Cyberbullying: its nature and impact in secondary school pupils

Abstract

Background: Cyberbullying describes bullying using mobile phones and the internet. Most previous studies have focused on the prevalence of text message and email bullying. Methods: Two surveys with pupils aged 11-16 years: (1) 92 pupils from 14 schools, supplemented by focus groups; (2) 533 pupils from 5 schools, to assess the generalisability of findings from the first study, and investigate relationships of cyberbullying to general internet use. Both studies differentiated cyberbullying inside and outside of school, and 7 media of cyberbullying. Results: Both studies found cyberbullying less frequent than traditional bullying, but appreciable, and reported more outside of school than inside. Phone call and text message bullying were most prevalent, with instant messaging bullying in the second study; their impact was perceived as comparable to traditional bullying. Mobile phone/video clip bullying, while rarer, was perceived to have more negative impact. Age and gender differences varied between the two studies. Study 1 found that most cyberbullying was done by one or a few students, usually from the same year group. It often just lasted about a week, but sometimes much longer. The second study found that being a cybervictim, but not a cyberbully, correlated with internet use; many cybervictims were traditional 'bully-victims'. Pupils recommended blocking/avoiding messages, and telling someone, as the best coping strategies; but many cybervictims had told nobody about it. Conclusions: Cyberbullying is an important new kind of bullying, with some different characteristics from traditional bullying. Much happens outside school. Implications for research and practical action are discussed.

Is Cyberbullying Worse than Traditional Bullying? Examining the Differential Roles of Medium, Publicity, and Anonymity for the Perceived Severity of Bullying

“…Smith et al (2008) asked 533 students aged 11-16 years to compare different forms of cyberbullying to traditional bullying and to state which one they perceive as worse. Picture and video clip bullying was perceived as worse than traditional bullying, while email, instant messaging, website, and chat room bullying were perceived as comparable to traditional bullying.…”

“…One of these definitions is based on the definition of traditional bullying, which is defined as an aggressive behavior that is repeatedly and intentionally carried out against a defenseless victim (Olweus, 1993). Thus, cyberbullying is defined as an aggressive behavior that is repeatedly and intentionally carried out against a defenseless victim using electronic forms of contact (e.g., cell phones, Internet; see Menesini, Nocentini, Palladino, Frisén, Berne, Ortega et al, in press;Smith, Mahdavi, Carvalho, Fisher, Russell, & Tippet, 2008). …”

Bullying in schoolchildren – its relationship to dental appearance and psychosocial implications: an update for GDPs

“…Recently, the concept of 'cyberbullying' has been documented. Smith and co-workers 23 reported the prevalence of cyberbullying at 14.1% within the UK; it usually takes the form of written messages or images, sent via mobile phones or instant messages.…”

Do Cyber Victimization and Traditional Victimization Form Separate Factors? Evidence from a Preliminary Study

“…In doing so, it is expected that cyber, physical, verbal, and relational victimization will emerge as separate constructs, by way of factor analysis [6]. Second, this study will establish the relative frequency of the different factors of victimization, with the expectation that electronic victimization will be less frequent than the other forms of victimization, replicating work by [2], [4], [17].…”