Cyberbullying | Español |
What is cyberbullying?
What could be happening to your child in cyber space?
What does cyberbullying generally involve?
How harmful is cyberbullying?
What is Cyberbullying?
As defined by renown cyberbullying researcher Dr. Hinduja of Florida Atlantic University, cyberbullying is willful and repeated harm inflicted through the medium of electronic text. In other words, cyberbullying occurs when cell phones and/or the Internet are used to spread information or send photos with the intent to hurt or embarrass someone. Cyberbullies are malicious aggressors seeking pleasure or profit, or both, from the mistreatment of another individual. Cyberbullies inflict harm through e-mails, cell phone text messages, telephone calls, chat rooms, instant messages and social networking sites such as MySpace, Orkut, and Facebook.
Cyberbullying is a rapidly growing phenomenon that may be more widespread and potentially harmful than conventional schoolyard and classroom bullying. Because the bully does not need to be near his or her victim, home is not a safe haven and the threat of harm is constant.
 |
|
Children can escape threats and abuse in the classroom only to find text messages and e-mails from their tormentor upon getting home. As most Cyberbullying is emotional, there are no telltale physical signs–all the more reason for parents to be vigilant.
Any type of bullying is an aggressive behavior that is intentional and involves an imbalance of power or strength. Usually, it is repeated over time. Traditionally, bullying has involved actions such as hitting or punching (physical bullying); teasing or name-calling (verbal bullying); and intimidation through gestures, social boycott or exclusion. In recent years, technology has provided children and youth new means with which to bully others. While power in traditional bullying might be physical (stature) or social (money or popularity), online power may simply stem from proficiency in the use of communication technology. Youth able to navigate the electronic world and utilize technology in a way that allows them to harass others are in a position of power relative to a victim.
What could be happening to your child in the cyber space?
Most children are connected to their social networks through cell phones and the Internet. Most parents know little about their children’s day-to-day communications with peers and even less about the potential risks of cyberbullying. As a result, cyberbullying often goes unreported and the child suffers in isolation.
Cyberbullying generally involves:
It is easy for bullies to torment their victims anonymously. Many use temporary accounts to send e-mail and instant messages and enter chat rooms. Individuals can hide their identities when using their personal computer to bully other individuals. While it is possible to trace the e-mail account from which a message was sent, it is almost impossible to prove who actually used the account to send the offending message. Messages sent from accounts with local Internet service providers can be more easily traced and acted upon than messages from web-based e-mail accounts with Hotmail, Gmail and Yahoo, for example.
 |
|
Most e-mail programs allow you to use e-mail filters that will block or automatically delete messages from undesirable senders. Once it is determined that bullying e-mail messages are coming from a particular account, further messages from that account can be blocked. But this has only a limited affect, as the bully can easily open another temporary account free of charge.
Another element that helps conceal cyberbullies is the increasingly common presence of computers in the private environments of adolescent bedrooms. A shamed victim of a cyberbully can conceal his or her plight from parents, while the technically savvy bully can act without concern that a probing parent will find him out.
How harmful is Cyberbullying?
Cyberbullying has the same insidious effects as any kind of bullying, turning children away from school and friends. For most victims, the bullying produces shame, embarrassment, anger, depression and withdrawal. In extreme cases, cyberbullying has pushed teenagers to suicide.
While conventional types of bullying often go “under the radar” of adults, cyberbullying is even more difficult to detect. Cyberbullying leaves no visible signs of abuse and teens are increasingly communicating in ways that are unfamiliar to adults and away from their supervision. Moreover, victims often don’t tell their parents they are being bullied for fear that their parents will only make the problem worse or take away their cell phone and Internet access, cutting them off from their social networks. The result: only two-thirds of victims of cyberbullying report it.