Understanding "Cyber Bullying"

Parents want to protect their children from being hurt. This is an understandable reaction. It is a parent's duty and obligation to care for and protect their child. Yet, it can also lead to misnomers and improper labeling when their child's feelings are, in fact, hurt.

As an institution, it is important to get a handle on what exactly cyber bullying means. Too often, the word "bully" is used out of context. A child being upset because another child was unkind to them once, is not truly bullying. In the same regard, a student sending an angry text to their friend because of a conflict is not cyber bullying, either.

This is not to minimize the effect of mean-spirited messages, or the relevancy of cyber bullying, nor is it to dismiss the presence of bullying in schools all together. But understanding what bullying and cyber bullying truly means is important.

According to stopbullying.gov, bullying is "unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time. Bullying includes actions such as making threats, spreading rumors, attacking someone physically or verbally, and excluding someone from a group on purpose."

The website also defines cyber bullying as "bullying that takes place using electronic technology. Electronic technology includes devices and equipment such as cell phones, computers, and tablets as well as communication tools including social media sites, text messages, chat, and websites."
 
The important point to understand is: unwanted, aggressive behavior being repeated or has the potential to be repeated utilizing electronic technology." 

A majority of students experiencing cyber bullying are also experiencing some form of interpersonal bullying as well. The hard part is that students used to be able to go home and be safe from the in-person bully. With technology, that student can now be confronted with bullying 24 hours a day.

The 2013 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey finds that 15% of high school students (grades 9-12) were electronically bullied in the past year. While this number may seem small in comparison to actual physical bullying, it is still an issue that needs further research and data. Because technology changes so rapidly and students can be difficult to engage in conversation about bullying, this data may be incomplete.

The good news is that while it is difficult to monitor, we can do something about educating our community about cyber bullying and steps we can take to prevent, or at least, curb it's presence.The next few posts this week will focus on the relevancy of cyber bullying and what we can do about it.