Presentation Transcript

1. CyberBullying
2. What is Cyberbullying? Cyberbullying involves the use of information and communication technologies – websites, email, text messages, and others – to distribute deliberate, repeated, and hostile behavior toward an individual or group. (Keith & Martin, 2004).
3. Bullying Using Websites http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/bullying/cyber_bullying.html
4. Detective Constable Kevin McCart won't comment on David's case, but he says, in general, internet bullying is tough to investigate unless it crosses the line into death threats or other criminal offences."It's an unfortunate situation, but quite often are hands are tied," says McCart. "There's nothing supporting a criminal offence by which we can investigate and obtain records and identify the person responsible for setting up the site."As for schools, they often say their hands are tied, too. They usually want clear evidence the material is being sent from a school computer, and that can be hard to prove. All too often, students do their dirty work from home.
5. "Eventually the Knight family did get Yahoo to take down the website about David. But it wasn't easy. It took seven months of messaging, phone calls and, the family thinks, the threat of legal action before it was removed.
6. Megan Meier Died October 17, 2006 at age 13 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megan_meier
7. DIFFERENCES BULLYING DIRECT Occurs on school property Poor relationships with teachers Fear retribution Physical: Hitting, Punching & Shoving Verbal: Teasing, Name calling & Gossip Nonverbal: Use of gestures & Exclusion www.stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov CYBERBULLYING ANONYMOUS, RANDOM Occurs off school property Good relationships with teachers Fear loss of technology privileges Further under the radar than bullying Emotional reactions cannot be determined {McKenna & Bargh, 2004; Ybarra & Mitchell, 2004} From ‘Demystifying and Deescalating Cyber Bullying’ by Barbara Trolley, Ph.D. CRC, Connie Hanel, M.S.E.d & Linda Shields, M.S.E.d. http://www.nyssca.org/CYBERBULLYING-pp-BT28th.ppt
8. iSafe Survey 58% of kids admit someone has said mean things to them online 53% of kids admit having said something mean things to another online 34% were threatened
9. CYBER BULLYING PREVALENCE 90% of middle school students had their feelings hurt online 65% between 8-14 have been involved directly or indirectly in a cyber bullying 50% had seen or heard of a bashing website 75% had visited a bashing website 40% had their password stolen and changed by a bully Only 15% of parent polled knew what cyber bullying was
10. CYBER BULLYING PREVALENCE Cyber bullying typically starts at about age 9 and ends at 14 After 14, it becomes cyber or sexual harassment Affects 65-85% of kids in the core group directly or indirectly through close friends (Aftab) http://www.aftab.com/
11. When Joanne had a row with a longtime friend last year, she had no idea it would spill into cyberspace. But what started as a spat at a teenage sleepover swiftly escalated into a three-month harangue of threatening e-mails and defacement of her weblog. "It was a non-stop nightmare," says Joanne, 14, a freshman at a private high school in Southern California. "I dreaded going on my computer."
12. "If I find you, I will beat you up," one message read. Frightened, Michael blocked their IM addresses but didn't tell his parents for two weeks. "It scared me," he recalls. "It was the first time I was bullied." At one Elementary School in Fairfax, Va. last year, sixth-grade students conducted an online poll to determine the ugliest classmate, school officials say.
13. "The person was pretending it was me, and using it to call people names," the 14-year-old Seattle student said. "I never found out who it was." In June 2003 a twelve-year-old Japanese girl killed her classmate because she was angry about messages that had been posted about her on the Internet.
14. What is the Impact of Cyberbullying? Legal consequences for school and families (slander, defamation, terroristic threats, sexual exploitation, etc.) Family Complications Very difficult to take back once it begins. Antithetical to the overall school mission
15. “Inadvertent” Role-play Responding May not realize it’s cyber bullying “Vengeful Angel” Righting wrongs Protecting themselves “Mean Girls” Bored; Entertainment Ego based; promote own social status Often do in a group Intimidate on and off line Need others to bully; if isolated, stop CYBER BULLY CATEGORIES “Power-Hungry” Want reaction Controlling with fear “Revenge of the Nerds” (“Subset of Power-Hungry”) Often Victims of school-yard bullies Throw ‘cyber-weight’ around Not school-yard bullies like Power-Hungry & Mean Girls {Parry Aftab. Esq., Executive Director, WiredSafety.org}
16. Bully Victim Conducive Environment
17. What Educators Can Do … Conduct a needs/threat assessment Review school policy Provide opportunities for professional development of school staff (and parents). Classroom guidance System of reporting (especially among peers) Work with authorities and ISP Counseling Anti-bullying programs
18. What Parents Can Do Keep computer in a place easy to monitor Use monitoring software and/or blocking/filtering Work with the school, authorities, and ISP Get tech literate Communicate with children about the issue Programmable cell phones Support the victims Don’t blame the victim Don’t freak out
19. What Kids Can Do …
20. Discipline & Legal Issues Is there a legal duty for schools to protect the safety and security of students while online? Yes! Schools have an obligation to protect students and/or employees from harassing, threatening, or bullying conduct.
21. Discipline & Legal Issues That said, as you will see, balancing this obligation with the concurrent obligation to respect students’ speech rights often makes this quite difficult Tinker Standard Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District, 1969 “Considered to be the high watermark of students’ First Amendment rights”
22. Discipline & Legal Issues Law Enforcement should be contacted if educator becomes aware of: Death threats or threats of other forms of violence to a person or property Excessive intimidation or extortion Threats or intimidation that involve any form of bias or discrimination Any evidence of sexual exploitation
23. A common scenario recently has been students creating false online profiles of administrators and teachers. Students posted parody on MySpace.com claiming the principal smoked pot, kept beer at school and liked having sex with students. Principal suspended students and sued family for damaging his reputation. What do you think?
24. Judge finds suspension of student for MySpace parody of school principal unconstitutional. “Hermitage School District violated the First Amendment free-speech rights of a student when it punished him for creating a parody profile of his principal on the MySpace.com website because the District failed to show that the profile - which was created off-campus - caused any disruption to the school day, a federal judge ruled late yesterday.”
25. A website is created about a teacher that indicated “Why She Should Die” and solicited contributions for a “hit man.”
26. Here the court found there was substantial disruption, because the teacher was so upset she had to take leave.
27. One student’s website depicted his assistant principal in a Viagra ad, as a cartoon character having sex, and as a participant in a Nazi book burning.
28. “Appalling and inappropriate,” the court conceded. But no disruption, no grounds for discipline.
29. A parent brings the principal a disturbing posting she has found online posted by a student. It reads: Philosophy So that’s the only way to solve arguments with all you $%&*heads out there. I just kill you! God I cant wait till I can kill you people. Feel no remorse. No shame. I don’t care if I live or die in the shootout, all I want to do is to kill and injure as many of you pricks as I can, especially a few people. Like (name of student).
30. Ben reports seeing Tony using his cell phone in the locker room taking pictures of students while they are changing for PE.
31. Sam, a high school student, has publicly acknowledged that he is gay. Jerry, another student, has created a profile that focuses on Sam. Jerry’s profile is entirely focused on condemning homosexuality. Sam and his parents have reported this site to the school and are demanding the school have the site taken down. Sam is now fearful when he comes to school as he has had some negative incidents that appear to be related to this site
32. “Substantial Disruption” is a high hurdle for schools. Whether or not you can impose formal discipline may end up being the least important question – Stopping the harm is the most important objective Schools can always educate. Schools should regulate with caution. Beef up your bullying policy to include cyberbullying.