Author(s)

E. Kraft

Abstract

Cyberbullying: a worldwide trend of misusing technology to harass others. Technology has led to a new form of bullying in the 21st century called cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is using the Internet or a cell phone to harass a victim with pictures and text. There have been reports in the media of youth being harassed by e-mail, postings on websites, instant messages, and mobile text messages worldwide. This paper summarizes findings about the prevalence and effects of cyberbullying from studies conducted in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Results of the studies were compared to media reports of cyberbullying and traditional bullying research. Strategies to stop and prevent cyberbullying were discussed. The percentage of respondents experiencing incidents of cyberbullying in the studies ranged from 10% to 42%. The mobile phone was the predominant method of cyberbullying in Australia and the United Kingdom, whereas the Internet was the favoured method in the United States and Canada. Some victims of cyberbullying have been driven to suicide while others remain unaffected by it. The most common feelings of victims were anger, sadness, frustration, and fear. Independent studies in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada documented that parents and children do not discuss cyberbullying. It is recommended that schools establish and post acceptable use policies for the Internet. Parents need to be educated about cyberbullying so that they can impose consequences if their child is harassing another child. Real time computerized reporting systems such Text Someone can be used to augment reporting of incidents. Showing students how mobile phone calls and e-mail messages can be traced may deter cyberbullying. Keywords: cyberbullying, cyber-bullying, mobile phone bullying, online bullying, online harassment, cyberharassment, cell phone bullying, bullying, harassment, bullied online.

Keywords

cyberbullying, cyber-bullying, mobile phone bullying, onlinebullying, online harassment, cyberharassment, cell phone bullying, bullying,harassment, bullied online.