10-08-2012, 09:51 AM
Cyberbullying: A New Place For An Old Practice
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Abstract
School yard bullying has been taking place for many decades. Studies have shown bullying has many negative effects on it victims. With the advent of the internet and the convergence of communications technologies, bullying has transmuted to the electronic world. The internet is no longer just a medium that facilitates exploration and education, but it has also become the medium for peers to inflict harm on one another. As well, other new forms of communications technology are also being used to by youth to bully their peers. It stands to reason that this newest form of bullying called cyberbullying will have similar negative effects on its victims as traditional forms of bullying. This paper explores how cyberbullying is manifested on its victims, its negative effects on them, and some possible ways to combat the problem.
Introduction
“Jodi Plumb, 15, from Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, was horrified to discover an entire site had been created to threaten and insult her”. (“Cyber bullies target girl”, 2003). “When Joanne had a row with a longtime friend last year, she had no idea it would spill into cyberspace” (Swarts, 2005). “With a slight smile, S, an 11-year-old Little Ferry, N.J., girl, said she and her friends make up rumors about others and spread them online. Sometimes her friends gather in a chat room, then invite a girl they don’t like and attack her cheap shoes or loser personality” (Cooper, 2004). Welcome to the world of bullying in the 21st century. Bullying, which at one time was a face to face encounter with the bully, can now take place, quite literally, from a continent away. Computer mediated communication (CMC) is now the new playground for those who bully others online. Computers have made it easier for bullies to gain access to their victims. “In the nineties, the internet was touted as a space that allowed people to interact in ways that were free of prejudices because gender, race, and ability were not visible”
Definition of Cyberbullying
The name given to this new form of bullying is cyberbullying or cyberharassment. These terms are used interchangeably and are broadly defined as the “willful and repeated harm inflicted through the medium of electronic text” (Cyberbullying, 2006). The web site
www.cyberbullying.ca defines cyberbullying as “the use of information and communication technologies such as e-mail, cell phone and pager text messages, instant messaging, defamatory personal websites, and defamatory online personal polling websites, to support deliberate, repeated, and hostile behavior by an individual or group, that is intended to harm others” (Belsey, 2005).
When and Where Cyberbullying Occurs
This use of information and communications technology (ICT) to engage in derogatory CMC has moved bullying out of the school yard and right into the homes of the victims.
Traditional face to face bullying took place outside the home, and to escape it, the victim went home. Children who are bullied at school now go home only to be bullied there as well. As Patchin & Hinduja (2006) indicate, “physical separation of the bully and the victim is no longer a limitation in the frequency, scope, and depth of harm perceived and doled out” by bullies (p. 152). Now, the victim is attacked right in his/her own home. It is no longer a place of safety and refuge from abusive peers. Cyberbullying follows the victims wherever they go. As a result, it is hard to hide from cyberbullying because it reaches into every corner of a child’s life.
Medium Used For Cyberbullying
From the preceding studies, it is clear that all of the new communications technologies are being used as a medium for cyberbullying. E-mail, short for electronic mail, the most common method of CMC, is one of the main bullying mediums. All someone needs is the victim’s e-mail address in order to send them threatening messages. Internet service providers offer e-mail services cheap or even free of charge, so all a bully has to do is set up an e-mail
Anonymity of Cyberbullying
With traditional physical bullying, the bully is easier to identify which, in turn, makes it easier for the situation to be dealt with if it is reported. Now, the cyberbully sits behind a mask of anonymity by using false screen names and assumed identities. Li (2005), in a study of 177 middle school students who experienced cyberbullying, found that 41% did not know the identity of those who cyberbullied them. The cover of anonymity that cyberbullying provides is not only an obvious attraction, but also facilitates this behavior. This creates two problems.