14 DAY TRIAL // A group of researchers in Australia proposes a new arsenal that parents and teachers can use to prevent cyberbullying, which is bullying that occurs online, over the phone, through instant messages, private messages of social networking websites and forums, and a variety of other electronic environments.
The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) investigators are experts on bullying, and their new work incorporates a large number of new strategies for fighting this extremely dangerous behavior.
Bullying has been shown to increase victims' risk of committing suicide, or experiencing life-long adversity. Depression and anxiety is also a common symptom of being constantly picked-on.
The new study, entitled “School-Based Strategies to Address Cyber Bullying,” was published by the QUT Center for Strategic Education (CSE). QUT associate professor Marilyn Campbell and Edith Cowan University professor Donna Cross are two of the authors.
Campbell explains that there are some approaches to preventing bullying that can be applied to the online version of the behavior as well. However, he adds, certain tweaks and fine-tunings need to be made in order for the approaches to be relevant to the online environment.
“Teachers and parents need to educate young people there is such a thing as a digital reputation. When you make fun of people and are nasty online, there is some sense of permanency on the Internet and in social media,” Campbell explains.
“It's no longer about passing the piece of paper in the classroom or writing something on back of a toilet door,” she goes on to say. “Bystanders of cyber bullying are the most important element we can use to prevent and intervene in schools,” the expert adds.
Campbell adds that many parents and teachers do not have cyberbullying in their crosshairs because of the digital divide separating them from their children. Experts say that the adults need to somehow get passed that.
Strategies that parents can employ to address cyberbullying include:
•Keeping computers in a central place at home and have clear, agreed rules about their children's use of technology; •Know who their children's friends are, both online and offline; •Google their child's name to see where their child might be mentioned or where they have visited;
Strategies that teachers or schools can employ to address cyberbullying include:
•Encouraging students to take responsibility to manage their digital reputation, by regularly searching their name, images and email address; •Reinforcing the importance of students protecting their password by changing it regularly and never sharing it with anyone; •Surveying the school community to understand where students are spending time online and the potential hotspots for bullying; •Educating students about the importance of having online friends they also know offline.
“We need to promote a culture where students who see bullying in an online chatroom can email or text the victim afterwards so they don't feel excluded. Students who bully should be the ones who are ultimately ostracized,” Campbell concludes.