Cyberbully
What is Cyberbullying?
Cyberbullying can be described as bullying or harassment that is done via the computer or other electronic device. It is formally defi ned as the “willful use of computers or computerized machines as tools to intentionally and repeatedly cause harm or discomfort through verbal or relational aggression that targets a specifi c person or group of persons” (Cook,
Williams, Guerra, & Tuthill, 2007). Cyberbullying includes such things as:
? Creating a website meant to humiliate a victim
? Forwarding private emails without permission
? Taking an embarrassing photo with a camera phone and posting it online
? Setting up online polls to vote on who is the ugliest, fattest, etc. kid in school
? Along with many other forms of electronic harassment.
How Common Is It?
Cyberbullying occurs among youth of all ages. Children as young as 9 or 10 are bullying or being cyberbullied. In a study of over 3,000 students, Williams and Guerra (2007) reported that 4.5 percent of 5th graders, 13 percent of 8th graders and 10 percent of 11th grade students indicated that they had bullied other students via the Internet. Anytime that a person has an online presence they are at risk of cyberbullying, which includes youth and adults. Cyberbullying is able to go unnoticed by many, because there is little supervision from adults and oftentimes adults simply do not understand the cyber world that youth are growing up in. Online social networks such as MySpace and Facebook have only become a common part of most teens lives in the last 3 to 5 years. Cell phones have become a normal part of a teen’s life and instant messaging is a normal way of communicating. With these new means of communication that adults have rarely experienced, teens are able to say and do things under anonymity and with little to no adult awareness.
Research conducted by the Pew Internet and American Life Project (2007) found that:
? One in three online (32%) teens have experienced
Cyberbullying can be described as bullying or harassment that is done via the computer or other electronic device. It is formally defi ned as the “willful use of computers or computerized machines as tools to intentionally and repeatedly cause harm or discomfort through verbal or relational aggression that targets a specifi c person or group of persons” (Cook,
Williams, Guerra, & Tuthill, 2007). Cyberbullying includes such things as:
? Creating a website meant to humiliate a victim
? Forwarding private emails without permission
? Taking an embarrassing photo with a camera phone and posting it online
? Setting up online polls to vote on who is the ugliest, fattest, etc. kid in school
? Along with many other forms of electronic harassment.
How Common Is It?
Cyberbullying occurs among youth of all ages. Children as young as 9 or 10 are bullying or being cyberbullied. In a study of over 3,000 students, Williams and Guerra (2007) reported that 4.5 percent of 5th graders, 13 percent of 8th graders and 10 percent of 11th grade students indicated that they had bullied other students via the Internet. Anytime that a person has an online presence they are at risk of cyberbullying, which includes youth and adults. Cyberbullying is able to go unnoticed by many, because there is little supervision from adults and oftentimes adults simply do not understand the cyber world that youth are growing up in. Online social networks such as MySpace and Facebook have only become a common part of most teens lives in the last 3 to 5 years. Cell phones have become a normal part of a teen’s life and instant messaging is a normal way of communicating. With these new means of communication that adults have rarely experienced, teens are able to say and do things under anonymity and with little to no adult awareness.
Research conducted by the Pew Internet and American Life Project (2007) found that:
? One in three online (32%) teens have experienced