CYBER BULLYING Cliff Akiyama, MA, MPH Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine Bullying is An imbalance of power Repeated and

systematic harassment and attacks on others Perpetrated by individuals or groups CYBER BULLYING IS Being cruel to others by sending or posting harmful material using technological means; an individual or group that uses information and communication involving electronic technologies to facilitate deliberate and repeated harassment or threat to an individual or group. Also known as: Electronic Bullying & Online Social Cruelty CYBER BULLIES TECHNOLOGY E-mail Cell phones Pager text messages Instant messaging Defamatory personal web sites Defamatory online personal polling web sites Chat rooms Cyberbullying A Recent Survey of Teens Revealed Cyberbullying was experienced at least one time by 43% of teens, aged 13 to 17. Teens report that in 77% of the cases the cyberbully is someone they know. Girls claim to have been cyberbullied more than boys 51% to 37%. NCPC Cyberbullying Research Report, 2006 of 824 Middle and High School Students age 13 through 17

Demographic Characteristics Children who bully Could come from any economic, cultural, or religious background Are often in late elementary or middle school Personal Attitudes/Behaviors Children who bully Want power Have a positive attitude toward violence Have quick tempers Have difficulty conforming to rules Gain satisfaction from inflicting injury and perceive grewards h (prestige, material goods) from their behavior Have positive self images Children Who Bully Lack empathy Are concerned with their own desires rather than those of others Find it difficult to see things from someone else fs perspective Are willing to use others to get what they want Common Characteristics Among Youth Who Are Bullied These children often stand out as different in some way because of - Appearance - Sexual orientation - Intellect - Socio-economic background - Cultural or religious background Common Characteristics Among Youth Who Are Bullied Boys and girls are bullied in different ways - Boys are more likely to be bullied physically - Girls are more likely to be bullied socially How Widespread is Bullying? A national study of 15,600 students in grades 6-10 found 19% reported bullying others gsometimes h or more often 16% reported being bullied gsometimes h or more often 6.3% reported bullying and being bullied

The Negative Impacts of Witnessing Bullying More than 50% of teens (ages 12 to 17) witness at least one bullying or taunting incident in school each week (NCPC, 2005).

Students in grades 7 to 12 say revenge is the strongest motivation for school shootings; 86% said, gother kids picking on them, making fun of them, or bullying them h can cause teenagers to turn to lethal violence in schools (Cerio, 2001).

Children Who Witness Bullying When peers intervene, bullying stops within 10 seconds, 57% of the time DIFFERENCES BULLYING

DIRECT Occurs on school property Poor relationships with teachers Fear retribution Physical: Hitting, Punching & Shoving Verbal: Teasing, Name calling & Gossip Nonverbal: Use of gestures & Exclusion

CYBER BULLY CATEGORIES Inadvertent Role-play Responding May not realize its cyber bullying Vengeful Angel Righting wrongs Protecting themselves Mean Girls Bored; Entertainment Ego based; promote own social status Often done in a group Intimidate on and off line Need others to bully; if isolated, stop

CYBER BULLYING TYPES 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: Dissing someone online. Sending or posting cruel gossip or rumors about a person to damage his or her reputation or friendships

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 persons reputation or friendships

Outing and Trickery: Sharing someones 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) CYBER BULLYING PREVALENCE Cyber bullying typically starts at about 9 years of age and usually ends after 14 years of age; after 14, it becomes cyber or sexual harassment due to nature of acts and age of actors Affects 65-85% of kids in the core group directly or indirectly through close friends

CYBER BULLYING PREVALENCE 90% of middle school students they polled had their feelings hurt online 65% of their students between 8-14 have been involved directly or indirectly in a cyber bullying incident as the cyber bully, victim or friend 50% had seen or heard of a website bashing of another student 75% had visited a website bashing 40% had their password stolen and changed by a bully (locking them out of their own account) or sent communications posing as them Problems in studies: not assessing the real thing i.e. Only 15% of parent polled knew what cyber bullying was CYBER BULLYING PREVALENCE In the 2003-04 school year, i-SAFE America surveyed students from across the country on a new topic: Cyber Bullying

It is a topic that not many adults were talking about but one that is all too familiar with students.

42% of kids have been bullied while online. 1 in 4 have had it happen more than once. 35% of kids have been threatened online. Nearly 1 in 5 have had it happen more than 21% of kids have received mean or threatening e-mail or other messages.

once.

58% of kids admit someone has said mean or hurtful things to them online. More than 4 out of 10 say it has happened more than once.

53% of kids admit having said something mean or hurtful to another person online. More than 1 in 3 have done it more than once.

58% have not told their parents or an adult about something mean or hurtful that happened to them online.

Based on 2004 i-SAFE survey of 1,500 students grades 4-8 CYBER BULLYING STATISTICS Signs That a Child is Being Bullied Physical Emotional Behavioral/social Academic Physical Signs Cuts, bruises, scratches Headaches, stomachaches Damaged possessions gMissing h possessions that need to be replaced Emotional Signs Withdrawal and/or shyness Anxiety Depression Aggression

http://www.isafe.org

Behavioral/Social Signs Changes in eating or sleeping habits (e.g., nightmares) No longer wanting to participate in activities once enjoyed

Beginning to bully siblings or mistreat family pets Hurting self, attempting or threatening suicide Suddenly changing friends

Academic Signs Not wanting to go to school Changing method of going to school (e.g., changing walking route, wanting to be driven instead of riding the bus) Drop in grades THE END!!!!!!!