, gender, gender identity, gender self-expression, sexual orientation, disability and weight. (Schneider, O’Donnell, Stueve, Coulter, 2012, p.173) According to a survey, which is conducted with the participation of children, stating that they are victims of bullying it was found that they were persecuted mostly based on gender, disability and sexual orientation. (Fernandez-Antelo, Cuadrado-Gordillo, 2014) At the same time, girls are often persecuted than boys. (Mishna, Schwan, Lefebvre, Bhole, Johnston, 2014, p.343) Such attacks in addition to physical and verbal aggression can manifest in the form of extortion, moral humiliation, leading to alienation and isolation of the victim. Teaching staff of the school directly or indirectly, may be included in the situation of bullying, showing neglect or direct pressure against vulnerable students, pandering to organized harassment or even encouraging it. Victims are often scared going to school because of bullying. It is caused losing the opportunity to learn by students.  Issue Analysis The most hurtful situations increasingly occur in the form of a number of unfortunate incidents taking place in both personal communication and cyberspace. Average bullying is a confrontation in interpersonal communication and often face-to-face, with the use of threats and physical violence. Cyberbullying is practiced in electronic form, and provocative materials can be disseminated quickly and widely, with a continuous process involving many people. (Dake, Price, Telljohann, 2003, p.173) Cyberbullying is a form of persecution. In cyberbullying there are some features that make its consequences to be very serious. Cyberbullying effect on the victim seven days a week, twenty four hours a day without leaving time and space in which people could feel safe. (Willard, 2005, p.1) Cyberbullying today is a universal way to assert themselves in society. In according to the article “The Dangers of Cyberbullying”, it costs no money as almost everyone has the access to the Internet, and it is very difficult to calculate the performer by the results of operations. As a result, cyberbullying is particularly popular among teenagers, for which, on the one hand, it is very important to get public recognition, on the other hand, they often have lack the resources, energy and patience to establish themselves. (Davison, Stein, Carl, 2014) Attack during cyberbullying can be very painful and sudden. Since emails are very difficult to control and filter, the victim receives them unexpectedly, it leads to a strong psychological impact. The personality of people that apply cyberbullying remains anonymous. The child does not know who persecute him, and he or she is inclined to exaggerate the danger. Anonymity of pursuers makes impact of intimidation particularly strong. (“Cyberbullying among youngsters: profiles of bullies and victims”, 2011) Cyberbullying have equally strong effect on different generations. A teenager, as well as a schoolteacher, for example, may become the victim of cyberbullying. Cyberbullying can be unintentional. Sometimes a member of a closed group or online community may to make a joke badly, without the intention to cause harm to someone. Third parties can use a joke of such person for persecution of the victims. Traditional bullying is a situation in the schoolyard, where older or stronger children terrorize the younger, weaker. The authors of the article “A Relational Framework for Understanding Bullying. Developmental Antecedents and Outcomes” argue that frequently young people who commit bullying over other children are often marginalized and have certain emotional problems such as low self-esteem and a penchant for victimization. (Rodkin, Espelage, Hanish, 2015, p.1) Traditional bullying ends when the child comes home from school. However, cyberbullying continues all the time: information and communication technologies are an integral part of the lives of modern teenagers, and it is impossible to hide from cyber-attacks. Unlike the real bullying, cyberbullying to not need muscles or high growth, but only the technical means, the time and the desire to terrorize someone. Anonymous enemy may remain anonymous, and then the victim suffers from questions about why this is happening to him and how to stop it. Victims of cyberbullying are more stronger afraid to seek the help of an adult then real victims of the attacks, as the fear of additional punishment, that is deprivation of privileges to use a computer or a mobile phone that for many parents is the logical way out of this situation. The fear of losing access to the virtual space makes the victims of cyberbullying to hide their problem from adults. Types of Cyber Bullying There are several types of cyberbullying. Sparring, or flaming is interchange of short emotional remarks between two or more people, usually takes place in public places in the network. At first sight, flaming - the struggle between equals, but under certain conditions it can turn into an unequal psychological terror. The unexpected attack can cause the victim severe emotional distress. The attacks, persistent exhausting attacks - repeated abusive messages sent to the victim (for example, hundreds of SMS on mobile phone, regular phone calls) with an overload of personal communication channels. There are also chat rooms and forums, online games, instant messages. This technology is most often used by griefers, which are a group of players, with the aim of not winning, but makes the destruction of the gaming experience of other participants. Slander is a dissemination of false information and insulting. Text messages, photos, songs are often sexual in their nature. The victims are not only some teenagers. Sometimes happen mailing lists; there are special books for criticism with jokes about classmates. Imposture, the transformation of a certain person that is the pursuer positions itself as a victim, using its password to access the account in social networks, blog, email, system of instant messaging, or create his own account with the same nickname and carries out negative communication on behalf of the victim. (Davison, Stein, Carl, 2014) The organization of wave feedback occurs when from the address of the victim without his or her knowledge the pursuer sends provocative letters to his or her friends. It is found that such a form of cyberbullying as the skullduggery, extortion of confidential information and its dissemination, that is getting personal information and publishing it on the Internet or transfer to those people whom it is not intended. Cyberbullying is a hidden tracking the victim in order to organize the attacks, beatings, rape and so on. In order to study the problem of cyberbullying, sociologists use the Cyberbullying Scale, which consists of several subscales (for example, cyber-bullying victimization, cyber-bullying perpetration, bullying victimization, bullying perpetration). Each subscale contains its own score, which represents low or high incidence of bullying. (Vivolo-Kantor, Martell, Kristin, 2014 p.430) Cyberbullying can cause emotional distress, depression, school violence, and unwillingness to go to school. The results of the surveys show that adolescents who have been victims of bullying or victimization of any of the four forms of bullying (physical, verbal, relational and cyberbullying) feeling the symptoms of depression. (Wang, Nansel, Iannotti, 2012, p.416) Many adolescents involved in bullying, whether they are aggressors or victims, have already had difficulties in communicating with other people. Not only victims, but also even witnesses can be influenced by victimization and can experience mental health risks and depression. (Rivers, Poteat, Noret, Ashurst, 2009, p.218) The decision of the child to commit suicide happens rare and depends on many factors, but sometimes exactly cyberbullying could trigger suicides. (Sampasa-Kanyinga, Roumeliotis, Xu, 2014) However, the article “Bullying Prevalence across Contexts: A Meta-analysis Measuring Cyber and Traditional Bullying” states that despite widespread of bullying through the Internet, it is less common than traditional bullying. (Modecki, Minchin, Harbaugh, Guerra, Kevin, 2014, p.607) Conclusions and Recommendations The sociologists think that in order to stop the persecution, a child should first report the incident to parents or a person at the school who is responsible for such matters. When a child is not sure of himself or herself and is afraid share with him or her problems, he can apply to certain institutions that assist victims of traditional or even cyberbullying. In this case, it is possible for a child to tell about the incident by sending an email. The problem of bullying occurs is due to the fact that children do not take seriously the use of mobile phones and the Internet in general. Prevention of cyberbullying is not an easy goal because of the anonymity of the Internet pursuers. The solution of this problem is to deliver the information about the dangers of the use of mobile telephones and the Internet to school students, to explain how to act, if they experience cyber or traditional bullying. In order to deal effectively with bullying and cyberbullying collaborative efforts of the school and the family are needed. (Feinberg, Robey, 2010) To prevent cyberbullying, parents should constantly discuss his or her Internet activities. It is also essential to explain how harmful incorrect use of devices and Internet can be, to install parental control. If a child still became a victim of cyberbullying, he or she should contact with responsible adult, block all communications; take the help of the school psychologist. Then it is necessary for a child and his or her parents to contact with appropriate organization or even police. (Feinberg, Robey, 2010) References “Cyberbullying among youngsters: profiles of bullies and victims”. (2011). New Media & Society. Retrieved October 9, 2015 from http://connection.sagepub.com/blog/communication-media/2011/04/28/cyberbullying- among-youngsters-profiles-of-bullies-and-victims/ Dake, J., Price, J., Telljohann, S. (2003) The Nature and Extent of Bullying in School. Journal of School Health, Vol.73, No.5. Retrieved October 9, 2015 from http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwche/The%20Nature%20and%20Extent%20of%20Bullyin g%20at%20School.pdf Davison, B., Stein, Carl, H. (2014) The Dangers of Cyberbullying. North American Journal of Psychology. Retrieved October 4, 2015 from https://www.questia.com/library/journal/1G1-392177618/the-dangers-of- cyberbullying Feinberg, T., Robey, N. (2010) Cyberbullying: Intervention and Prevention Strategies. National Association of School Psychologists. Retrieved October 9, 2015 from http://www.nasponline.org/resources/bullying/cyberbullying.pdf Fernаndez-Antelo, I., Cuadrado-Gordillo, I. (2014). Predictive Indicators of Victimization and Aggression in Cyber Contexts. American International Journal of Social Science, Vol.3, No. 6. Retrieved October 9, 2015 from http://www.aijssnet.com/journals/Vol_3_No_6_November_2014/3.pdf Mishna, F., Schwan, J., Lefebvre, R., Bhole, P., Johnston, D. (2014). Students in distress: Unanticipated findings in a cyber bullying study. Children and Youth Services Review 44. Modecki, L., Minchin, J., Harbaugh, G., Guerra, G. and Kevin C. (2014). Bullying Prevalence across Contexts: A Meta-analysis Measuring Cyber and Traditional Bullying. Journal of Adolescent Health. Nickerson, B., Singleton, D., Schnurr, B. and Collen, H. (2014). Perceptions of School Climate as a Function of Bullying Involvement. Journal of Applied School Psychology, 30: p.157–181. Rivers, I., Poteat, V., Noret, N., Ashurst, N. (2009). Observing Bullying at School: The Mental Health Implications of Witness Status. School Psychology Quarterly. American Psychological Association, Vol. 24, No.4, 211–223. Retrieved October 9, 2015 from http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/spq-24-4-211.pdf Rodkin, C., Espelage, L., Hanish, A (2015). Relational Framework for Understanding Bullying Developmental. Antecedents and Outcomes. American Psychologist. Sampasa-Kanyinga, H., Roumeliotis, P., Xu H. (2014). Associations between Cyberbullying and School Bullying Victimization and Suicidal Ideation, Plans and Attempts among Canadian Schoolchildren. Retrieved October 9, 2015 from http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0102145 Schneider, S., O’Donnell, L., Stueve, A., Coulter, R. (2012). Cyberbullying, School Bullying, and Psychological Distress: A Regional Census of High School Students. American Journal of Public Health, Vol.102, No.1. Retrieved October 9, 2015 from http://www.promoteprevent.org/sites/www.promoteprevent.org/files/resources/Cyber bullying%20school%20bullying%20and%20psychological%20distress.pdf Vivolo-Kantor, A.M., Martell, B.N., Kristin, M. A. (2014). Systematic Review and Content Analysis of Bullying and Cyber-Bullying Measurement Strategies. Aggression and Violent Behavior 19. Wang, J., Nansel, R., Iannotti, J. (2012). Cyber Bullying and Traditional Bullying: Differential Association with Depression. Adolesc Health. Willard, N. (2005) Educator’s Guide to Cyberbullying and Cyberthreats. Center for Safe and Responsible Use of the Internet. Retrieved October 9, 2015 from https://education.ohio.gov/getattachment/Topics/Other-Resources/School- Safety/Safe-and-Supportive-Learning/Anti-Harassment-Intimidation-and-Bullying- Resource/Educator-s-Guide-Cyber-Safety.pdf.aspx Read More