Online Aggression

Cyberbullying  Definition (Cyberbullying Research Center ) Willful and repeated harm inflicted through the use of computers, cell phones and other electronic devices. Willful = deliberate Repeated = not isolated incident Harm = target MUST perceive that harm was inflicted

How is it Different?  Differs from traditional bullying in the following ways: 1. Anonymous 2. Not face to face (emboldens bullies) 3. Immediate impact of words not observed 4. Mass audience 5. Very difficult to contain/control 6. Less understood by adults 7. No refuge

Types of Cyberbullying  “Impersonation”: Pretending to be someone else and sending or posting material online that makes that person look bad, gets that person in trouble or danger, or damages that person’s reputation or friendships  “Outing and Trickery”: Sharing someone’s secret or embarrassing information online. Tricking someone into revealing secrets or embarrassing information which is then shared online  “Exclusion”: Intentionally excluding someone from an on-line group, like a ‘buddy list’ {Nancy Willard, M.S., J.D., Director of the Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use}

Types of Cyberbullying  “Flaming’: Online fights using electronic messages with angry and vulgar language  “Harassment”: Repeatedly sending offensive, rude, and insulting messages  “Cyber stalking”: Repeatedly sending messages that include threats of harm or are highly intimidating. Engaging in other on-line activities that make a person afraid for his or her own safety  “Denigration”: Disrespecting someone online. Sending or posting cruel gossip or rumors about a person to damage his or her reputation or friendships

Categories of Cyberbullies “ Inadvertent”  Role-play  Responding  May not realize it’s cyber bullying “Vengeful Angel”  Righting wrongs  Protecting themselves “Mean Girls”  Bored; Entertainment  Ego based; promote own social status  Often do in a group  Intimidate on and off line  Need others to bully; if isolated, stop “Power-Hungry”  Want reaction  Controlling with fear “Revenge of the Nerds” (“Subset of Power-Hungry”)  Often Victims of school-yard bullies  Throw ‘cyber-weight’ around  Not school-yard bullies like Power-Hungry & Mean Girls {Parry Aftab. Esq., Executive Director, WiredSafety.org}

Extent of Cyberbullying  Cyberbullying Research Center (2007) 2,000 middle school students: 17.3% - yes: have you ever been cyberbullied? 17.6% - admitted to cyberbullying others 12% - reported being both a victim and a bully

Extent of Cyberbullying 42.9% experienced at least one of the following the last 30 days: 1. Received an upsetting or instant message 2. Had something posted on Myspace that made them upset 3. Been made fun of in a chatroom 4. Had something posted online they didn’t want others to see. 5. Been afraid to get on the computer

Emotional and Psychological Consequences  Depression: feelings of worthlessness, hopelessness, lonely, rejected, isolated, suicidal ideations  Anxiety: fear of going to school or attending a certain class, frequent trips to the nurse, hanging around teachers classroom, avoidance of the cafeteria  Anger: feelings of revenge, wanting to get even, wanting others to suffer the way they have

Emotional and Psychological Consequences  14 year old girl from Illinois: “It makes me depressed a lot. It affected me for about 3-4 years. I hated being cyberbullied. I would come home and just cry. It really hurt.”  12 year old girl from Massachusetts: “It lowers my self-esteem. It makes me feel really crappy. It makes me walk around the rest of the day feeling worthless, like no one cares. It makes me very, very depressed.”

Behavioral Consequences  Avoidance or withdrawal from others, social isolation  Hyper-vigilance: always scanning, surveilling area  Lack of interpersonal skills: suspicious of others, difficulty trusting  Likely to engage in escapism: computer gaming, substance abuse, internet relationships (with strangers)  Lack of participation in “real-life” activities  Self-harm or suicide  Harm to others

Link Between Suicide and Bullying  Cyberbullying Research Center: ALL forms of peer aggression increased the likelihood that the respondent attempted suicide. Traditional bullying victims – 1.7 x more likely Traditional bullying offenders – 2.1 x more likely Cyberbullying victims – 1.9 x more likely Cyberbullying offenders – 1.5 x more likely * More likely to have ATTEMPTED suicide

Link Between Bullying and Suicide  Bullycide and Cyberbullicide – suicides directly or indirectly influenced by experiences of being bullied.  NOT likely to be the sole cause of suicide. Oftentimes, there are underlying emotional or social issues going on in their lives.  Exacerbates instability and hopelessness in the minds of adolescents already struggling with stressful life circumstances.

Resources  Sameer Hinduja, Ph.D Cyberbullying Research Center  Justin W. Patchin, Ph.D Cyberbullying Research Center  Nancy Willard, M.S., J.D., Director of the Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use  Cyberbullying Research Summaries:  Cyberbullying and Suicide  Emotional and Psychological Consequences Permission granted by Sameer Hinduja to use direct excerpts from research summaries. www. cyberbullying.us Youtube: Anti-Bullying Animation