21st Century Harassment
Cyber Bullying
Bullying and harassment have always been “hot topics” among school administrators and personnel. While the State of Nebraska has addressed this issue by mandating school policies concerning bullying, one of the most troublesome issues facing students and educators alike in today’s digital society is cyber bullying.
Since much of cyber bullying takes place outside of the school, there is not always a clear line of distinction between whether this type of behavior falls under school jurisdiction or not. However, there are steps that can be taken to help students, parents, and educators understand the responsibilities related to this new type of “techno” harassment.
Provide Education and Awareness:
Most of us have a limited amount of knowledge on the topic of cyber bullying, but we underestimate the extent of our students’ involvement. Even if we become aware of the problem, we may not know how to stop it or help students deal with this type of bullying.
Parent education meetings, school newsletters, staff development, student forums, student/staff handbook policies, school and local newspapers, and school web sites need to provide the following information to students, staff, and parents:
Cyber Bulling Definition:
- Cyber bullying is often defined as using an electronic device (such as phone text, phone images, e-mail, instant messaging, or social networking) to send damaging or hurtful information about an individual with the intent to hurt a reputation or friendship with others.
Types of Cyber Bullying:
- Flaming – online fights using electronic messages with angry or vulgar language
- Harassment – repeatedly sending insulting messages
- Denigration – posting gossip or rumors about an individual or groups of individuals
- Impersonation – pretending to be someone else while online
- Outing – sharing secrets or embarrassing information about someone
- Cyber-stalking – repeated harassment that includes threats resulting in fear
- Dissing – using disrespectful language or tone to such an extent it is emotionally harmful
Appropriate Student Responses to Cyber Bullying:
- Tell the harassers to stop – send the perpetrators a private message or verbal warning to stop or remove the information from a website
- Ignore the harassment – although difficult to do, ignoring takes away the “thrill” from the ones who are bullying
- Have parents contact the parents of the bully – not a popular solution with adolescents, this strategy often works
- File a complaint with the website service – most social networks have provisions for filing a complaint if material is libelous or hurtful to others
- Tell a trusted adult at school – informing school personnel allows them to monitor any negative interaction happening on school grounds
- Contact the police or an attorney – not every case of cyber bullying is a legal violation, but any type of threat of violence should be reported to the authorities
- Help friends – if you know someone is a target of cyber bullying, don’t participate—be a friend instead
- Don’t react emotionally – react with dignity – getting even is not an appropriate response
Appropriate Adult Responses to Cyber Bullying:
- Recognize warning signs – sadness or anger after internet use, withdrawal from friends or activities, decline in grades, depressing, wanting to quit school, etc.
- Beware of legal liabilities – adults may be legally liable for the behavior of juveniles; parents have the responsibility to monitor the usage of electronic devices
- Have conversations about social responsibility – seriously discuss your child’s social responsibility and what it means at school, online, at home, and within the community
- Notify law enforcement if you suspect a law violation – if the violation occurs at school or through the use of school owned equipment, school personnel should notify the local authorities
Check out the following documents which outline a "cease and desist" contract and a threat assessment of cyber bullying techniques.
Electronic harassment and intimidation not only hurts students, it is detrimental to a school’s education climate. This type of behavior, when brought to the attention of the school administration, will not be tolerated.
