Julia Wilkins, Ph.D., Plamen Miltenoff, MLIS, St. Cloud State University, MN

1. The Nature of Cyberbullying: The Current State of Knowledge Julia Wilkins, Ph.D., Plamen Miltenoff, MLIS, St. Cloud State University, MN

2. Definition Cyberbullyinginvolves the use of information and communication technologies such as e-mail, cell phone and pager text messages, instant messaging, defamatory personal Web sites, and defamatory online personal polling Web sites, to support deliberate, repeated, and hostile behaviour by an individual or group that is intended to harm others (Belsey, 2005).

3. Types of Cyberbullying The Anti-Bullying Alliance from Goldsmiths College, University of London, identified seven categories of cyberbullying: • Text message bullying:sending unwelcome texts that are threatening or cause discomfort. • Picture/video clip bullying via cell phone cameras:images are usually sent to other people and are intended to make victims feel threatened or embarrassed. “Happy slapping” involves filming and sharing physical attacks. • Phone call bullying via cell phone:making silent calls or leaving abusive messages. Sometimes the victim’s phone is stolen and used to harass others. • E-mail bullying:threatening messages are sent via e-mail, often using a pseudonym or someone else’s name. • Chat-room bullying:sending menacing or upsetting responses to someone in an online chat room. • Bullying through Instant Messaging (IM):sending unpleasant messages as people conduct real-time conversations online. • Bullying via websites includes:the use of defamatory web logs (blogs), personal websites, online personal polling sites, and social networking sites (ex. MySpace.com).

4. Research at St. Cloud State University • Focus group interviews (8-10 students) will be conducted with students in one middle and one high school in St. Cloud, MN. • Discussion questions will be drawn from current literature on cyberbullying. • Findings from focus group discussions will be used to formulate questions for survey. • Surveys will be administered to middle and high school students across Minnesota, targeting a random sample of at least 500 middle and high school students.

5. Guiding Questions 1. What is currently known about bullying via electronic media? 2. What research problems need to be addressed in the coming years? 3. How can we use this information to develop solutions to the problem?

6. Use of Communication Technology • In Canada, 99% of teens use the Internet regularly (Mitchell, 2004). • In the U.S., 87% of 12-17 year olds (21 million) are online (Pew American Life Project, 2005). • The number of 12-17 year olds who used the Internet daily in the U.S. rose from approximately 7 million in 2000 to 11 million in 2005. • In 2004, 97% of 12–16 year olds in the U.K. owned a mobile phone (NCH/Tesco Mobile, 2005). • In Australia, 73% of 16 year olds have their own cell phones and 80% of 15 to 17 year olds use SMS (text messaging) daily (Shariff & Hoff, 2007).

7. Electronic Technology • Uses of communication technologies are rapidly changing. • Digital divide between youth and adults is expanding. • Young people age 18-28 are significantly more likely than older users to send and receive instant messages, play online games, create blogs, download music, and search for information. • The variety of technologies that teens use to support their communication, research, and entertainment desires has grown (ex. storage devices such as flash drives, iPods with video, mobile phones that send and receive text, picture and video messages, mobile phones with web browsing and e-mail capabilities, social networking websites). • These media represent a new arena for communication, including the sending and receiving of aggressive and harmful content.

8. Electronic Activities and Cyberbullying(Pew Internet & American Life Project, 2006) • More than half (55%) of all online American youth ages 12-17 use online social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace. • 48% of teens visit social networking websites daily. • 39% of social network users have been cyberbullied in someway, compared with 22% of online teens who do not use social networks. • The most commonly experienced form of online bullying was having someone take a private email, instant message (IM), or text message and forwarding it on to someone else or posting the communication publicly.

9. Context of Cyberbullying • Research indicates that the farther removed individuals are from the negative effects of their actions, the more likely they are to be able to commit them without experiencing guilt or conflict over their conduct. • Interacting online enables individuals to be both physically detached from their actions and anonymous to others. • Cyberbullying victims frequently do not know the identity of their perpetrators. • Cyberbullies can minimize their role in causing harm -referred to by Bandura (1999) as “displaced responsibility.”

10. Previous Research (U.K. and Australia) U.K.: National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) and “Sugar” Magazine (2005) administered survey in magazine for teenage girls. • Respondents: 992 girls, average age 15. Findings: Nearly half had received nasty or threatening text messages or e-mails. Australia: National Coalition Against Bullying and “Girlfriend” magazine (2004) administered survey in magazine for teenage girls. • Respondents: 13,300 female adolescents. Findings: 42% had been “harassed, intimidated or denigrated” online or via cell phone text messaging.

11. Gender of Cyberbullying Perpetrators • Li (2006) • Random sample of students in 3 schools • 264 respondents, grades 7-9 • NSPCC and “Sugar” Magazine (2005) • Administered survey in magazine • 992 female respondents, average age 15 • The National Children’s Home (NCH) (2005) • Survey of 770 individuals aged 11-19 • Ybarra and Mitchell (2004) • Interviews via phone • 1,500 respondents aged 9-17

12. Previous Research Patchin & Hinduja (2006) Online Survey 384 respondents under age 18 Sample 85% female • Sample • U.S. 59.1%; Canada 12.0%; U.K. 9.1% • Australia 6.0%; 13.8% other or unknown national groups Types of Cyberbullying Responses

13. Previous Research (U.S.) Ybarra and Mitchell (2004) identified households across the U.S. that contained a child of 9 to 17 years of age. A subset of about 1,500 youth was interviewed about online bullying. Findings: • Approximately 20% of young computer users experienced either bullying or victimization online. • Online victims and bullies claimed lower levels of parental monitoring of online behavior than those who were not bullies or victims. • Online bullies reported more frequent internet use than other children. • Online bullies and those who were both victims and bullies rated themselves as expert or nearly expert in internet use compared to those who were only victims. • About one in three 9-17-year olds who experienced cyberbullying reported some level of distress from it (“threatened or embarrassed”).

14. Previous Research (U.K.) Smith, Mahdavi, Carvalho & Tippett (2005) administered questionnaire to students in 14 schools in London. Sample: • 92 students aged 11-16 years. Findings: • Phone calls, text messages and e-mail were the most common forms of cyberbullying. • Chat room bullying was the least common. • Picture/video clips and phone calls were perceived to have more impact on the victim than traditional forms of bullying. • Chat room, instant messaging and e-mail bullying were believed to have less of an impact than traditional forms of bullying. • Approximately one-third of victims did not tell anyone about the cyberbullying.

15. Previous Research (U.K.) • The National Children’s Home (2005) surveyed 770 young people aged 11-19 about their experiences of cyberbullying. Findings: • 20% had been cyberbullied. • 10% reported being photographed by a cell phone camera and feeling threatened, and of these, 17% reported they felt that the image had been sent to someone else. • 26% did not know the identity of the person who cyberbullied them. • 28% did not tell anyone about the cyberbullying.

16. Young People’s Experiences of Cyberbullying • Pew Internet & American Life Project (2006) • Phone survey of 935 teenagers • Patchin & Hinduja (2006) • Online survey • 384 respondents under age 18 • Ybarra & Mitchell (2004) • Interviews via phone • 1,500 respondents aged 9-17 • Smith, Mahdavi, Carvalho & Tippett • (2005) • Questionnaire administered in 14 schools • 92 participants aged 11-16 years • The National Children’s Home (2005) • Survey of 770 individuals aged 11-19

17. Types of Cyberbullying Experienced by Young People • Patchin & Hinduja (2006) • Online survey • 384 respondents under age 18 • The National Children’s Home (2005) • Survey of 770 individuals aged 11-19

18. Distress(Ybarra and Mitchell, 2004) • Young people asked to send a picture online during an incident that they considered harassing, proved significantly more likely (19%) to experience emotional distress than were their peers (14%). • Harassing episodes that took place in chat rooms were significantly less likely to produce recollections of emotional distress (58% vs. 34%). • Youth whose most memorable harassment incident occurred with an adult were more likely (34%) to report distress (vs. 14% of others). • Those experiencing more than two incidents of cyberbullying per year were more likely to report distress (25% vs. 44%).

19. Accessible Help for Victims NCH/Tesco Mobile survey (2005) surveyed 770 youngsters aged 11 to 19 in the U.K. Findings: • A quarter of the respondents who had been cyberbullied said that knowing how to get hold of an expert at dealing with cyberbullying would have made a difference. • 15% claimed that it helped to know there was a staff member at school dedicated to stopping bullying. • 13% said that knowing of a website with advice and tips would have helped them.

20. Solutions • School staff, parents and young people need to work together to prevent cyberbullying. • Parents should be kept informed so that the same standards are applied in and out of school and so that they can effectively monitor their child’s electronic communications. • Young people themselves should be involved in developing new anti-bullying strategies. • Schools should include cyberbullying in their anti-bullying policies. • All electronic communications used at school should be monitored. • Teachers must be trained in how to deal with cyberbullying in school. • The curriculum should teach students about the harm caused by cyberbullying. • Teachers should teach students about the risks and consequences of improper technology use – including the legal implications.

21. Cyberbullying Team Julia Wilkins, Ph.D. obtained her doctorate in Educational Psychology from the State University of New York at Buffalo. She holds two master’s degrees: Gender & Social Policy and Special Education. She was a special education teacher for 8 years in Buffalo, NY, public schools before moving to St. Cloud, MN, to take a faculty position in the special education department of St. Cloud State University. e-mail: jwilkins@stcloudstate.edu Plamen Miltenoff, MLIS works as an information specialist at Learning Resources & Technology Services of St. Cloud State University in St. Cloud, MN. His professional interests include new technologies, Web development and multimedia, interactive and Web development in education. Plamen Miltenoff is the liaison of the library (LR&TS) to the College of Education at SCSU. e-mail: pmiltenoff@stcloudstate.edu