BASIC RESEARCH 9

CYBER BULLYING
Cyber Bullying: An Old Problem in a New Guise?
Although technology provides numerous benefits to young people, it also has a dark side, as it can
be used for harm, not only by some adults but also by the young people themselves. E-mail, texting,
chat rooms, mobile phones, mobile phone cameras and web sites can and are being used by young
people to bully peers. It is now a global problem with many incidents reported in the United States,
Canada, Japan, Scandinavia and the United Kingdom, as well as in Australia and New Zealand. This
growing problem has as yet not received the attention it deserves and remains virtually absent from
the research literature. This article explores definitional issues, the incidence and potential
consequences of cyber bullying, as well as discussing possible prevention and intervention
strategies.
Students Perspectives on Cyber Bullying
The aim of this study was to gain a better understanding of the impact of cyber bullying on students
and the possible need for prevention messages targeting students, educators, and parents. A total of
148 middle and high school students were interviewed during focus groups held at two middle and
two high schools in a public school district. The focus groups were approximately 45 minutes in
length. Students were divided by gender and asked a series of scripted questions by a same-gender
student assistance counselor. We found that students comments during the focus groups suggest
that studentsparticularly femalesview cyber bullying as a problem, but one rarely discussed at
school, and that students do not see the school district personnel as helpful resources when dealing
with cyber bullying. Students are currently experiencing the majority of cyber bullying instances
outside of the school day; however, there is some impact at school. Students were able to suggest
some basic strategies for dealing with cyber bullying, but were less likely to be aware of strategies to
request the removal of objectionable websites, as well as how to respond as a helpful bystander
when witnessing cruel online behavior. We conclude that school districts should address cyber
bullying through a combination of policies and information that are shared with students and parents.
Schools should include cyber bullying as part of their bullying prevention strategies and include
classroom lessons that address reporting and bystander behavior.
Cyberbullying: Youngsters' Experiences and Parental Perception
This paper describes a survey on the prevalence and nature of cyberbullying of and by youngsters
and the parental perceptions. Two questionnaires, one for youngsters and one for their parents, were
sent to 1,211 final-year pupils of primary schools and first-year pupils of all levels of secondary
schools and their parents. Pupils completed the questionnaires in their classroom, and parents
completed them at home. The results show that about 16% of the youngsters had engaged in bullying
via the Internet and text messages, while about 23% of the youngsters had been victims of
cyberbullying. Cyberbullying seems to be a rather anonymous, individualistic activity, which primarily
takes place at home. The most frequently used nature of harassments were name-calling and
gossiping. Youngsters mostly react to cyberbullying by pretending to ignore it, by really ignoring it, or
by bullying the bully. Most parents set rules for their children about the way to they should use the
Internet but are not really conscious of the harassments. They underestimate their own children's
bullying behavior and have insufficient notion of their children as victims of bullying.

BASIC RESEARCH 9
CYBER BULLYING
Cyberbullying and its correlation to traditional bullying, gender and frequent and risky usage
of internet-mediated communication tools
This study examined the relationships between cyber and traditional bullying experiences regarding
gender differences. Also, the contributions of frequent and risky usage of internet to cyberbullying
experiences were examined. The participants were 276 adolescents (123 females, 151 males and 2
unknown) ranging in age from 14 to 18 years. The results revealed that 32 percent of the students
were victims of both cyber and traditional bullying, while 26 percent of the students bullied others in
both cyber and physical environments. Compared to female students, male students were more likely
to be bullies and victims in both physical and cyber-environments. The multivariate statistical analysis
indicated that cyber and traditional bullying were related for male students but not for female
students. Moreover, the multiple regression analysis revealed that both frequent and risky usage of
internet account for a significant variance of cyberbullying but their contributions differ based on
genders.
Cyber-Bullying: Creating a Culture of Respect in a Cyber World
In the 1990s, many incidents revolved around student-on-student violence, usually involving guns.
Schools implemented many programs to keep guns and gangs out of schools. In the 21st Century,
school violence is taking on a new and more insidious form. New technologies have made it easier for
bullies to gain access to their victims. This form of bullying has become known as cyber-bullying. This
article provides a window to this little known world and offers practical suggestions for dealing with
this new challenge.
Cyber-Bullying: Developing Policy to Direct Responses that are Equitable and Effective in
Addressing This Special Form of Bullying
The article reviews existing research on cyber-bullying, framed through a policy lens. It is clear that
public policy issues for cyber-bullying involve tensions between the values of freedom of speech, the
best interests of the child, and parental and school protective authority over the child. Given the
complexity of the problem, as well as conflicting values, the development of effective policy requires a
collaborative effort involving all stakeholders--policymakers, school officials, parents and youth. It is
important to emphasize literature that delineates the differences between conventional bullying and
cyber-bullying because the two are very different and must be treated and analyzed separately. Thus,
the following sections set out the definitions and mechanisms of cyber-bullying for policymakers
contemplating new and/or modified policies, review the characteristics of the problem and the
psychology of Internet abuse, explain the physical and mental consequences of it, and outline the
results of recent surveys on cyber-bullying. Finally, the article concludes with recommendations on
implementing acceptable use policies at the School Board and individual school levels, as well as
family contracts for home use.

BASIC RESEARCH 9
CYBER BULLYING
--Data from 53 focus groups, which involved students from 10 to 18 years old, show that youngsters
often interpret cyberbullying as Internet bullying and associate the phenomenon with a wide range
of practices. In order to be considered true cyberbullying, these practices must meet several criteria.
They should be intended to hurt (by the perpetrator) and perceived as hurtful (by the victim); be part
of a repetitive pattern of negative offline or online actions; and be performed in a relationship
characterized by a power imbalance (based on real-life power criteria, such as physical strength or
age, and/or on ICT-related criteria such as technological know-how and anonymity).
---The use of online technology is exploding worldwide and is fast becoming a preferred method of
interacting. While most online interactions are neutral or positive the Internet provides a new means
through which children and youth are bullied. The aim of this grounded theory approach was to
explore technology, virtual relationships and cyber bullying from the perspectives of students. Seven
focus groups were held with 38 students between fifth and eighth grades. The participants considered
cyber bullying to be a serious problem and some characterized online bullying as more serious than
traditional bullying because of the associated anonymity. Although the students depicted anonymity
as integral to cyber bullying, the findings suggest that much of the cyber bullying occurred within the
context of their social groups and relationships. Findings revealed five major themes: technology
embraced at younger ages and becoming the dominant medium for communication; definitions and
views of cyber bullying; factors unique to cyber bullying; types of cyber bullying; and telling adults.
The findings highlight the complexity of the perceived anonymity provided by the Internet and how
this may impact cyber bullying. The study offers greater awareness of the meanings of online
relationships for children and youth.
Keywords
--Data were obtained from the Health Behavior in School-Aged Children (HBSC) 2005 Survey, a
nationally representative sample of grades 610 (N = 7,182). The revised Olweus Bully/Victim
Questionnaire was used to measure physical, verbal, and relational forms of bullying. Two items were
added using the same format to measure cyber bullying. For each form, four categories were created:
bully, victim, bully-victim, and not involved. Multinomial logistic regressions were applied, with
sociodemographic variables, parental support, and number of friends as predictors.
Results
Prevalence rates of having bullied others or having been bullied at school for at least once in the last
2 months were 20.8% physically, 53.6% verbally, 51.4% socially, or 13.6% electronically. Boys were
more involved in physical or verbal bullying, whereas girls were more involved in relational bullying.
Boys were more likely to be cyber bullies, whereas girls were more likely to be cyber victims. AfricanAmerican adolescents were involved in more bullying (physical, verbal, or cyber) but less victimization
(verbal or relational). Higher parental support was associated with less involvement across all forms
and classifications of bullying. Having more friends was associated with more bullying and less
victimization for physical, verbal, and relational forms but was not associated with cyber bullying.
Conclusions
Parental support may protect adolescents from all four forms of bullying. Friends associate
differentially with traditional and cyber bullying. Results indicate that cyber bullying is a distinct nature
from that of traditional bullying.

BASIC RESEARCH 9
Why do we need to conduct research?
A lot of what we do in our daily lives is based on common sense, what we have learnt from others or what we
have learnt through personal experience or observation. But sometimes common sense is not the best
approach and sometimes there are conflicting theories about what is best or what works in a particular
situation. Moreover, what works in one situation or for one condition might be ineffective or even dangerous in
another, or when combined with other measures. Common sense approaches may overlook the impact of
external factors which may contribute to what is observed. Even in the domain of healthcare, there are gaps in
knowledge, theories about how something might work better and ideas for improvement.
As healthcare professionals cannot afford to take risks, research is needed. For clinical trials, this is even a
legal requirement in that pharmaceutical companies cannot obtain marketing authorization (i.e. permission to
sell their new drugs) until they have proved to the relevant authorities that the drug is safe and effective. They
do this by performing a series of clinical trials.
Carefully organized and controlled research enables researchers to test and compare different theories and
approaches, explore different methods and learn from other peoples experience. It also enables them to rule
out or at least consider external factors which might influence their results. For example, before concluding that
drinking green tea is good for X, Y or Z, it is important to ensure that the tea drinkers studied do not have
something else (i.e. other than drinking green tea) in common such as being more physically active than nontea drinkers or being vegetarians, which might equally explain the findings.
Another advantage to carrying out research is that for a lot of studies, the findings can be recorded numerically
and then statistically analyzed in order to determine whether the findings are significant (i.e. the extent to which
it can be claimed with a specified degree of certainty that they are not just due to chance). With quantitative
studies, the results can usually be generalized to the wider population (e.g. to people with dementia, GPs or
lay people in general, depending on the group studied). This is because measures would have been taken to
ensure that the group of people who took part in the study were, as far as possible, representative of other
people in that category.
The advantage to many qualitative studies is that they permit an in-depth investigation into a particular aspect
of human experience. They give people the opportunity to explain in their own words how they feel, what they
think and how they make sense of the world they live in. Whilst it is not possible to make generalizations about
a wider group based on a small qualitative study, in some cases the results may be transferrable to other like
situations or groups. However, the advantage to qualitative studies is that they provide rich, meaningful data
and insight into the complexity of human experience with all its contradictions, differences and idiosyncrasies.
Some address topics which have not previously been researched and may even deal with controversial,
sensitive or taboo issues. Some studies also serve to give a voice to vulnerable or minority groups.
Research is conducted to prove or disprove a hypothesis or to learn new facts about something. There are
many different reasons for conducting research. For example, academic research is usually conducted to
prove or disprove a theory while medical research is conducted to advance knowledge of medical conditions
and create treatments. Ultimately, research is conducted to gain a better understanding of something or
someone or to provide a solution to a problem.
There are four general kinds of research: descriptive research, exploratory research, explanatory research and
evaluation research. Descriptive research is used when a researcher analyzes a social phenomenon. With this
type of research, the focus is limited to providing information about a subject. Exploratory research is very
similar to descriptive research; however, exploratory research investigates certain aspects of a subject, such
as how the media affects a certain social group.
Explanatory research asks questions about a subject, such as why certain groups are affected by the media.
This research typically includes the analysis of a problem and concludes with a solution. Evaluation research is
most often used to gather information that is used to create effective social policies. Most research includes
two or more kinds of research. For example, a single study is likely to describe a subject, explore an aspect of
the subject and explain something about the subject.