Body Shaming

Sticks and Stones Can Break My Bones,
But How Can Pixels Hurt Me?

Students’ Experiences with Cyber-Bullying
WANDA CASSIDYa, MARGARET JACKSONb and

KAREN N. BROWNb
a
Faculty of Education, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC,
Canada and, bSchool of Criminology, Simon Fraser University,
Burnaby,BC, Canada
ABSTRACT Educators and the public alike are often perplexed with
the enormous and evolving cyber mise en scène. Youth of the digital
generation are interacting in ways our fore-mothers and fathers never
imagined – using electronic communications that until 30 years ago
never existed. This article reports on a study of cyber-bullying con-
ducted with students in grades 6 through 9 in five schools in British
Columbia, Canada. Our intent was to quantify computer and cellular
phone usage; to seek information on the type, extent and impact of
cyber-bullying incidents from both bullies’ and victims’ perspectives; to
delve into online behaviours such as harassment, labelling (gay,
lesbian), negative language, sexual connotations; to solicit partici-
pants’ solutions to cyber-bullying; to canvass their opinions about
cyber-bullying and to inquire into their reporting practices to school
officials and other adults. This study provides insight into the growing
problem of cyber-bullying and helps inform educators and policy-
makers as to appropriate prevention or intervention measures to
counter cyber-bullying.
KEY WORDS: cyberbullying; educational policy and practice; school

culture; technology
Introduction
Youth today have adopted a new and distinct form of bullying that has
changed the rules of mockery, insults and harm. A new forum, the
electronic venue, has evolved in which youth of all ages spend a consid-
erable portion of their days interacting and dialoguing in cyberspace,
School Psychology International Copyright © 2009 SAGE Publications (Los Angeles,

London, New Delhi, Singapore and Washington DC), Vol. 30(4): 383–402.
DOI: 10.1177/0143034309106948
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School Psychology International (2009), Vol. 30(4)
where the language has changed and adapted to net-speak, identities

can be protected and personalities changed, and youth are faced with
new and almost limitless liberties to interact and role-play (Belsey,
2006; Brown et al., 2006; Willard, 2006). Since cyber-bullying has
become a global phenomenon (Kowalski et al., 2008), educators, aca-
demics, policymakers and legal specialists are just now beginning to
grasp the enormity of the problems associated with cyberspace behav-
iours and opportunities, while struggling to develop effective policies
and practices to counter the problem.
Electronic arenas are not all negative, however, but can be a haven
for positive discourse where youth can seek a safe, nurturing environ-
ment for behaviours that reflect and promote social responsibility and
encourage caring and respectful interactions. These positive aspects of
cyberspace can nurture healthy development of identity and foster
‘netizenship’.
This article will report on a British Columbia, Canada cyber-bullying
study conducted in 2007. Our research goals were to obtain as much
information as possible from youth in elementary and secondary
schools on their cyber-bullying experiences and practices, in order to
assist educators and policy makers in determining effective practices
and policies to counter and prevent cyber-bullying in schools.
Methods
Procedure
We conducted comparative analyses with data gathered from surveys
administered to 365 students in grades 6, 7, 8 and 9 from three
elementary and two secondary schools in a large metropolitan region of
British Columbia, Canada. After obtaining ethics approval from the
university and school districts, we selected five schools that repre-
sented a spectrum of socio-economic status and ethnicity. Before
administering the surveys, we visited each participating classroom to
discuss our research project and to distribute parental consent forms.
Approximately one week later we returned to the schools to administer
the surveys to participating students. While surveying the students
one researcher was present in the room at all times to answer ques-
tions, interpret terms, language and phrases for English as a second or
third language students and monitor the students’ behaviour to ensure
responsible reporting.
Survey instrument
The survey was divided into five sections, each section focusing on a
different topic: Demographics, Victims of Cyber-bullying; Friends or
384
Cassidy et al.: Students’ Experiences with Cyber-Bullying
Other Students who have been Cyber-bullied; Solutions to Cyber-

bullying and Opinions about Cyber-bullying. The survey included 192
variables comprised of closed-ended questions such as multiple-choice,
dichotomous and categorical and ten open-ended questions strategical-
ly integrated at certain points throughout the survey. The researchers
designed the survey to accommodate youth of varying language abili-
ties, meaning the wording used was relatively simple and font was
stylized for easy reading. The survey began by asking demographic
information regarding age, gender, ethnicity, first language and home
language, followed by questions relating to computer and cellular
phone usage, the types and extent of cyber-bullying incidents from both
bullies’ and victims’ perspectives, online behaviours such as harass-
ment, labelling (gay, lesbian), negative language, sexual connotations,
opinions about cyber-bullying, students’ suggestions for solutions to
the problem and their reporting practices to school officials or other
adults.
The open-ended sections asked respondents if they would like to pro-
vide an example of a time when they felt bullied online or through text
messaging, to tell us which students they thought were most likely to
be victims of cyber-bullies and to relay incidents of cyber-bullying that
they had participated in or witnessed. We also asked an open-ended
question at the end of the survey that asked participants if they wished
to tell us anything else about this topic.
In this article we report findings from both univariate and bivariate
analyses using percentage quantification. When comparative analyses
are utilized, we report primarily on the age variations in our sample
population. Because of the wealth of information collected in this
study, quantification comparisons between genders, ethnicities and
educational districts, including more sophisticated statistical analysis,
as well as qualitative analyses of the open-ended questions are reported
elsewhere (Cassidy et al., 2009; Jackson et al., 2009).
Participants
We focused our study on middle school students, aged 11–15, as
research has shown that youth in this age range may be more inclined
towards online bullying behaviour and cyberspace victimization
(Belsey, n.d.; Brown et al., 2006; Kowalski, et al, 2008; Willard, n.d.).
Approximately two-thirds of students in our sample were 13 or 14
years of age and in grades 8 or 9. Twelve percent were in grade 6 and 20
percent in grade 7. Forty-one percent were male and 59 percent were
female. The majority of our sample population is of Asian descent (Chi-
nese, Korean, Vietnamese, Taiwanese, Japanese, Thai and Filipino)
(69 percent), 21 percent identified themselves as Caucasian and just
over 5 percent as South American or South Asian. This breakdown
385
roughly reflects the representation in the participating school district.

When asked how students rated themselves academically in com-
parison to other students in their grade, approximately 27 percent of
participants said they do better than most students in their grade, 49
percent said they are on par with other students, 8 percent said they do
less well than other students and about 15 percent of students have no
idea of how they compared with other students.
Results
Online routines
In order to determine the extent of online involvement among youth,
especially outside of the school environment, we asked the sample
population if they use the Internet at home and if so, how often. Among
the 363 survey participants (two missing) who answered this question,
almost all (355) students reported that they use the Internet at home
(seven of the eight students who said they do not use the Internet at
home were female), with 64 percent claiming they access the Internet
at least once a day, 23 percent three to five times per week and 7 per-
cent reporting sporadically surfing once or twice per week. Because the
number of computers in a home usually reflects the level of technologi-
cal use among its residents, we asked participants to tell us how many
computers are in their home. The results are interesting – only one stu-
dent said there is no computer in his home, while 23 percent report one
computer, 35 percent report two computers and just over 40 percent
admit to having three or more computers in their homes (n = 364).
It is also interesting to note the similarities in Internet usage
between genders, with Table 1 showing that almost 66 percent of the
boys use the Internet daily compared with 64 percent of the girls; 22
percent of boys versus 24 percent of girls use the Internet three to five
times per week and approximately the same percent of girls and boys (7
percent) use it once or twice per week.
Cellular phones
Slightly more than one-half of the respondents (58 percent) have their
own cellular phones. Of those students who have cellular phones,
approximately 40 percent use their cellular phones at school, although
57 percent report they do not use them for text messaging. Younger stu-
dents (age 11) are less likely to have their own cellular phones (yes – 35
percent, no – 64 percent), with cellular phone ownership increasing
with age, so accordingly, this ratio is then reversed, for example, for
students in the 13-to-14-year-old age range (yes – 65 percent, no – 35
percent). In other words, by the time students reach the secondary
386
Table 1 Internet use

How often do you use the Internet?
At 3–5 1–2 1–3
least times times times
once per per per Not
a day week week month applicable Total
Male
Count 97 33 11 6 1 148
% within Gender 65.5% 22.3% 7.4% 4.1% 0.7% 100.0%
% of Total 26.9% 9.1% 3.0% 1.7% 0.3% 41.0%
Female
Count 137 50 15 5 6 213
% within Gender 64.3% 23.5% 7.0% 2.3% 2.8% 100.0%
% of Total 38.0% 13.9% 4.2% 1.4% 1.7% 59.0%
Total
Count 234 83 26 11 7 361
% within Gender 64.8% 23.0% 7.2% 3.0% 1.9% 100.0%
% of Total 64.8% 23.0% 7.2% 3.0% 1.9% 100.0%
school level (grade 8 and beyond), most students have their own cellu-
lar phone.
Victims of cyber-bullying
To assess the extent to which students had experienced cyber-bullying,
we provided participants with 18 examples of cyber-bullying practices,
and asked them to indicate whether they had experienced any of these
since the start of the school year: never; occasionally; often. For brevity,
we will refer to these questions by number throughout the rest of this
article.
1 Received an angry, rude or vulgar message from another student
over the Internet or email?
2 Received an angry, rude or vulgar message from another student
using cell phone messaging?
3 Continued to receive hurtful messages even when you asked the
sender to stop?
4 Were afraid to open your email or read your cell messages for fear of
seeing hurtful messages?
5 Called a negative name or harassed because of your ability (e.g.
academic, athletic, artistic)?
6 Called a negative name or harassed because of a disability you
have?
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7 Called a negative name or harassed because of your race or ethnicity?

8 Called a negative name or harassed because of your religion?
9 Called a negative name or harassed because of your clothing or
dress?
10 Called a negative name or harassed because of your gender?
11 Called a negative name or harassed because of your sexual orienta-
tion?
12 Called a negative name or harassed because of your physical
appearance (e.g. size, weight)?
13 Been labelled as gay or lesbian, even if you are not?
14 Been subjected to uninvited or unwanted sexual suggestions online
or through text messaging?
15 Had unwanted sexually explicit pictures sent to you?
16 Received a threatening message from another student that made
you afraid?
17 Discovered that someone else pretended to be you online and made
you look bad?
18 Had someone send or post sensitive personal information about you
to others online?
Certain questions elicited little or no responses. For example, most

participants (85–98 percent) said they have never received the forms of
cyber-bullying as set out in Questions 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 11, 14, 15 and 16,
with responses being fairly consistent across age ranges. These ques-
tions probed issues concerning cyber-bullying over cellular phones,
harassment due to religion or disability, sexual orientation, receiving
unwanted sexual pictures and receiving messages that made them
afraid.
Notwithstanding the lack of information retrieved from these ques-
tions, questions #2 and 16 exposed problems relevant to continuing
research on cyber-bullying. Responses to question #2 reveal that cyber-
bullying does not primarily occur through text messages (n = 365), an
assertion that will be corroborated later in our analysis. This finding is
important when determining appropriate interventions to cyber-
bullying. Further, although 91 percent of students responded in the
negative to Question #16, (Have you received a threatening message
from another student that made you afraid?), the fact that 9 percent of
the respondents had experienced fear is worrisome (n = 364). Evidence
indicates that a few students across gender and age ranges are fright-
ened from electronic messages they have received, and therefore, it is
vital that teachers, administrators and parents understand that some
students live in fear, either on or off school grounds. For example, of
those students who confirmed they had received messages that made
them afraid, 14 respondents (8 male, 6 female) divulged that the
388
messages threatened their life or safety, 25 students (8 male, 17

female) said the language threatened their reputation, 19 respondents
(7 male, 12 female) claimed the messages affected their ability to con-
centrate on schoolwork, 20 students (7 male, 13 female) claimed such
discourse affected their ability to make friends at school, 21 respon-
dents (8 male, 13 female) confirmed the cyber-bullying made them
want to bully back and 14 students (6 male, 8 female) revealed these
electronic communications induced suicidal thoughts.
Other responses to our questions about the extent of cyber-bullying
are more robust. When participants replied to Question #1, approxi-
mately 35 percent reported that they have occasionally received
inappropriate messages, while 3 to 7 percent often claim receipt of
anomalous online communications. Of relevance is the consistency in
responses between students’ answers to Questions 5, 9, 12 and 13
and what they wrote in the open-ended question asking them to indi-
cate which individuals are most likely to be cyber-bullied. In the
open-ended question, approximately 95 percent of both male and
female respondents from all age ranges and across all represented
ethnic backgrounds claimed that students are more likely to be cyber-
bullied because of specific attributes such as special needs, academic
abilities, un-popularity, physical appearance, physical and mental dis-
abilities, unfashionable clothing and ethnicity. When responding to the
closed-ended questions, 34 percent of the respondents claimed harass-
ment because of their physical appearance, namely size or weight, 33
percent of the participants claimed they have been called a negative
name because of their academic, athletic or artistic abilities; 24 percent
of respondents revealed gay or lesbian labelling and 22 percent of
participants admitted harassment because of their clothing or dress.
It is interesting, though, that in the written responses, only a few
students say that students labelled as gay or lesbian are on the receiv-
ing end of cyber-bullying. It may be that the term ‘gay’ can be used as a
flippant term not meant to harm or ridicule, yet those on the receiving
end are offended by this labelling and language. As one 12-year-old boy
said in one of the open-ended responses, ‘gay and lesbian jokes are now
just for fun and many students don’t care. However some students take
it seriously. Some friends of mine admit that they are gay and no one
really cares’. On the other hand, it may be that some students are tar-
geted because of sexual orientation, although our data indicate that
students labelled in this way are not the primary targets of cyber-
bullying.
With regard to question #17, almost one-quarter of participants aged
13–15 confirmed that occasionally someone else had used their online
identity and pretended to be them, subsequently tarnishing their repu-
tation. Approximately 25 percent of 12- to 14-year-olds also disclosed
389
that other youth have posted sensitive, personal information about

them on the Internet (Question #18).
Question #7 asks participants if they have been harassed because of
their race or ethnicity. In a province that is very ethnically diverse, it is
interesting to note that between 10 percent and 20 percent of students
in the age group of our study report occasionally being racially cyber-
bullied, peaking at age 14 (10 percent of 11-year-olds, 18 percent of
12-year-olds, 13 percent of 13-year-olds, 20 percent of 14-year-olds, and
19 percent of 15-year-olds). Fourteen-year-olds are also the most likely
age group to experience being cyber-bullying because of gender; 23
percent at age 14, whereas only 2 percent of 11-years-olds report such
behaviour, 12 percent of 12-year-olds, 8 percent of 13-year-olds, drop-
ping back to 6 percent of 15-year-olds. A more detailed discussion of
gender differences is reported separately (Jackson et al., 2009).
Students who cyber-bully

We asked participants if they have harassed or bullied another student
online either through chat rooms, emails, text messaging or any other
online discussions. On average over one-quarter of students aged
12–14 years reported that they have cyber-bullied others online, with
fewer students aged 11 (17 percent) and 15 (19 percent) reporting such
online behaviour. For students who did report engaging in any type of
cyber-bullying, 14 percent divulged they cyber-bullied because they did
not like the person; 13 percent advised they cyber-bullied because that
person upset them; 10 percent admitted they were bullied first, so it
was acceptable to bully back; 9 percent claimed that since their friends
had bullied others online, it was acceptable behaviour and 7 percent
reveal they did it because it was fun.
For those students who confirmed that they often bully others online
(as opposed to occasionally), 11 students confirmed cyber-bullying once
or twice per week, four participants engaged in this behaviour three or
four times per week, four others admitted doing it everyday and three
respondents undertook such behaviour several times a day.
The ‘pretend’ game

We asked participants about their specific online behaviour and
whether they occasionally adopt different personae such as switching
genders, ages or physical appearances. As Brown et al. (2006) point out
in their review, youth may adopt or hide behind avatars, different iden-
tities and unique personalities to engage in online activities they may
not normally assume in face-to-face encounters. Tackling such clandes-
tine behaviour while sitting behind a computer keyboard is far easier
and intrusive than physical confrontations. Over half (52 percent) of
participants revealed they often pretend to be older when online, and
390
although the purpose is not clear in each case, 21 percent divulged that
they do so because of entry restrictions into adult websites. Also rele-
vant to an understanding of cyber-bullying is that 33 percent of
respondents take on different personalities when online. We also found
that 23 percent admitted participating in wild and crazy online activi-
ties that they normally would not do in the real world; 23 percent
pretend to be a different gender; 19 percent espouse a different physical
appearance; 15 percent admitted acting contrary to what they would do
in the real world by being hurtful and arbitrary and 15 percent admit-
ted taking another person’s identity and assuming that new selfhood
online.
Across the age spectrum, although pretending to be older is consis-
tent across most age ranges, more 14-year-old participants (30 percent)
compared to other ages pretend they are older to access restricted web-
sites, and also report adopting different personalities when online (37
percent). Again, more youth aged 14 years (31 percent) report engaging
in wild and crazy digital behaviours that they would never do in real
life, while also claiming they have acted in a mean online manner (22
percent) or said hurtful things (20 percent). Lastly, although a fewer
percentage of students aged 11 and 12 report taking someone’s name
and pretending to be that person online (2 percent and 7 percent
respectively), a much higher percentage of students aged 13, 14 and 15
admit doing so (21 percent, 20 percent and 19 percent respectively).
Age 14, comes up time and time again in this study as being a key age
for cyber-bullying or being victimized or participating in other prob-
lematic online behaviours.
Origins of cyber-bullying
We were curious to determine where cyber-bullying was likely to start
– at the school or at home, and the interplay between the two settings.
Close to three-quarters of participants (64 percent) claimed that cyber-
bullying is most likely to start at school and then continue at home by
the same students. We suspect that students interpreted this question
to mean the events that precipitated the cyber-bullying, rather than
the use of the school computer to cyber-bully. In other words, cyber-
bullying is typically a reaction to an incident that happened on the
school grounds, and is then carried over into online exchanges using
the home computer. In their analysis of the existing literature on cyber-
bullying, Brown et al. (2006) found that cyber-bullying typically
originates in the school arena where students are victims of conven-
tional bullying or harassment, followed by the victim retaliating at
home through digital media.
Further, our study sought to determine the most popular vehicles for
cyber-bullying, since youth are very selective when engaging in online
391
misbehaviour. Setting out three common settings – chat-rooms, emails

and text-messaging – we found that over one-half (53 percent) of parti-
cipants claim that cyber-bullying is most likely to occur in chat-rooms,
while 37 percent maintain that such behaviour is more prevalent in
email communications. Confirming our earlier assertions about text-
messaging, only 7 percent of respondents reported that cyber-bullying
occurs through text messages.
Reporting practices to cyber-bullying

We asked participants if cyber-bullying does occur, to whom would they
report or entrust this information. We were curious to know whether
students would confide in their parents, school officials, friends, the
police or would keep the experience to themselves. This information
has policy implications for schools and provides information on the
sense of isolation victims of cyber-bullying may feel. Our analysis
determined that participants who are (or could be) victims of cyber-
bullying are almost equally split (47 percent versus 42 percent) on
whether or not they would confide to school personnel (n = 325), but
approximately 74 percent (n = 335) would tell their friends and
approximately 57 percent (n = 330) would tell their parent/guardians.
It seems seeking police intervention is the least favourable course of
action, with 70 percent (n = 313) of participants rejecting this reporting
practice. Interestingly, one-quarter of respondents (n = 321) say they
would not tell anyone about being cyber-bullied. This revelation has
implications for school counsellors, administrators and parents, who
may observe a youth exhibiting worrisome symptoms, but are unaware
of the source of the behaviour.
For those participants who state they would not confide cyber-
bullying problems to school personnel, the most prevalent reasons for
not doing so are as follows:
• fear of retribution from the cyber-bully (30 percent);
• it is the student’s problem and not the school’s mandate (29 percent);
• the school staff could not stop the bullying anyway (27 percent);
• they could get their friends in trouble (26 percent);
• their parents would restrict their access to the Internet (24 percent),
and
• other students would label them as ‘informers’ or ‘rats’ (20 percent).
It is revealing that the most common reason given for not entrusting
school personnel is fear of retribution from the cyber-bully. This runs
contrary to existing cyber-bullying literature that claims that youth
are most reluctant to inform adults of cyber-bullying problems for fear
of having their technology restricted or parents finding out about it and
‘grounding’ their access to cyberspace (Brown et al., 2006). This has
392
If you were the victim of
40 cyber-bullying, would you
report it to your teacher,
principal or school counselor?
Yes
No
30
Percent
20
10
0
11 12 13 14 15 16
Age
Figure 1 Reporting to school officials (n = 325)
If you were the victim of

cyber-bullying, would you
40 tell your parents or
guardians about it?
Yes
No
30
Percent
20
10
0
11 12 13 14 15 16
Age
Figure 2 Reporting to parents/guardians (n = 330)
393
implications for school officials who are considering banning cellular

phones on school grounds as a way to counter cyber-bullying. Although
youth are also concerned about having their access to technology
restricted (24 percent say this is a concern), this is not the primary
motivation for not informing adults about being cyber-bullied. Stu-
dents are more worried about their peers finding out – getting their
friends in trouble, being called a ‘rat’ or experiencing further retalia-
tion by the bully. Keeping silent may be seen as the best option for
victims, particularly when they do not know who is doing the bullying,
since much of the bullying is anonymous or hidden behind avatars.
When we asked the 37 percent of participants why they would not
inform their parents of cyber-bullying incidents, the answers were
similar to not reporting to school personnel, except that fewer partici-
pants (22 percent versus 30 percent) feared retribution from the
cyber-bully and only 19 percent thought their parents/guardians could
not prevent cyber-bullying as opposed to 27 percent who believe school
staff could not stop this behaviour. Students seem to believe that
bullies are less likely to discover a victim’s disclosure to his/her parents
(and therefore less likely to retaliate), and many more students trust
their parents (over school officials) to find a solution to their cyber-
bullying problems.
We were also curious as to what students would do if they witnessed
hurtful cyber-bullying taking place, and to whom they would report
such incidents. Our analysis indicates that reporting an incident to
police, even if someone is being hurt, is the least viable option for
participants. Students are more likely to report to school officials if
they witnessed cyber-bullying than if they experienced it themselves
(52 percent versus 47 percent), and less likely to tell their parents (45
percent versus 57 percent). In both instances, students are most likely
to tell their friends than an adult (70 percent if they witnessed cyber-
bullying; 74 percent if they experienced cyber-bullying), with fewer
students keeping it to themselves if they witnessed someone being
cyber-bullied than if they experienced it themselves (18 percent versus
25 percent).
When we looked at victims’ reporting practices according to age, it is
notable that students who are cyber-bullying victims are more likely to
report incidents to school personnel at age 11 (students in elementary
school) than at age 14 (students in high school). In fact, 73 percent of
11-year-old students are more likely to report problems to school offi-
cials as opposed to 42 percent of 14-year-olds. Consistent with this
pattern are the participants’ responses when asked if they would report
matters to their parents or guardians (see Figures 1 and 2). Overall,
although more students than not would report occurrences to parents/
guardians at age 11, the percentages are reversed as students grow
394
older. Perhaps it is not surprising that as students enter adolescence,

they are less likely to confide in parents or guardians, particularly as a
first option.
Solutions to cyber-bullying
We provided students with ten feasible solutions to cyber-bullying and
asked them to rank the options, according to their first, second and
third choice. The ten solutions were set out as follows:
1 develop programs to teach students about cyber-bullying and its
effects;
2 set up an anonymous phone-in line where students can report
cyber-bullying;
3 make it known that the school does not tolerate cyber-bullying;
4 punish students who participate in cyber-bullying;
5 have a zero tolerance policy towards cyber-bullying;
6 involve the police in cases of cyber-bullying;
7 get parents, students and school staff together to talk about solu-
tions;
8 develop a positive school culture where students learn to be kind to
each other;
9 offer lots of extra-curricular activities so students won’t have time
to cyber-bully;
10 work on creating positive self-esteem in students.
The three solutions most often selected as first choice are:
1 setting up anonymous phone-in lines (19 percent);
2 developing programs to teach students about cyber-bullying and its
effects (18 percent);
3 punish students who participate in cyber-bullying (11 percent).
However, when we added the first, second and third choices together,
the first two solutions (#1 and #2) remain the overall top choices, but
the punitive measures option (#3) is removed and replaced with ‘work-
ing on creating positive self-esteem in students’. Although a few
students indicated in the open-ended sections that they are aware of an
existing anonymous help line, the Kid’s Help Phone, most students
think that a new and separate anonymous phone line for cyber-
bullying is needed. The Kid’s Help Phone (1-800-668-6868 - http://www.
kidshelpphone.ca/en/), which could be a source of help for cyber-
bullying, is described on their website as:
Canada’s only national, bilingual, 24-hour, toll-free confidential and anony-
mous phone and web counselling, referral and information service for
children and youth. We provide counselling services to young people between
the ages of 5 and 20 and help adults aged 21 and older find the counselling
395
services they need. We don’t trace calls, we don’t use call display and we
never call callers back. (Kid’s Help Phone)
Another issue for educators and parents to consider is students’ per-

ception that the school needs to work more diligently at fostering
self-esteem among youth. Students seemed to be cognizant of the fact
that there is no ‘quick fix’ to cyber-bullying, that in the long term, stu-
dents with better self-esteem are less likely to cyber-bully or perhaps
less likely to become victims of the cyber-bully. It is interesting that
students chose these three top choices, instead of other solutions posed
such as imposing zero tolerance policies, involving the police or provid-
ing additional extra-curricular activities to keep students busy. Also
interesting is the fact that respondents who were 13- or 14-years-old
were more likely to choose ‘creating positive student self-esteem’ as
either their first, second or third choice, than students who were
younger.
One of the options provided to students in this section on solutions
was to ‘Get parents, students and school staff together to talk about
solutions’. It is interesting that, while this is not a top-rated option,
close to one-third put this as one of their three top choices. Students
clearly see the need for collaboration between youth and adults. Youth
generally are more knowledgeable about digital technology, have expe-
rienced firsthand the effects of cyber-bullying and know peer culture,
whereas adults (parents and educators) are in a position to develop
programs and policies that bring about change and can offer support in
concrete ways to victims of cyber-bullying.
Opinions about cyber-bullying

At the end of our survey we asked students their opinions about cyber-
bullying as follows:
• Cyber-bullying is a normal part of the online world. There is nothing
anyone can do to stop it.
• I know of someone who has been really hurt by cyber-bullying.
• I know of someone who is being cyber-bullied and I don’t know how
to help him or her.
• Online bullying is different from in-person bullying.
• Online bullying can’t hurt you; it is just words in virtual space.
• If someone is being hurt online using the school network, the school
should be told.
• It is the school’s responsibility to stop or prevent online bullying.
• If students bully each other on their home computer, the school has a
responsibility to stop it.
• If students bully each other on their home computer, it is only the
parent’s responsibility.
396
• I would report cyber-bullying if I could do it anonymously.

• I have the right to say anything I want online because of freedom of
expression.
• The solution to cyber-bullying lies with students because they know
the online world.
• Adults created the Internet, now they should live with the conse-
quences.
• I would like to create a more kind and respectful online world.
• I am less likely to bully online if I’m happy at school.
• If my school was more welcoming to all students, there would be less
cyber-bullying.
• If adults treated young people more kindly, students would treat
each other the same way.
• Adults should stay out of young people’s online communications.
• I know how to solve cyber-bullying, if only the adults would listen.
• Cyber-bullying is more of a problem now than it was a year ago.
On a Likert-type scale, students were asked to grade their responses

from ‘strongly agree’ to ‘strongly disagree’. Our analysis indicates that
although students have strong opinions about cyber-bullying, there
also is much misunderstanding about its implications. For example,
approximately 47 percent of respondents argue that freedom of expres-
sion is a right and online speech is borderless, although researchers
have clearly identified the limitations and legalities of Internet speech
and freedom of expression under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms
(see Shariff, 2006; Shariff and Gouin, 2005; Shariff and Johnny, 2007).
When designing curriculum to counter problems of cyber-bullying,
Canadian educators may wish to incorporate lessons on the Canadian
Charter of Rights and Freedoms and related legislation so that stu-
dents become more aware of the legal curtailments to freedom of
expression in cyber-space.
Also of interest to policymakers and educators is that three-quarters
of students say that cyber-bullying is more of a problem today than it
was a year ago. Roughly the same percentage of students also claims
that it is very different from face-to-face bullying. Of concern is that
close to half of students (46 percent) say that cyber-bullying is a normal
part of the online world and that 32 percent maintain that online
bullying is not hurtful as it is just ‘words in cyberspace’. If cyber-
bullying is considered ‘acceptable’ or ‘normal’ and ‘not hurtful’, then
this is an additional challenge for educators and policymakers who
wish to encourage more positive exchanges over the Internet and to
foster a more caring and respectful discourse.
Although students are split as to whether it is the school’s responsi-
bility to stop cyber-bullying, 60 percent communicate that the solutions
397
lie with students. Unfortunately only 37 percent claim they know the
answers, although this response indicates that students wish to be a
part of the dialogue. This compares to students’ earlier statement that
they thought school officials and parents should work collaboratively
with students in seeking solutions. Students expressed hope for a more
respectful online world (79 percent), and identified the school culture
as possibly contributing to cyber-bullying behaviour. Two-thirds of
students said if their school were more welcoming there would be less
cyber-bullyng, while 58 percent noted that students were less likely to
bully online if treated fairly at school. Students also pointed to the role
of modelling in preventing cyber-bullying; 18 percent of students
strongly agreed and 35 percent agreed with the statement, ‘If adults
treated youth more kindly, students would treat each other the same
way’.
Consistent with findings from other parts of the survey, almost
three-quarters of the participants agreed they would report cyber-
bullying if they could do so anonymously.
Conclusion and educational implications

In the population of 11- to 15-year-old students that we surveyed, we
found that most students use the internet on a daily basis and that
their most common vehicle for cyber-bullying was through chat rooms
or over email, not through text messages. At the time that we designed
the survey in late 2006, FaceBook, YouTube and Flickr were not as
popular as they are now and therefore we did not ask specific questions
related to these media, although it is likely that students considered
FaceBook an example of a chat room. Chat rooms have educational
potential; for example, establishing study groups on FaceBook or using
FaceBook as a means to promote social causes. English and language
arts curricula also provide opportunities to discuss the ‘flat’ medium of
Internet discourse and ways in which communication might be
improved or re-directed into positive exchanges.
It is clear from this study that students want to dialogue about cyber-
bullying and want to be part of the solution. Schools need to provide
spaces in the curriculum and in the life of the school for students to talk
openly about the impact of cyber-bullying and about ways to prevent
and counter cyber-bullying. Students also requested a site where they
can report their experiences anonymously, without fear of reprisal
from the bully or being labelled a ‘rat’ for telling the authorities.
Indeed, fear of reprisal is the main reason why students keep silent
about their victimization. Interestingly, they are more likely to report
witnessing another student being victimized in cyber-space than they
are to report their own situation. This could be from fear or it may
398
relate to their self-esteem (which cyber-bullies target) and which stu-

dents say should be addressed as one way to prevent cyber-bullying.
Students proposed solutions that dealt with immediate redress
(anonymous reporting, punitive measures) but they also suggested
longer-term, relationship-based solutions that addressed the school
culture, students’ self-esteem and modelling by adults. Those who
advocate cultivating an ethic of care in schools (for example, Cassidy
and Bates, 2005; Johnston, 2006; Noddings, 2002, 2005; Rauner, 2000)
note the powerful effect of modelling, dialogue, practice and confirma-
tion to developing more respectful and responsive interactions and
fostering a safe and nurturing environment for all students. Applied to
the context of cyber-bullying, the ethic of care has much to say about
the healthy development of identity and ‘netizenship’.
Students are somewhat cynical about the school’s ability to deal with
cyber-bullying and this may be a major reason for youth choosing to
report an incident of cyber-bullying to their peers first, the parents or
guardians next and lastly to the school. Yet, because cyber-bullying
often starts at the school, and carries over into the home computer, the
school has a responsibility to deal with bullying behaviour and to
provide redress and safety for students who are victims. Building
relationships with parents and opening the door for dialogue with
stakeholder groups (educators, parents, students, justice personnel,
Internet providers) will encourage stronger solutions that link the
home, school, and community.
We also found it interesting that although students said in an open-
ended response that most of the cyber-bullying victims are those who
do not fit in, for reasons of dress, ethnicity, physical appearance,
academic or athletic (in)ability, the fact that approximately one-third
of students report that they have been cyber-bullied shows that the vic-
tim is also the ‘average student’, and that cyber-bullying is much more
widespread than students think. Victims are not only those students
from marginalized groups. Indeed because much of the cyber-bullying
takes place within friendship groups (Jackson et al., 2009), attention
needs to be given to the discourse that youth use with each other.
Dialogue deemed as ‘teasing’ by the perpetrator, might be construed as
an insult by the person at the receiving end. Because bullying begets
bullying (Brown et al., 2006; Kowalski et al., 2008; Willard, 2006), the
cycle of dialogue between students can spiral downwards into more
vicious exchanges. Further, because 25 percent of students say they
would keep the bullying to themselves, with 9 percent saying they
received messages that made them afraid and 4 percent saying that
they had suicidal thoughts, this is cause for educators to make cyber-
bullying a priority.
Educators also need to be cognizant of the wide range of reasons
399
students give for cyber-bullying in the first place. Doing it because ‘it is
fun’ or ‘their friends do it’ encourages a different kind of intervention
than ‘because the recipient upset them in some way’ or ‘they were
bullied first’. Certainly a variety of intervention measures need to be
considered, from empathy training, to assertive training, to developing
a school culture that is more respectful, inclusive and caring. Students
also need to be made aware of the restrictions on free speech, the
longevity of their communications and cyber-space etiquette.
Adopting proactive strategies that improve students’ behaviour in
online environments, empowering cyber-bullying victims to report
incidents to school officials and parents, creating a more inclusive, wel-
coming and responsible school culture, developing programs to educate
students about cyber-bullying and its effects and dissuading bullies
from acting out in cyberspace are worthwhile goals for education in this
decade.
Note
This research was supported by funds from the Social Sciences and Humanities
Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).
References
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and Labrador Teachers Association 49(4): 20.
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Policy to Direct Responses That are Equitable and Effective in Addressing
This Special Form of Bullying’, Canadian Journal of Educational Adminis-
tration and Policy 57: http://umanitoba.ca/publications/cjeap/
Cassidy, W. and Bates, A. (2005) ‘“Drop-Outs” and “Push-Outs”: Finding Hope
at a School That Actualizes the Ethic of Care’, American Journal of Educa-
tion 112(1): 66–102.
Cassidy, W., Jackson, M. and Brown, K. N. (2009) ‘Out of The Mouths of Babes:
Students Voice Their Opinions on Cyber-Bullying’, submitted to the Inter-
national Journal of Qualitative Studies.
Jackson, M., Cassidy W. and Brown, K. N. (2009) ‘ “You Were Born Ugly and
You’ll Die Ugly Too”: Cyber-Bullying as Relational Aggression’, submitted to
the Journal of School Violence.
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ships and Moral Action. New York: Teachers’ College Press.
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Digital Age. Victoria: Blackwell Publishing.
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ter Education. New York: Teachers’ College Press.
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to Education, 2nd edn. New York: Teachers’ College Press.
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Rauner, D. (2000) They Still Pick Me Up When I Fall. New York: Columbia
University Press.
Shariff, S. (2006) ‘Cyber-Dilemmas: Balancing Free Expression and Learning
in a Virtual School Environment’, International Journal of Learning 12(4):
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cyberbully.org
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Wanda Cassidy is Associate Professor of Education and Director of the Centre

for Education, Law and Society at Simon Fraser University. Her research pri-
marily focuses on law-related and citizenship education in schools, and the
interrelationship between law and societal values and beliefs, including the
ethic of care, social responsibility, inclusion and diversity, and social justice.
She is currently principal investigator of a three-year study examining
students’ legal literacy, particularly in the areas human rights, citizenship,
identity and environmental sustainability. She has published in the Canadian
Journal of Educational Administration and Policy, McGill Journal of Educa-
tion, American Journal of Education and Education and Law Journal. She has
also written a chapter in Doing School Differently: Innovative Education for
Young People (Sage, in press). Address: Faculty of Education, Simon Fraser
University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC, V5A 1S6, Canada. Email:
[email protected]
Margaret Jackson is presently Professor in the School of Criminology at

Simon Fraser University, and Co-Director, Simon Fraser University Institute
for Studies in Criminal Justice Policy, and Director of FREDA, an SFU centre
undertaking research on violence against women and children. She was princi-
pal investigator for a Ministry of Justice study on child abuse. Other research
areas of interest include bullying/cyberbullying, problem-solving courts and
sociocultural factors impacting marginalized girls and youth. These involve-
ments resulted in her serving as a co-investigator/principal investigator for
SSHRC, Status of Women, Heritage Canada, Metropolis-RIIM and NCPC
grants, as well as currently, for two CIHR grants. She has published in Crimi-
nal Justice Policy Review, Canadian Journal of Educational Administation
and Policy and McGill Journal of Education. She also co-edited Girls and
Violence: Contributing Factors and Intervention Principles with M. Moretti and
C. Odgers (Kluwer, 2004) Address: School of Criminology, Simon Fraser Uni-
versity, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC, V5A 1S6, Canada.
Email: [email protected]
401
Karen Brown is a PhD candidate and Instructor in the School of Criminology

at Simon Fraser University and a Researcher with the Centre for Education,
Law and Society in the Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University. She is
also an Instructor at Vancouver Island University. Her research interests
include violence and threats against lawyers and cyber-bullying in schools. She
is currently undertaking a national study in Canada on violence and aggres-
sion against Canadian lawyers. Recent articles have appeared in Canadian
Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice, The International Review of
Victimology and Canadian Journal of Education Administration and Policy.
Address: School of Criminology, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University
Drive, Burnaby, BC, V5A 1S6, Canada.
402

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Sticks and Stones Can Break My Bones,

But How Can Pixels Hurt Me?

WANDA CASSIDYa, MARGARET JACKSONb and

KEY WORDS: cyberbullying; educational policy and practice; school

School Psychology International Copyright © 2009 SAGE Publications (Los Angeles,

where the language has changed and adapted to net-speak, identities

Other Students who have been Cyber-bullied; Solutions to Cyber-

roughly reflects the representation in the participating school district.

Table 1 Internet use

7 Called a negative name or harassed because of your race or ethnicity?

Certain questions elicited little or no responses. For example, most

messages threatened their life or safety, 25 students (8 male, 17

that other youth have posted sensitive, personal information about

Students who cyber-bully

The ‘pretend’ game

misbehaviour. Setting out three common settings – chat-rooms, emails

Reporting practices to cyber-bullying

If you were the victim of

Figure 2 Reporting to parents/guardians (n = 330)

implications for school officials who are considering banning cellular

older. Perhaps it is not surprising that as students enter adolescence,

Another issue for educators and parents to consider is students’ per-

Opinions about cyber-bullying

• I would report cyber-bullying if I could do it anonymously.

On a Likert-type scale, students were asked to grade their responses

Conclusion and educational implications

relate to their self-esteem (which cyber-bullies target) and which stu-

Wanda Cassidy is Associate Professor of Education and Director of the Centre

Margaret Jackson is presently Professor in the School of Criminology at

Karen Brown is a PhD candidate and Instructor in the School of Criminology

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