CYBER BULLYING

Demystifying and Deescalating Cyber

Bullying
Barbara Trolley, Ph.D. CRC
 WORKSHOP GOALS
Terminology
Assessment Issues & Protocol
Decision Tree
PEAS PROGRAM:

Psychological, Educational and

Social School Response
 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
 DIFFERENCES
BULLYING CYBERBULLYING

DIRECT ANONYMOUS

Occurs on Occurs of
school property school property

Poor relationships Good relationships with

with teachers teachers

Fear retribution Fear loss of technology

Physical: Hitting, Punching & privileges
Shoving
Verbal: Teasing, Name calling Further under the radar
& Gossip than bullying
Nonverbal: Use of gestures
& Exclusion
Emotional reactions
www.stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov cannot be determined
{McKenna & Bargh, 2004; Ybarra & Mitchell, 2004}
 CYBER BULLY
CATEGORIES
Inadvertent Power-Hungry
Role-play Want reaction
Responding Controlling with fear
May not realize its Revenge of the
cyber bullying Nerds
Vengeful Angel (Subset of Power-Hungry)
Righting wrongs Often Victims of school-
Protecting themselves yard bullies
Mean Girls Throw cyber-weight
around
Bored; Entertainment Not school-yard bullies
Ego based; promote like Power-Hungry &
own social status Mean Girls
Often do in a group
Intimidate on and of
line
Need others to bully; if
isolated,{Parry
stop Aftab. Esq., Executive Director, WiredSafety.org}
 CYBER BULLYING
TYPES
Flaming: Online fights using electronic
messages with angry and vulgar language

Harassment: Repeatedly sending

ofensive, 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
 CYBER BULLYING
TYPES
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 {Aftab}

Affects 65-85% of kids in the

core group directly or indirectly
through close friends (Aftab)
 CYBER BULLYING
PREVALENCE
Aftabs statistics:
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 once.

21% of kids have received mean or threatening e-mail or other messages.

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 http://www.isafe.org
 CYBER BULLYING
STATISTICS

*Taken from an i-SAFE America survey of students nationwide.

 CYBER BULLYING
LEGAL ISSUES
Who May Be Involved: School Limits:
Schools have policies
School Counselor against bullying
Principal
Civil Law Limits:
Resource Officer Cyber bullying may also
meet standards for
Police institutional torts
(wrongdoings)
Attorney (School or Private)

Superintendent
Internet Service Provider
Defamation
Material that Constitutes
an Invasion of Privacy
(1st Amendment)

Intentional Infliction of
General (Willard, 2005) Emotional Distress
 CYBER BULLYING
LEGAL ISSUES
Criminal Law Limits
The following kinds of speech can lead to
arrest & prosecution:
Making threats of violence to people or
their property
Engaging in coercion
Making obscene or harassing phone calls
Harassment or stalking
Hate or bias crimes
Creating or sending sexually explicit
images of teens
Sexual exploitation
Taking a photo of someone in place
where privacy expected
General (Willard, 2005)
 CYBER BULLYING
LEGAL ISSUES
Educators Guide To Cyber bullying:
Addressing the Harm of On-line Social Cruelty
(Nancy Willard, 2005)

Law Enforcement should be contacted if

educator becomes aware of:
Death threats or threats of other forms of
violence to a person or property
Excessive intimidation or extortion
Threats or intimidation that involve any form
of bias or discrimination
Any evidence of sexual exploitation
 CYBER BULLYING
LEGAL ISSUES
Offsite Internet Activities and Schools
(Copyright 2005 Parry Aftab, Esq. All rights reserved)
Conflicting decisions in regard to schools authority with respect
to cases under state and federal jurisdictions

School should seek legal consult often beyond regular school

attorney (e.g., a constitutional or cyber-free speech lawyer)

Within School Authority Guidelines:

Clear-cut threats
Clearly disruptive of school discipline
encouraged to visit website; student accesses or works on
website in school
School owned website or school-sponsored project website
Any proof of in-school impact (e.g., materials on grounds;
psychosocial, behavioral or academic impact on others)
Proof the students website or harassment has had impact
on
staff
(e.g., quits, leave of absence, medical TX for emotional
issues)- otherwise seek outside legal recourse
 CYBER BULLYING
LEGAL ISSUES
What Everyone Needs to Know About
Cyber Bullying
(Aftab)
Many cases of child cyber bullying, like adult
counterparts of cyber-harassment, not criminal

Law Enforcement needs to be aware of:

Diference between annoying and dangerous
communications
How to investigate a cyber crime
How to obtain information from an ISP
 CURRENT ANTI-BULLYING
PROGRAMS
Traditional Program Concerns
(Fleming, Towey, Limber, Gross, Rubin, Wright & Anderson, 2002)

Zero Tolerance & 3 Strikes & Out

Negatively impacts on willingness to report
Casts large net
Bullies need pro-social role models

Anger Management, Skill Building, Empathy Building, Self-

Esteem Enhancement
Group members serve as role models & reinforcers of bullying, anti-
social
behavior
Bullies dont need self-esteem boosted

Mediation
Appropriate in cases of equal power, not bully & victim
Parallels possible in doing mediation in domestic violence
Appropriate message to bullies: Your behavior is inappropriate, wont be
tolerated
Message to victim: No one deserves to be bullied and were going to try
to
stop it
CURRENT ANTI-BULLYING
PROGRAMS
Articles:

Zero Tolerance Policies Encourage Lockdown Environment in

Schools(Fuentes, 2003)
One Strike and Youre Out of School (Joiner, 2004)
Youthful suicide, financial ruin, families torn apart for minor
infractions.: How post Columbine hysteria is wrecking lives
Every Child is Worth Saving (http://endzeroltolerance.com )

Additional Lists of Articles & Commentaries

News (http://www.jlc.org/EZT/News/default/html?id=Jan05 )

Summary
Children taught to not fight back
Frequently have adults such as teachers protect them
Those being bullied often want friends or are fearful so dont narc
Having been bullied, may have poor self-esteem
All involved in cyber bullying not caught, assessed or disciplined
Adults may be seemingly unresponsive
..retaliation on-line
 CURRENT CYBER BULLYING
PROGRAMS & RESONSES
(Aftab, PowerPoint communication)

PROGRAM OFFERINGS:

Teenangels.org: trains teens & preteens to be part of solution

WiredKids and WiredTeens programs for schools and

communities

Wiredsafety.org: one to one hotline and multiple resources

Videos, Lesson Plans and Activities

Parent and Community Programs

Law enforcement training and briefings

Local county level summits on cyber bullying

Assistance on technological software & tools to help

CURRENT CYBER BULLYING

PROGRAMS & RESPONSES
What Everyone Needs to Know
About Cyber bullying (Aftab)

Education of Children:
All actions have consequences
Cyber bullying hurts
They are just being used and manipulated
by cyber bully
Cyber bully and accomplices often become
the target of cyber bullying themselves
Care about others and stand up for whats
right
 CURRENT CYBER BULLYING
PROGRAMS & RESPONSES
Comprehensive Plan (Willard, 2005)
Schools
Policies concerning misuse of technology
Evaluate how staf is and can more efectively
monitor Internet use
Parents
Discuss cyber bullying
Supervise and increase efective monitoring of
Internet use
Since more adults supervise, more children will
hide
activities, strategies needed to change social
norms
in these on-line works, empower the victim with
knowledge how to prevent & respond, & to
discourage bullies from engaging in such activities
CURRENT CYBER BULLYING
PROGRAMS & RESPONSES
Schools should:
Focus on values of kindness and
respectful human relations
Enhancement of empathic
awareness
Develop efective problem
solving skills
Empowerment of bystanders
 CURRENT CYBER BULLYING
ASSESSMENT
(Willard, 2005)
Specific Step Wise Plan:
1 Engage in participatory planning {Integrate into Safe Schools.
District Technology Awareness; Non-school Participants}
2 Conduct needs assessment {Assessment available at Center for
Safe & Responsible Internet Use}
3 Ensure that an efective anti--bullying program in place {core
not authoritarian values; predictive empathy; peer norms vs.
bullying; peer intervention skills, efective administrative
responses}
4 Review policies & Procedures {Monitoring, report box, internet
& other technological pp}
5 Conduct Professional Development {key individual
sophisticated in the area; all administrators, librarians, counselors
and technology educators basic understanding; all other staf
alerted to existence, how to detect}
6 Provide Parent Education {prevention, detection & intervention
strategies; alert child to potential consequences of school
discipline, loss of family account, civil litigation, criminal
prosecution}
CURRENT CYBER BULLYING
PROGRAMS & RESPONSES
Intervention Strategies for Cyber bullying Directed at
Student
1-Save the evidence
2-Conduct a threat assessment {if cyber bullying poses
substantial disruption, violence or suicide concerns; contact law
enforcement if threats of violence}
3-Assesss response options {direct school nexus may warrant
school disciplinary action; if of campus and not substantial
threat, no disciplinary action but help victim}
4-Identify the Perpetrators {technical assistance; assess validity
of persons identity; ofer technical assistance to parents}
5-Supprt the victim {even if no disciplinary action, ofer support
and assistance to victim and parents; ofer counseling
mediation, technical assistance; direct to community resources}
6-Provide guidance on how to remove the speech
7-Seek to use informal resolution strategies {contact
perpetrator parents, ofer assistance, suggest legal consultation;
ofer counseling, mediation in school; recognize the cyber bully
is a hurt kid and try to help both victim and perpetrator
Intervention Strategies for Cyber bullying Directed at Staff
1- Assess Type of Speech
2- Take action based on assessment
 CURRENT CYBER
BULLYING ASSESSMENT
What Everyone Needs to Know About Cyber
bullying (Aftab)
Assessment to differentiate between rude
communications and cyber bullying:

1- Kind of Threats
2- Frequency of Threat
3- Source of Threats
4- Nature of the Threats

The more frequent, the greater the threat, the mention

of more dangerous methods & the involvement of third
parties tends to increase the seriousness of the threat
Knowing the cyber bully may increase or decrease the
threat
 ASSESSMENT TREE
{PEAS PROGRAM}
Cyber Bully Incident Report
Complete report & collect evidence

Assessment

Domains Multiple Informants Methods

Family Factors Parents Interview
School Risk vs. Teachers Collateral info
Social Resiliency Students Assess. Forms
Administrators Standardized Instr.
(SAVRY)

Dispositions

Contacts Disciplinary Therapeutic

Parents Detention PEAS Program
Administration Suspension Family Support Ctr.
Police Expulsion Outside Counseling
Arrest Residential Treatment

Ongoing Prevention
 CYBER BULLYING ASSESSMENT
{PEAS PROGRAM}
ASSESSMENT:

Interview & Evidence Gathering

Collateral Information/Evidence Collection
Cyber Bully Assessments
Student Form
School Counselor Form
Standardized Instruments {SAVRY}

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR DISPOSITION:

Disciplinary Therapeutic
Detention Outside Counseling
Suspension PEAS Program:
Expulsion Psychological Educational Social School
Response
 PEAS PROGRAM
Psychological-Educational-And-
Social
P-PSYCHOLOGICAL:
1. Outside Counseling Referral

2. Family Support Center Referral

3. In-School Counseling

4. Anger Management group

5. Peer Mediation & Conflict Resolution
{cyber bullies}

6. Apology & Impact Statement

7. On-Line Safe Box

 PEAS PROGRAM
Psychological-Educational-And-
Social
E-EDUCATIONAL:
1. CURRICULUM INFUSION

ELA Assignments-
Movie Documentary
Book/Movie Review/Report
Poem/Short Story/Song
Writing a play/paper
Watch Movie Inbox and discuss impact/develop program
Social Studies
Review of People in History who were bullied
Mock trial regarding injustices/victimization
Technology
Use/Misuses
Safety Review
Develop Positive Websites
Art
Anti-Cyber bullying posters

Cyber Bullying Curriculum (Nancy Willard)

 PEAS PROGRAM
Psychological-Educational-And-
Social
E-EDUCATIONAL: Continued
2. PEER MATCHING:
Higher/lower grade reading, tutor
Higher/lower grade play production
Higher/lower grade cyber bully {recovered/charged}
Pen Pals
Extracurricular Activities (match cyber bullyer/ee)

3. SCHOOL ASSEMBLIES:
High school student small group discussion
on impact/consequences of cyber bullying/being cyber bullied

Lawyer to discuss possible legal consequences/

Former student, possibly at the high school, involved in cyber

bullying, and/or legally charged for cyber bullying

Current Teacher/Administrator/Parent involved in cyber

bullying
 PEAS PROGRAM
Psychological-Educational-And-
Social
E-EDUCATIONAL: Continued

4. DEVELOPMENT OF PUBLIC SERVICE

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

5. PARENT EDUCATION:
Uses/Misuses of Technology
Supervision Strategies

6. SCHOOL STAFF IN-SERVICES:

Types
Assessment
Responses
Program Evaluation
 PEAS PROGRAM
Psychological-Educational-And-
Social
S-SOCIAL:
1. EXTRACURRICULAR/PROJECTS:
Intramural/Projects between Classes Beyond Sports
Homework Completion & Pizza Party
Fundraising & Award/Rewards
School Socials
Plays on Topic
Art contest
School/Community Newspaper article
Visit to Foster care/geriatric settings
2. DRESS POLICY:
Dress Code - Decrease Comparisons & Possibility of Deviant
Dress
3. PEER MATCHING:
Higher/lower grade reading, tutor
Higher/lower grade play production
Higher/lower grade cyber bully {recovered/charged}
Pen Pals
Extracurricular Activities (match cyber bullyer/ee)
 CONCLUDING
THOUGHTS
A Need For:
A better understanding of what cyber bullying is
Addressing appropriate computer protocol and specifically cyber bullying via the schools
clearly defined and systematically implemented AUP so that schools can provide
intervention even in instances that occur outside of school
Clearer delineation of school responsibility in responding to incidents, especially of
school grounds
Clearer school policies and action plans; increased continuity in implementing school
responses
Increased assessment of incidents and those involved
Decision making regarding the cyber bully and the individual being cyber bullied based
on:
A decision tree protocol
Assessment process
Systematic, therapeutic responses, not isolated disciplinary reactions
Integration of educational, psycho-social interventions
Inclusion of prevention measures that are comprehensive and systemic in approach
Communication among students, counselors, teachers, administrators, parents &
community
Individualized responses, with understanding that a wide degree of variation exists in
motivation
Change needs to come from all levels and grades:
Individual
Classroom
School culture
Victimization often occurs with both the person being cyber bullied and the cyber bully
Important to not throw the baby out with the bathwater
Our children are not disposable!
THE END