Kimberly L. Mason, Ph.D. Cleveland State University kim.mason@csuohio June 29, 2005

1. Techno-Bullying:Intervention and Prevention Strategiesfor Managing Bullyingby the Use of Technology Kimberly L. Mason, Ph.D. Cleveland State University kim.mason@csuohio.edu June 29, 2005 American School Counselor Association Conference

2. Techno-Bullying Tragic story of Ryan Halligan

3. What is Techno-Bullying? • Bullying by mobile, wireless, and Internet technologies • Sending or posting harmful/cruel text messages or images • Power, Control, & Human Relationships • harass • degrade • inflict harm • inflict fear

4. Forms of Techno-Bullying • Flaming • Harassment • Cyberstalking • Denigration (put-downs) • Masquerade • Outing and Trickery • Exclusion

5. Prevalence of Techno-Bullying • 91% of 12 to 15 years old accessed the internet regularly (UCLA Center for Communication Policy, 2003) • Almost 99% of all teens ages 16 to 18 surveyed stated using the internet (UCLA Center for Communication Policy, 2003) • 50% of kids are alone online most of the time, and only 16% stated they talk to their parents about what they do online (Media Awareness Network, 2004). • Berson, Berson, and Ferron (2002), found 74% of girls ages 12 to 18 spent majority of their time online in chat rooms or sending instant messages and email

6. Prevalence of Techno-Bullying (cont) • One in every seventeen kids reported being threatened/harassed while using Internet (U.S. Department of Justice, 2001) • i-SAFE America found 57% of 4th-8th graders were bullied online (MarketWire, 2004) • 25% students received material that said hateful things about another person (Snider & Bordel, 2004 ) • 30% of 9 and 10 year olds, and over 70% of 15-17 year olds, visit chat rooms (Media Awareness Network, 2004) • More than 45% of young Canadians use instant messaging (Media Awareness Network, 2004)

7. Why This Form? • Two Factors to consider: • Environmental • Motivational

8. Why This Form? (Environmental) • Disinhibition • You don’t know me • dissociative anonymity • experimentation with multiple identities • You can’t see me • illusion of invisibility • moral values and social expectations • reduction of social and contextual cues and tangible feedback • different social expectations for different online environments

9. Why This Form? (Environmental) • It’s just a game • underdeveloped empathy skills • lack of impulse control • underdeveloped an internal behavior control mechanism • ineffective problem solving skills

10. Why This Form? (Motivational) • 4 Types of Technobullies • Vengeful Angel • see as righting wrongs • becomes a bully • works alone • involved in protecting friend/others • Power-Hungry or Revenge of the Nerd • power and control • usually needs an audience • needs the reaction • typically the victim of offline bullying • one-to-one • keeps a secret

11. Why This Form? (Motivational) • 4 Types of Technobullies (cont) • The Mean Girls • bored or to entertain • ego-based • most immature • done in group or planned • requires an audience • The Inadvertent Technobully • does not think he/she is a bully • not intentional • because I can • acts out role-playing • usually done alone or when accused

12. What’s the Impact? • Low self-esteem • Depression • Anxiety • Anger • School failure • School avoidance • School violence • Suicide

13. Ways Kids Technobully • E-mail • electronic mail • transmission of messages over communication networks • not realtime • broadcast a message/document to everyone in the group at once • 2 Types • flame mail • hate mail • Phishing - deceptive e-mails • Spoofing - when your e-mail isn't your e-mail

14. Ways Kids Technobully • Chat Rooms/Bash Boards • Internet Relay Chat (IRC) • live, real-time conversations with as many people at the same time • conversation with a group • stored in temporary memory • online bulletin board • write anonymously • write anything

15. Ways Kids Technobully • Instant Messaging • combines the live nature of chat rooms with the personalized contact of e-mail • instant message exchanges messages in realtime between two people • stored in temporary memory • buddy Lists • steal passwords and assume identity • AOL's Instant Messenger (AIM), ICQ, Microsoft's MSN Messenger, Window Messenger, and Yahoo! Messenger, Trillian

16. Ways Kids Technobully • IM Lingo • Acronyms • abbreviations, symbols, and acronyms • BTW = By the way • BRB = Be right back • AFK = Away from keyboard • BBL = Be back later • >LOL> Laughing out loud • <BFN> Bye for now

17. Ways Kids Technobully • IM Emoticons • (emotion + icon) • express the emotion behind a word , phase or sentence ;) :*( :P

18. Ways Kids Technobully • Small Text Messages • short text messages (SMS) sent and transmitted from a cell phone • use abbreviations and symbols • 140-160 characters • challenging for adults to monitor

19. Ways Kids Technobully • Small Text Messages (cont) f U do not undRstNd DIS sNteNc U nEd 2 Lern txt lingo rofl lmao • Teenangels Chat Translator

20. Ways Kids Technobully • Digital Cell Phones • camera enabled cell phones • nude and degrading pictures of other kids • distributed throughout the school by email • placed on a Web site to mock and humiliate

21. Ways Kids Technobully • Web Sites/Blogs • location on WWW • blogs – online journals • mock, torment, and harass others • post other kids personal information and pictures • “RSS" stands for "really simple syndication” • Blurty.com, Bloglines.com, Xanga.com, LiveJournal.com, DeadJournal.com, Diaryland.com, Newsisfree.com, StudentCenter.org, Bolt.com, HotorNot.com, Alloy.com, eCrush.com

22. Ways Kids Technobully • Voting/Polling Booths • allows users to vote online • Who’s Hot? Who’s Not? • the fattiest, ugliest, dirtiest, etc.. boy or girl at school • www.freevote.com

23. What Can Be Done? • Recognize the signs • spending a lot of time on the computer • a reluctance to use the computer or go to school • having trouble sleeping or having nightmares • crying without reason • mood swings • not feeling well • becoming anti-social • falling behind in school work

24. What Can Be Done? • Tell an adult you know and trust • Don't reply to messages • Do not erase or delete messages • Make of copy – SAVE EVERYTHING • Disable old address, names, passwords • Develop a new ones

25. What Can Be Done? (cont) • Send warnings that it is an offense to use the mobile phone in a harassing way • If the bully is a student at your child’s school, meet with school officials and ask for assistance in resolving the situation. • Enable “Block”, Ignore”, “Ban” feature • Inform your Internet Service Provider (ISP) or cell phone/pager service provider (MSP) • Inform your local police • CyberLawEnforcement.org

26. Who Can Help? • Home, School, Peer, and Community Involvement • Awareness • Education • Teach • empathy skills • kindness • respect • decision-making skills • problem-solving skills

27. What Can Parents Do? • Get involved and be aware • Listen • Learn everything about the Internet and what your kids are doing online • Encourage your kids to come to you if they are victims of techno-bullying • Encourage your child to develop his or her own moral code • Emphasize your expectation that he or she do what is right in accord with your family’s values • Negotiate an online agreement with your kids

28. What Can Parents Do? (cont) • “Google” your child • Watch out for signs that your child is being technobullied • Report any incident • Involve all parties • Install Monitoring/Filtering Programs • SpectorSoft • eBlaster • NetNanny • SpyAgent • SoftProbe • ActivityLogger

29. What Can Schools Do? • Conduct an audit of its technology uses and needs • Integrate curriculum-based anti-bullying programs into classrooms • Make sure all school faculty and staff, students, parents, and the community are educated • Change the bullying policy • Update computer Acceptable Use Policy • Parents and students sign it

30. What Can Schools Do? (cont) • Offer counseling services to the victims, bullies, and their families • Establish Anonymous reporting boxes • Provide warning to cyberbullies and their parents of possible negative consequences. • Ask students for their input or suggestions • Be attentive to free speech standards

31. What Can Kids Do? • Seven Rules of Dealing with Bullies • don’t respond or engage • keep all abusive emails, instant messages, etc. • understand technobullying • get help • become alert to provocation • become an observer • prepare to take action/take a stand with peers

32. What Can Kids Do? (cont) • Never give out password, PIN, or personal information • Only communicate with people you trust (buddy list) • Never accept a file or download from someone you do not know/trust • Choose a screen name that does not give personal information • Don’t configure IM for automatic logon • Don’t post screen name

33. What Can Kids Do? (cont) • Use Netiquette • Use hard to guess passwords • Think B4U click • Take five • Google themselves

34. What Can the Community Do? • Businesses • Community agencies • Mental health professionals • Neighborhood • Church

35. Legislature Support • Rep. Jimmy Stewart, a Republican from Athens, OH • Sponsor of a bill that would require Ohio schools to develop anti-bullying policies. • He states, “ I would be willing to consider a provision that deals with technobullying. He's skeptical about how effective it would be. • “In the end, a policy is effective only if teachers, parents and students are aware of it.”

36. Techno-Bullying It is everyone’s business and the best response to combat it is a pro-active or preventive one from school administrators, teachers, counselors, students, parents, and the community.

37. Questions?