Cyberbullying prevention and response : expert perspectives PDF
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CYBERBULLYING PREVENTION AND RESPONSE Just as the previous generation was raised in front of televisions, adolescents at the turn of the 21st century are being raised in an internet-enabled world where blogs, social networking, and instant messaging are competing with face-to-face and telephone communication as the dominant means through which personal interaction takes place. Unfortunately, a small but growing proportion of our youth are being exposed online to interpersonal violence, aggression, and harassment via cyberbullying. The mission of this book is to explore the many critical issues surrounding this new phenomenon. Key features include the following. Comprehensive – The book provides a comprehensive, up-to-date look at the major issues that teachers, school administrators, counselors, social workers, and parents need to be aware of with respect to cyberbullying identification, prevention, and response. Practical – While the information is informed by research, it is written in an accessible way that all adults will be able to understand and apply. Expertise – Justin W. Patchin and Sameer Hinduja are Co-directors of the Cyberbullying Research Center (www.cyberbullying.us). Chapter authors rep- resent a carefully selected group of contributors who have demonstrated both topical expertise and an ability to write about the topic in clear, easily accessible language. This book is appropriate for teachers, administrators, parents and others seeking research-based guidance on how to deal with the rising tide of cyberbullying issues. It is also appropriate for a variety of college-level courses dealing with school violence and educational administration. CYBERBULLYING PREVENTION AND RESPONSE Expert Perspectives Edited by Justin W. Patchin and Sameer Hinduja First published 2012 by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Simultaneously published in the UK by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2011. To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk. © 2012 Taylor & Francis The right of the editors to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Cyberbullying prevention and response : expert perspectives / edited by Justin W. Patchin, Ph.D., Sameer Hinduja, Ph.D. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Cyberbullying. 2. Bullying in schools. 3. Computer crimes. 4. Internet and teenagers. I. Patchin, Justin W., 1977–II. Hinduja, Sameer, 1978– LB3013.3.C94 2011 371.5(cid:397)8–dc22 2011005152 ISBN 0-203-81831-8 Master e-book ISBN ISBN: 978-0-415-89236-0 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-415-89237-7 (pbk) ISBN: 978-0-203-81831-2 (ebk) CONTENTS Preface vii Justin W. Patchin and Sameer Hinduja Acknowledgments xii 1 A “Living Internet”: Some Context for the Cyberbullying Discussion 1 Anne Collier 2 Cyberbullying: An Update and Synthesis of the Research 13 Justin W. Patchin and Sameer Hinduja 3 Cyberbullying and the Law 36 Nancy Willard 4 Youth Views on Cyberbullying 57 Patricia Agatston, Robin Kowalski, and Susan Limber 5 Cyberbullying: How School Counselors Can Help 72 Russell Sabella 6 Empowering Bystanders 93 Stan Davis and Charisse Nixon vi Contents 7 You Mean We Gotta Teach That, Too? 110 Mike Donlin 8 A “Toolbox” of Cyberbullying Prevention Initiatives and Activities 128 Jenny Walker 9 Responding to Cyberbullying: Advice for Educators and Parents 149 Elizabeth K. Englander 10 School Law Enforcement and Cyberbullying 161 Sameer Hinduja and Justin W. Patchin Appendix A: Select Cyberbullying Curricula, Lesson Plans, and Materials 185 Appendix B: List of States with Bullying and Cyberbullying Laws 189 Biographies 192 Index 198 PREFACE Justin W. Patchin and Sameer Hinduja So much has changed over the last two decades with regard to the ways youth interact using technology. Many of us grew up experimenting with online com- munications through dial-up bulletin board services such as Prodigy, CompuServe, and America Online using the one desktop computer that our families could afford. And, we used the landline phone to talk to our friends from school – but couldn’t talk for too long unless it was really late at night, to keep the line free in case there was a more important call that needed to come in. There was also the expense of long-distance calls – and no “free nights and weekends.” Today, teens are texting, Facebooking, and instant messaging their friends all over the nation and world through their portable devices – from which they can often access the entire Internet and all it has to offer – day and night. Many also have personal laptops, tablets, and webcams, which provide for previously unheard-of opportunities to be as close as possible to someone else – irrespective of geographical distance. The advances in technology have, without question, been an extremely positive development. Indeed, many educational and social benefits have resulted from our headfirst plunge into the Information Age, but sometimes we feel there should have been obligatory bungee cords tied around our ankles before we leapt. As adults, we often feel that we are constantly trying to keep up with technological changes and sometimes don’t understand the immense appeal that our kids see in certain devices, environments, applications, or games. Nevertheless, we can acknowledge some of the value they add in allowing us to keep in closer contact with loved-ones, to be more efficient and organized with work responsibilities, and to access various sources of entertainment and information more readily. Apart from the obvious benefits of encyclopedic amounts of content at one’s fingertips, the welcome digital diversions which pass our time and keep us viii Preface amused, and the speed with which we can correspond with others, online par- ticipation has tremendous utility in teaching youth various social and emotional skills that are essential to successfully navigating life. For example, cyberspace provides a venue to learn and refine the ability to exercise self-control, to relate with tolerance and respect to others’ viewpoints, to express sentiments in a healthy and normative manner, and to engage in critical thinking and decision- making. These skills, however, cannot be effectively internalized if the online learning environment is unwelcoming or altogether hostile to the user. If adolescents are uncomfortable or unwilling to explore technology and take advantage of all of its positive attributes, they will be sorely lacking in certain developmental qualities that others who do embrace electronic communications will naturally obtain. Over the last decade, the vast majority of youth have quickly acquired a propensity for digital devices and the Internet, and have tended to outpace their adult counterparts who were not raised in a wired world. Nonetheless, a respectable proportion of kids online are being exposed to interpersonal violence, aggression, mistreatment, and harassment through what has been termed cyberbullying. In our previous work, we defined cyberbullying as “willful and repeated harm inflicted through the use of computers, cell phone, or other electronic devices” (Hinduja & Patchin, 2009:5). Using technology, a bully can send or post hurtful, humiliating, or even threatening messages and content to a victim, to third parties, or to a public forum or environment that many other online participants visit. Cyberbullying is the unfortunate byproduct of the union of adolescent aggression and electronic communication, and its growth gives us cause for concern. Moreover, there is no shortage of potential offenders or targets of cyberbullying because of the widespread availability of personal technological devices in the developed world. Given the prominence of several high-profile incidents in recent months, cyberbullying has been all over the media. The tragic suicides of several teens who experienced cyberbullying have shined a bright light on a significant social problem that, if left unchecked, stands to detrimentally affect the current gener- ation of youth. Wanting to intervene in some way, many parents, school per- sonnel, and other professionals who work with adolescents are looking for information to educate themselves about this problem. Even though it may seem fairly new to them, a core group of researchers, educators, counselors, and others have been exploring this problem for years, and therefore have a unique, empirically-informed perspective to offer. This book represents a compendium of the lessons learned through their efforts. We hope that Cyberbullying Prevention and Response: Expert Perspectives will serve as the definitive guide to assist you in addressing the ways teens misuse technology to cause harm to their peers. This book voices the views and experiences of the best and brightest youth online risk professionals in the United States – those widely recognized in our nation and abroad as experts in Preface ix this area. The knowledge and resources shared in this book are guided by research, but presented in an accessible way that will be useful for all who work with teens. What is more, they can be considered some of the “best practices” currently known regarding preventing and responding to cyberbullying. We hope that you benefit greatly from what is shared throughout these chapters. The Book The book begins with an overview of the current state of knowledge concern- ing the ways in which youth are using and abusing online technologies. First, Anne Collier discusses “the living Internet,” a place that is constantly evolving and reflecting the personalities of its varied user base. She argues that the (mis) behaviors of teens are generally the same as they have always been, except that in the 21st century they are occurring on a landscape unfamiliar to many adults. One solution, then, is to take traditional safety messages and augment them with instruction and modeling of digital citizenship and media literacy. In Chapter 2, we review and summarize the body of cyberbullying research to inform readers about the nature, extent, and consequences of online aggression. We present results from our own data collected in 2010 involving over 4,400 students, along with findings from several other published research projects on the topic. We explain how cyberbullying affects a meaningful number of youth on a regular basis and that those who experience cyberbullying also report having emotional and psychological issues, suicidal thoughts, low self-esteem, and aca- demic and behavioral problems at school. Next, Patricia Agatston, Robin Kowalski, and Susan Limber present the per- spectives of students who have experienced cyberbullying as targets, bullies, or bystanders. From the students we learn that cyberbullying isn’t often reported to adults, despite being a significant problem. Youth are more likely to report their experiences to adults when they know they will be taken seriously and appropri- ate actions will be taken. Chapter 3 summarizes some of the important legal issues surrounding cyber- bullying. Nancy Willard argues that schools, parents, law enforcement officers, and others need to work together to respond to on- and off-campus cyberbully- ing incidents, and that they are endowed with the responsibility and right to informally or formally intervene, depending on the situation. Chapter 5 presents a framework for school counselors to use when address- ing cyberbullying, and shows how they can play a significant role in meeting the needs of parents and youth in the midst of their victimization and struggles. Parents who are wrestling with what to do when faced with a cyberbullying incident should consider consulting with an informed school counselor as they can often provide knowledgeable guidance to pragmatically deal with a variety of adolescent relationship problems. Accordingly, Russell Sabella provides concrete solutions and strategies to aid counselors in their efforts.
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