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Emily Trapp

Artifact - CTS #4

As the world becomes increasingly more dependent on technology, there are many

implications in the educational realm that are considered both beneficial and harmful.

Although technology has provided many opportunities to improve certain aspects of teaching

and learning, there are concerns beyond the classroom that can affect students and their

participation in school. Through observing school-aged children, it appears that each year

there are younger and younger children gaining access to the internet and to cell phones. As

technology continues to encompass our society, children are getting more involved and

intrigued. Within the classroom setting, there are many benefits to using technology to

enhance learning experiences; however there are characteristics about technology that can be

dangerous. According to Robert S. Tokunaga, a University of Arizona professor, “more than

97% of youths in the United States are connected to the Internet in some way” (Tokunaga

2010). Whether this access is within the school or the home environment, there are serious

and harmful activities that can take place in the virtual world that are becoming increasingly

more apparent. The Journal of Pediatric Health Care notes that, “with the expansion of online

and electronic communication among school-aged and teen-aged children, bullying is no

longer limited to the schoolyard” (Swartz 2009). Cyberbullying, defined as “the use of

information and communication technologies to support deliberate, repeated, and hostile

behavior by an individual or group, that is intended to harm others” (Tokunaga 2010), has

been magnified recently by a series of self-harm incidents of children who have been

mistreated via electronic communication. This paper will explore the implications of

technology on children’s social interactions concentrating on the effects and uses of

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cyberbullying, intervention and prevention programs implemented in some schools, and the

reasons schools do not see implemented such a program to be necessary.

Bullying and school violence have been concerns and issues that schools have been trying

to target and prevent for years. However, as electronic communication continues to be a

common means for communication among children, bullying has been translated into a whole

new domain. Within this domain, however, there are even scarier consequences provided that

the perpetrators are verbally and pictorially harming their victims and not truly seeing the

emotional and physical reactions in responses to their actions. This allows children to act in

damaging ways without being able to relate to their victim in an empathetic way. Another

underlying problem with cyberbullying is the fact that students are being bullied under the

radar, and teachers are not typically aware of what is happening. When bullying takes place in

the school environment, there are usually students who speak up to give the problem the

attention it deserves, or teachers are even able to infer based on a student’s behavior that there

is an issue. However, as cyberbullying thrives outside of the school atmosphere, addressing

these problems as they are occurring is unlikely. As cyberbullying continues, educational

professionals are attempting to address their concerns and implement programs to deter

students from engaging in harmful activities on the internet, especially because “a large

proportion of children and youth do not disclose their experiences of cyber bullying to their

parents” (Faye, Saini, Solomon 2009).

There are many different ways into which children engage in cyberbullying. Although

common thought might be that cyberbullying only includes saying harmful or negative words

to another via SMS text messaging or online chatting, there more intricate ways children have

invented and used that are equally if not more destructive. Webcams are one way that students
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are taking advantage of each other in unsafe ways. As documented in a study surveying

students’ perceptions on cyberbullying, one 13 year old girl referred to an instance she

recalled, “‘what happened to a friend of mine, they were on MSN and one of the people they

thought were [their] friends that was a male, they had told their secrets to and they had friends

over and they said, ‘if you don't flash us, we'll tell people your secrets.’ So, something like

that will make them do it because they don't want people knowing their secrets’” (Faye, Saini,

Solomon 2009). Other techniques used are blackmailing, backstabbing, posting certain things

about someone on the internet, coercing others to do something they do not want to, altering

photos in degrading ways, or even posing as another person on the internet (Faye, Saini,

Solomon 2009). As children become more technologically savvy, they are able to experiment

with new ways to use technology in order to exploit their classmates.

There have been a small amount of studies done in regards to cyberbullying, typically

conducting interviews with students to gain a perspective on how many students are having

experiences with cyberbullying and getting an idea for how serious children think it is. One of

these studies, documented through the Children and Youth Services Review, describes the

study in the following way, “the aim of this grounded theory approach was to explore

technology, virtual relationships and cyber bullying from the perspectives of students” (Faye,

Saini, Solomon 2009After gaining school board approval, the participants, “students who

were in grades 5 through 8 and who self-identified as regular Internet users were recruited to

participate, from five schools within two urban school boards,” (Faye, Saini, Solomon 2009)

were recruited to participate in the study. The children were asked questions about their

opinions about cyberbullying, how often they think it occurs, about bullies and victims, and

more. The results of the study were staggering. The children had a lot of exposure to the
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internet and one of the participants even shared that his four year old brother plays internet

games. The participating students shared that they spend at least three hours a day on their

computers and that they are now expending more time on the internet and computers than

watching television programs (Faye, Saini, Solomon 2009). They shared stories of people

they knew who were being cyberbullied and all they different ways into which cyberbullying

can take place, how it is different from in-person bullying because one cannot be physically

hurt through the internet, only feelings, and the ideas of informing adults. Although it is hard

to make general conclusions about a study with such a small sample, the results and

discussion were valuable in the sense that the children do know people who have been

victimized by cyberbullying and that it is happening in the school systems somewhat

unknowingly.

Another study, conducted by Jaana Juvonen, PhD and Elisheva F. Gross, PhD, was intended

to “to examine the overlap among targets of, and the similarities between, online and in-school

bullying among Internet-using adolescents. Additionally, a number of common assumptions

regarding online or cyberbullying were tested” (Juvonen & Gross 2008). Unlike the previous

study described, they conducted their surveying online through a popular teenage website and

taking the survey automatically entered the participants in a raffle as an incentive. Their answers

were completely anonymous and were told they could leave any answer blank or abandon the

study at any point in time. The study surveyed one thousand four hundred and fifty-four children

aged 12 to 17, all fifty states were represented, and students of many different racial

backgrounds. The study aimed to ask the participants what is their online expertise and

communication tools, have they had any bullying experiences (or as they referred to it as ‘mean

experiences’ as not to elicit any kind of connotation from the participants), their assumptions
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about cyberbullying, and any possible prevention or defensive techniques they might use. The

results of this study furthered the evidence that most children will not inform parents or adults in

the event of being bullied in cyberspace and that many children have experienced being bullied

and most know someone who has (Juvonen & Gross 2008). With these statistics in mind, as a

future teacher, it is important to know that even though students may not be being bullied on

school grounds, that it may be happening outside of the classroom and that promoting respectful

and safe internet practices is important in preventing cyberbullying.

The implications in the classroom are very disconcerting. Students who are bullied, whether

on school grounds or in cyber space, feel the hurtful effects both in and outside of school.

Bullying, no matter the location or medium, has severe consequences, “both in-school and online

bullying experiences were independently associated with increased social anxiety” (extending

school grounds). A great deal of studies conducted around cyberbullying note that the negative

consequences typically including children who miss school, have lower self-esteem, decreased

grades, “less-perceived school safety,” and suffered emotionally (Tokunaga 2010). Each of these

consequences have the potential to affect a child’s performance and ability in school which

shows that there needs to be precautionary and preventative measurements taken to ensure that

students are not threatened and bullied outside of school as well. Even though schools cannot

specifically monitor what children say to each other on the internet or through text messaging,

they can provide education on the dangers of mistreating others and promote respectful cyber

environments.

The Seattle Public School system has implemented a middle school cyberbullying curriculum

that contains nine lessons to teach their students about the implications of cyberbullying and

responsible online behaviors. There are group activities, writing activities, and lessons that are
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supplemented by resources for the children and their parents/guardians. The goal of the

curriculum is to prevent students from experiencing cyberbullying by educated the students

about the harmful effects and consequences of bullying and cyberbullying (Seattle Public School

System). Although the Seattle Public School system received a grant for this curriculum which

enables them to have such an extensive cyberbullying prevention program, other schools have

access to their website to get ideas and use it as a resource for creating their own lessons or

programs. Even individual teachers can use some of the ideas to techniques to implement safe

technology practices in their classroom and promote the use of them outside the classroom. It is

important that these issues be addressed in school so that students are aware that their actions

have consequences, especially as many parents do not monitor their children’s use of the

internet. Although a program such as this would be more beneficial if used in a middle school,

where bullying tends to be more of an issue, there can be elementary introductions to responsible

use of the internet and the promotion of mutual respect in cyberspace. Regardless of the possible

benefits of including a cyberbullying prevention program, some people do not believe that

schools should play a role in putting a stop to cyberbullying. Although there is not much research

on this side of the argument, one might assume because cyberbullying is an activity that happens

outside of the school and should be a parent’s responsibility to prevent. Therefore, with monetary

restrictions being placed on school districts in other areas and the pressures of No Child Left

Behind, the idea of implementing a cyberbullying prevention program might not seem plausible.

After researching the consequences and implications of cyberbullying, different studies

conducted about cyberbullying, and different programs implementing cyberbullying prevention,

I believe that it is important to education school-aged children about technological bullying. I

think it is important as a certified, highly-qualified teacher to look out and advocate for the
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wellbeing of my students in all situations. Regardless if the bullying is taking place within the

school hours or not, it is important to ensure that the student is not suffering emotionally,

physically, or socially as those pains can affect the student’s school performance and overall

attitude. Even if it is hard to predict whether students in my future classroom are engaging in

irresponsible cyber behaviors, I think it is imperative that they learn about mature and

responsible internet practices. I chose to research this topic because I think that bullying is a

serious issue and it affects students in really negative ways, and as technology continues to

penetrate our society, cyberbullying is likely to become more common. Although I plan to teach

elementary-age students, I think that by promoting respectful, empathetic, understanding

environments at early ages is the first step in preparing children to act responsibly in the cyber

world. Additionally, I know that there are computer programs in school systems even for

children as young as kindergarten, so keeping parents aware and involved in their children’s

internet and technology experiences would be important.

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Works Cited
Juvonen, Jaana, and Elisheva F. Gross. "Extending the School Grounds?—Bullying

Experiences in Cyberspace." Journal of School Health 78.9 (2008): 496-505.

Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 4 Apr. 2010.

Mishna, Faye, Michael Saini, and Steven Solomon. "Ongoing and online: Children and

youth's perceptions of cyber bullying." Children & Youth Services Review 31.12

(2009): 1222-1228. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 4 Apr. 2010.

Seattle Public School System. Middle School Cyberbullying Curriculum. 4 Dec 2009. 5 Apr

2010. http://www.seattleschools.org/area/prevention/cbms.html

Swartz, Martha K. “Cyberbullying: An Extension of the Schoolyard.” Journal of Pediatric

Health Care 23.5 (2009): 281-282. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 4 Apr.

2010.

Tokunaga, Robert S. "Following you home from school: A critical review and synthesis of

research on cyberbullying victimization." Computers in Human Behavior 26.3 (2010):

277-287. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 4 Apr. 2010.