While children and young people can benefit from the teaching and learning tools that can be used online, experts warn that cyber bullying is a growing phenomenon, particularly among Generation Y – and it can happen to anyone.
Using the internet can provide a rich source of educational information. There is also the major social aspect of being online. Websites such as Facebook and Twitter allow friends to keep in touch, share photos and interests.
Cyber bullying is using technology to deliberately and repeatedly bully somebody else. It can happen to anyone, anytime, and can leave people feeling unsafe and alone.
QUT Associate Professor Marilyn Campbell says young people’s widespread access to the internet makes bullying a technological problem. “Cyber bullying by its name is conducted through technology. A computer in your pocket in your pocket means that you virtually can bully through one way.”
Cyber bullying can happen any time, with easy access to the internet. Photo: Nora Badawy
She says cyber bullying can include abusive texts and emails, posting harmful messages of images online, imitating others online, excluding others online and inappropriate image tagging. The psychological and emotional outcomes of cyber bullying are similar to real-life bullying outcomes, except for the reality that with cyber bullying, there is often no escape. For the victims of cyber bullying, there is virtually no escape. School ends at 3:30, while the internet is available all the time.
According to cyber bullying statistics from the i-SAFE Foundation, more than half of adolescents and teens have been bullied online; about the same number have engaged in cyber bulling and more than 1 in 3 people have experienced cyber threats online.
Between cell phones, social media websites, and online gaming, children today seem to have more outlets for interacting with each other virtually than they do for interacting with each other in person. However there are dangers that come with that increased social interaction. In addition to the physical and verbal bullying that may take place at school, many people believe cyber-bullying in the form of harassing text messages and derogatory posts on children’s Facebook pages is now routine. Even though it may not take place in person, the emotional and psychological effects of cyber-bullying are just as destructive.
Making the issue worse is the fact that such negative effects of bullying often go unnoticed, as many victims feel the need to conceal the fact that they are being bullied because they are embarrassed or afraid of further bullying. They tend to act anxious and appear less confident. They may become quieter in class and, as a result, the bullying can impact greatly on their academic success. Therefore, bullying is a problem that, if left unattended, can become a significant hurdle in a child’s development.
The reactions many young people have to being cyber bullied are similar to those provoked by traditional or face-to-face bullying. They include low self-esteem and loss in self-confidence, anxiety, sadness or depression, fear, anger, embarrassment, and decreased academic achievement.
In worst case scenarios, the victim may experience self-harming or suicidal thoughts and behaviours, and negative impacts on the quality of their relationship with family and friends.
The long term effects of bullying can lead to becoming adults with various disorders including depression and anxiety which can impact greatly on the victim’s mental, social, emotional and even physical health. Finnish researchers recently discovered bullying could result in serious mental disorders (mainly an anxiety disorder or antisocial personality disorder) among both the bullies and those being bullied. While victims of bullying were more likely to develop anxiety disorders, the bullies themselves are also at a higher risk of developing antisocial personality disorder.
So what causes cyber bullying? The research suggests poor parental or teaching supervision, poor awareness of cyber safety issues within the community, inadequate amount of internet censoring, having little or no social life and spending a lot of time on the internet.
Studies show that a shocking nine out of ten middle school students (what we in Australia would call students in year seven and eight) have been abused online. In recent years, a series of bullying-related suicides in the US and across the globe have drawn attention to the connection between bullying and suicide. Though too many adults still see bullying as “just part of being a kid,” it is a serious problem that leads to many negative effects for victims, including suicide. Many people may not realize that there is also a link between being a bully and committing suicide.
Although most people would assume that identifying and handling the issue has improved over the years, Associate Professor Campbell says there’s no real way of measuring the progress.
“What we don’t yet have is any evidence which shows us what works for preventing kids being nasty to each other online or which is the best way to manage it,” she says.
“We don’t have any base line that says this is a really good way or this is a really bad way and how do we improve because no one has actually has done any studies that really take a good close look at intervention.”
