Right: Cyberbullying can take many forms and is extremely common among school students. A recent survey of teenaged students found that around one-third had suffered cyberbullying in one form or another.
Background information
Some definitionsCyber-bullying is a term used to refer to bullying behaviour conducted online through media such as email, newsgroups, bulletin boards, instant messaging, websites and online games.
Cyber-bullying behaviours encompass online postings, conversations or messages that are designed to harass, humiliate and intimidate the receiver. This may include threats, insults and teasing. Multimedia capacity extends the range of bullying material to videos and images (such as 'photoshopping' a victim's face onto pornographic images).
The potential audience for cyber-bullying activities is far larger than for its offline counterpart and the bullying may be more concrete than verbal harassment.
Cyber-stalking is a term used to refer to stalking activities conducted online utilising a range of tools and virtual environments. While the most commonly used methods of cyber-stalking are email and instant messages, the types of stalking activities engaged in range from threats, harm to reputation ('cyber-smearing'), damage to data or equipment to attempts to access confidential information and computer monitoring. Cyber-harassment, cyber-bullying and cyber-stalking
are terms that are often used interchangeably.
However, the term cyber-bullying tends to be used when talking about the harassment of children and the terms cyber-stalking or harassment used when talking about the harassment of adults.
Cyberbullies use methods such as:
texting derogatory messages on mobile phones, with students showing the message to others before sending it to the target;
sending threatening emails;
making negative comments on social networking sites;
forwarding a confidential email to all address book contacts;
ganging up and bombarding the person with 'flame' (defamatory) emails;
setting up web sites designed to malign the target.
Effects of cyber bullying
Being bullied can cause stress, feelings of intimidation and even physical injury. People who are bullied often feel that they are all alone and think there is nothing they can do to stop it. Ongoing bullying can lower a person's self-esteem and lead to feelings of sadness, depression, anger and confusion.
Associate Professor Michael Baigent, a psychiatrist and Clinical Advisor to the anti depression organisation, Beyond Blue says cyber bullying can be particularly hurtful and can lead to a serious mental health problem.
Professor Baigent has stated, 'The short term effects are very troublesome and can include anxiety symptoms, feelings of unhappiness and distress, physical symptoms and a desire to avoid going to school. If it goes on for a while, the person may well develop depression or an anxiety disorder. It can be very distressing because the person has a record of it [the bullying] that they can look at again and again and again.'
How common is cyber bullying and cyber crime?
The prevalence and incidence of cyber-crimes affecting individuals in Australia is largely unknown. To date, there has been no comprehensive population survey undertaken to provide reliable estimates across types of cyber-crimes.
Just over one-third of 13 to 16 year old Australian students surveyed reported being cyber-bullied
online. This is consistent with estimates of cyber bullying and harassment from two major surveys of adolescent internet users but three times higher than that reported in the Youth Internet Safety Survey. Despite the seemingly high prevalence of cyber-bullying and harassment reported by youth, the majority of youth (67%) report that bullying and harassment happen more frequently offline than online. Similarly, surveys of college students have found that between one in ten and one-third of students report at least one form of online harassment.
Victims of Cyber-Harassment
Children harassed and bullied online vary in their reactions to the behavior. More than one-third (38%) of 10 to 17 year olds harassed online report being distressed as a result of the harassment. Many victims of cyber-bullying experience sadness, anger, anxiety, and fear. Being a victim of online harassment may be an indicator of problems in the child's offline life. Youth victims of online harassment are more likely than other youth to exhibit major depressive-like symptoms, report more school problems such as detentions, suspensions, and unauthorised school absences, violent behaviours, substance use, social problems and victimisation in other contexts.
Youth involved in bullying offline (as victim or perpetrator) are two and a half times more likely to experience cyber-bullying online than other youth. Those who report being an aggressor as well as a target of Internet harassment face significant psychosocial challenges. Youth targeted for harassment were more likely to harass others online themselves.
Research comparing the experiences of victims stalked, on and offline suggests that medical, psychological, social and financial effects are commonly experienced by both victims of online and offline stalking, with the loss of family and friends more frequently reported with online stalking. In addition, the harm caused by cyber-smearing (for example, placing false information about an individual on the Internet) may be greater than harm caused offline due to the persistence of records online and the increased potential audience.