Introduction
Cyberbullying has been defined as intentional, repeated harm inflicted through the use of computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices (Hinduja & Patchin, 2015). The intent of cyberbullying incidents is to threaten, harass, embarrass, or socially exclude individuals using online technology (Williams & Guerra, 2007). Cyberbullying can have serious negative effects on the emotional, social, and physical health of children and youth. Those who are cyberbullied may feel intense feelings of isolation, fear, loneliness, and despair, which may lead to acts of peer or self-harm (Prevnet, 2015).
Task
8. Is there a punishment for cyberbullying?
UNICEF:
Most schools take bullying seriously and will take action against it. If you are being cyberbullied by other students, report it to your school.
People who are victims of any form of violence, including bullying and cyberbullying, have a right to justice and to have the offender held accountable.
Laws against bullying, particularly on cyberbullying, are relatively new and still do not exist everywhere. This is why many countries rely on other relevant laws, such as ones against harassment, to punish cyberbullies.
In countries that have specific laws on cyberbullying, online behaviour that deliberately causes serious emotional distress is seen as criminal activity. In some of these countries, victims of cyberbullying can seek protection, prohibit communication from a specified person and restrict the use of electronic devices used by that person for cyberbullying, temporarily or permanently.
However, it is important to remember that punishment is not always the most effective way to change the behaviour of bullies. It is often better to focus on repairing the harm and mending the relationship.
Facebook/Instagram:
On Facebook, we have a set of Community Standards, and on Instagram, we have Community Guidelines that we ask our community to follow. If we find content that violates these policies, like in the case of bullying or harassment, we’ll remove it.
If you think content has been removed incorrectly, we also allow for appeals. On Instagram, you can appeal content or account removal through our Help Center. On Facebook, you can also go through the same process on the Help Center.
Twitter:
We strongly enforce our rules to ensure all people can participate in the public conversation freely and safely. These rules specifically cover a number of areas including topics such as:
Violence
Child sexual exploitation
Abuse/harassment
Hateful conduct
Suicide or self-harm
Sensitive media, including graphic violence and adult content
As part of these rules, we take a number of different enforcement actions when content is in violation. When we take enforcement actions, we may do so either on a specific piece of content (e.g., an individual Tweet or Direct Message) or on an account.
You can find more on our enforcement actions here.
https://www.unicef.org/end-violence/how-to-stop-cyberbullying
Process
We investigated cyberbullying in Swedish pupils, distribution processes of the bullying material, the role of actively targeted bystanders, and whether bullies feel more or less remorse when cyberbullying compared to bullying others via traditional means. Seven hundred fifty-nine children and adolescents (aged 9–16 years) participated. Cyberbullies not only targeted their victims, but quite often showed bullying material to other people they knew (39% of cases) and uploaded it onto the internet for others to see (16%). The actively targeted bystanders of cyberbullying mostly did nothing further to distribute the material (72% of cases). However, when they did distribute it further, they tended to help the victim by showing him/her what had been done (13%) more often than showing it to the victim in order to bully him/her further (6%); some others (9%) forwarded the material to other friends. Cyberbullies expressed less remorse than traditional bullies. Findings are discussed in relation to the definition of bullying, and the need for preventive strategies and for empathy raising awareness for cyberbullies.
Evaluation
Evaluation Questions
The purpose of this evaluation was to shed light on the potential relevance and performance of an electronic platform to prevent or intervene in cases of cyberbullying online among youth. The questions guiding this evaluation are listed below:
How does the STOPit application compare with other cyberbullying initiatives in terms of cost?
Potential Relevance: How relevant is the STOPit platform as a cyberbullying prevention/intervention platform in the context of Canadian schools?
Functionality: How do potential users perceive the functionality of the app?
Potential Performance: How effective could STOPit be in preventing or reducing the incidence of cyberbullying among school-aged children and youth?
Methods
In this evaluation, the STOPit platform’s potential relevance and performance were assessed using a series of focus group sessions among school-aged youth (12-17) and adult professionals. To provide added context to the evaluation, an environmental scan was conducted including a review of literature pertaining to cyberbullying prevention technologies and a comparative analysis of similar technologies and apps. Each of the initiatives found were assessed for country of origin, type of initiative, technological compatibility, cost, intended audience, type of intervention, anonymous features, and point of intervention (preventative or reactiveFootnote1 ).
Four (4) focus group sessions were conducted, involving a total of 29 participants (7-8 youth per session). The participating youth were divided into groups by age and gender (males 12-14; males 15-17; females 12-14; females 15-17). Participants were all Anglophone and resided in the National Capital Region of Canada (i.e., Ottawa or Gatineau).
To stimulate thinking and provide the participants with an opportunity to test the STOPit app, the evaluators designed and pre-tested a set of three scenarios, including scripts and videos.
Scenario 1: WhatsApp group conversation between a group of friends. The group is speaking negatively about another student at school and planning to physically harm him.
Scenario 2: iMessage conversation between two friends. One friend is exhibiting signs of depression and thoughts of self-harm.
Scenario 3: Instagram feed in which multiple students are shaming and bullying another student by posting explicit and hurtful comments on her pictures, uploading altered and embarrassing images, and threatening to share sensitive images.
All scenarios were fictional (created by the evaluation team), and the content was validated for realism by two school-aged youths. Each simulation (video) lasted 1:50 to 3:00 minutes. During and following each simulation scenario, participants were given an opportunity to use the STOPit report function to send in an incident report to the DOCUMENTit users. Participants were instructed to consider how they might use the app in an actual social situation. The scenarios stimulated participant engagement with the app and elicited test reports. In total, 29 “test” reports and 69 reports responding to simulated scenarios were submitted over the four sessions for a total of 98 reports. Reports were accompanied by reciprocal instant messaging between the DOCUMENTit users and focus group participants.
Four or five adult professionals (including a mix of educators, counselors, and social researchers) were recruited for each of the four focus group sessions. They were invited to test the DOCUMENTit software and interact with the students through the software, observe the youth focus groups, and provide feedback during their own focus group sessions that took place after the youths’. In total, there were 10 observers, some of which were present for more than one session. These professionals observed the youth focus group sessions and tested out the software in a separate viewing room with one-way mirrors.
https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/pblctns/2017-r017/index-en.aspx
Conclusion
Cyberbullying is a problem in societies that are advanced enough to have the technology to connect with other people online and is not easily fixable. Cyberbullying can affect anyone but is most prominent in today’s youth. If we can curve out this awful behavior early in their age, they are unlikely to continue down that path. Unfortunately this is not an easy task. This will require schools, and especially parents to be aware of the problem and act on it. Eliminating cyberbullying will take a combined effort and wont be eliminated over night. If the government is willing to accept that cyberbullying is a problem, laws can be put in place to help discourage this activity. Even still, parents and schools should eliminate and stop this behavior now, then laws shouldn’t be necessary. So schools and parents, be aware of what kids are doing on the internet and their phones, and act if they are doing something that they shouldn’t be.
https://pvillegroupddsa.wordpress.com/cyberbullying-conclusion/
Credits
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