Cyberbullying: What's the problem?

Abstract

Cyberbullying has been a difficult problem for policy makers and observers to define. For some, cyberbullying is understood as a public health problem, while others view it largely as an education issue, and still others see it as a justice problem. In Canada, while the definition of cyberbullying continues to evolve, a nascent approach assumes that it is similar to traditional face‐to‐face bullying with computer‐mediated communication as a new element. This definition is at odds with recent research on cyberbullying, which may have significant implications for policy makers seeking to design effective interventions.

Cybervictimization among preadolescents in a community-based sample in Canada: Prevalence and predictors

“…Social media and cell phones could be accessed anywhere, which allows for cyberbullying to go beyond the school environment. 5 …”

“…3,4 In Canada, cyberbullying recently became a priority on the policy agenda following the suicides of two teenagers. 5 These highly publicized cases of cyberbullying have attracted extensive media attention both nationally and globally. Given these serious consequences for cybervictimization of youths, understanding the etiology of cybervictimization by identifying its important predictors is essential to help schools develop prevention and intervention strategies for reducing cyberbullying and victimization.…”

“…Examination of cybervictimization before children transit to adolescence is warranted for an early identification and intervention given the rise in popularity of electronic devices in both schools and homes. 5 As Canada looks to take a holistic approach in producing a national anti-bullying strategy, their efforts will benefit from understanding the risk and predictive factors for cybervictimization among preadolescents. The objectives of the current study are therefore to examine the individual and school contextual factors in association with cybervictimization and identify the characteristics of preadolescents with higher susceptibility to cybervictimization in a Canadian setting.…”

What Parents Can Do to Prevent Cyberbullying: Students’ and Educators’ Perspectives

“…Cyberbullying has been the predominant term used by Canadian (and other) researchers to refer to online behaviors that are offensive, derogatory, exclusionary, unwanted, and hurtful (Beran et al 2015;Cassidy et al 2013;Deschamps and McNutt 2016;Li 2010;Mishna et al 2014), and self-reports have been the primary means through which researchers have been able to learn about this problem (Beran et al 2015;Cassidy et al 2009;Li 2010;Mishna et al 2012). Specific operational definitions of cyberbullying vary and no universal tool for measuring cyberbullying prevalence has been adopted.…”

Cyberbullying among secondary school teachers by parents

“…The Internet offers benefits in terms of high-speed communication and information 152 recall but, for many people, it also brings limitless, unchecked, and uncontrolled usage. Due to this freedom of use, coupled with a lack of defined limits, new form of bullying occured which is called cyberbullying that involves use of e mails, cellphones, pagers, whatss up messages, short message services, Internet chatrooms, blogs, forums, social network web sites, and cameras [9], [10]. Compared to traditional bullying, cyberbullying has some characteristics that can intensify the effects of bullying.…”