understanding cyberbullying

Towards a better understanding of Cyberbullying:

Why do people bully online? How common is it?

How can it effect the victims? What are some appropriate

responses?

Image: Adapted; Some rights reserved- Sigfrid Lundberg on Flickr

Manage Your Online Identity Very

Carefully

Source: fusion.ieSource: fusion.ie

Source: fusion.ie

Cyber Bullying

Cyber Bullying

Source: Barnados Ireland [barnadoes.ie]

What is the reality with Cyber Bullying?

Source: Media Smarts – Canada’s Centre for Digital and Media Literacy [mediasmarts.ca]

Source: Media Smarts – Canada’s Centre for Digital and Media Literacy [mediasmarts.ca]Source: Media Smarts – Canada’s Centre for Digital and Media Literacy [mediasmarts.ca]

One in four secondary school students said that they have bullied their peers online within the past year.

The survey of 3,000 Secondary School students and 1,900 primary pupils was carried out by Touch Cyber Wellness in 2013. [Link]

One in four secondary school students said that they have bullied their peers online within the past year.

One in three said they have been victims of cyber bullying.

The survey of 3,000 Secondary School students and 1,900 primary pupils was carried out by Touch Cyber Wellness in 2013. [Link]

Why do people cyberbully?

Boredom?

Source: Government of Canada, ‘Get Cyber Safe’ Website

Sense of power and status


‘Just a joke’

Everyone does it


Maybe they believe the victim

deserves it


Maybe they have been a victim


A sense of invincibility


Will not see the pain of the victim


Source: http://quib.ly/cyberbullying-guide

What are the consequences of cyber-bullying?

Shane KoyczanPoetBorn in 1976

Bullied as a childSilence is a Song: A Graphic Novel[Illustrated by Gareth Gaudin]

Troll

How can you prevent your actions from becoming ‘The Troll’?

Image: Still from ‘Troll’ by Shane Koyczan, Artwork by Gareth Gaudin [Link]

Empathise

Source: Huffington Post, September 2014 ‘10 Strategies for Stopping Cyberbullying’ [Link]

What are appropriate responses if you are a victim of cyberbullying?

1. Reach out to a trustworthy adult


Image: Adapted; Some rights reserved – Drew on Flickr

2. Disengage


3. Log off and Block Harassers


Image: Still from ‘Troll’ by Shane Koyczan, Artwork by Gareth Gaudin [Link]

4. Use Privacy Settings


Image: Adapted; Some rights reserved - Holly Victoria Norval on Flickr

5. Take Screen Shots


6. Step In To Stop It – Never Forward, Share or Passively Condone


7. Report It


Image: original source unknown.

8. Remember: You are Not to Blame


Image: Adapted; Some rights reserved – Cyberslayer on Flickr

9. Be a Friend


Source: http://quib.ly/cyberbullying-guide

Choices

More resources:http://www.scoop.it/t/online-citizenship

Context: this presentation comprises slides used in an assembly presentation first delivered in February 2015. The target audience was Year 9 (aged 13 and 14) but may well be used with other teenage audiences. I do not show the first slide included here; I start with the first image as the audience settles. I ask if anyone spots something unusual about it, and when the horns in the shadow are noted, I say that this will make sense later. The first section refers back to another assembly which I have delivered to many of the same students in Year 7 (aged 11 and 12) (http://www.slideshare.net/jamespenstone/digital-footprints-presentation). The early slides (safebook) are therefore a recap of common-sense advice about maintaining a positive online presence. I make it clear that social networks come and go with popularity /usage (the implied Facebook in the infographic may well not be one they use regularly). Then the scene is set to talk specifically about issues of cyberbullying, a separate but connected strand of digital citizenship education. Speech bubbles imply discussion time for the audience (share with someone next to you), followed by volunteered answers. There is one thought bubble for individual reflection of 30 seconds or so.Note: many videos which have been created on the topic of cyberbullying (including the ones used here) reference suicide as a potential outcome. I think it is important to give some context that this tragic outcome is actually rare and certainly not inevitable. It is important to address as a potential outcome, but there are many other outcomes which I think an audience should give a lot of consideration to especially as some of these are, by contrast, inevitable. So I do not dwell on the endings of some of the youtube clips shared here.Continued …

The most powerful video is the animated poem by Shane Koyzcan. Before playing, I emphasise that Shane uses the metaphor of ‘troll’ for cyberbullies, as opposed to the related but sometimes different use of the word online. It is worth allowing a few moments of quiet reflection immediately after it has played. I choose to draw out that (a) it is useful to hear the passion/anger/frustration of someone who has received bullying, as it makes us recognise the possible impact much more and (b) that no one person is actually the portrayed troll themselves but that their actions (intentional or otherwise) might take on the powerful metaphor. Hence the follow up question (which without this context seems a bit ambiguous). One of the best answers seems to me to be to empathise, referring back to earlier discussion on why it happens (one reason being that a bully is removed from the victim and can not see their impact).After some appropriate responses, the presentation ends with a positive statistic from the recent survey in Canadian schools (and one which contradicts the 90% statistic). I think this is a useful way to end, as well as referring back to the choices we make with our online behavior towards one another.This slideshow might be useful to others as a starting point for a presentation for assemblies / lessons on this theme. It is comprised of other people’s work and ideas which I have credited where possible. In the same spirit of sharing as those whose work I’ve borrowed, this presentation by James Penstone is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.

understanding cyberbullying

Education

media literacy mediasmarts

media smarts canadas

cyber safe websitesource

government of canada

cyber safe websitejust

cyber safe websitewill

victims of cyber bullying

touch cyber wellness