Preventing Cyberbullying in Schools and the Community

 

By: National Center for Mental Health Promotion and Youth Violence Prevention (2009)

Bullying is a form of emotional and physical abuse that is characterized by a power imbalance in which a bully chooses victims that he or she perceives as vulnerable. Bullying is deliberate and repeated over time. It can occur in different forms, for example:

• Physical bullying—poking, pushing, hitting, kicking
• Verbal bullying—yelling, teasing, name-calling, insulting, threatening
• Indirect bullying (also called “relational bullying”)—ignoring, excluding, spreading rumors, telling lies, getting others to hurt someone

Extensive research on bullying has shown that it has major long- and short-term effects on the victim that range from low self-esteem, anxiety, and depression to school avoidance and academic failure (Swearer, Song, Cary, Eagle, & Mickelson, 2001). In cases of extreme bullying, some tormented victims have thought about or resorted to committing suicide, or “bullicide” (van der Wal, de Wit, & Hirasing, 2003).

Bullying also has major effects on the immediate bystanders, who may feel:

• pressured to participate in the bullying
• anxious about speaking to anyone about it
• powerless to stop the bullying
• increasingly vulnerable to being victimized themselves
• afraid of being associated with the victim or the bully
• guilty for not having defended the victim (Storey, Slaby, Adler, Minotti, & Katz, 2008)

With the spread of technology-mediated communication in recent years comes a new form of bullying that can occur anywhere and can take a similar toll on the victim. Cyberbullying is a growing form of bullying that involves sending or posting hurtful, embarrassing, or threatening text or images using the Internet, cell phones, or other electronic communication devices. Other forms of cyberbullying include creating Web sites that contain harmful or highly personal materials or images that may damage the victim’s reputation or friendships, distributing questionnaires that poll classmates about a student’s physical traits, and excluding victims from online groups. Since many students have access to the Internet outside of school, cyberbullying can occur at any time of day, and its effects can be difficult to avoid.