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2007/04 Are schools doing sufficient to discourage cyber bullying?
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2009/14: Is Australia doing sufficient to prevent cyber bullying of children and adolescents?<BR>

2009/14: Is Australia doing sufficient to prevent cyber bullying of children and adolescents?

What they said...
'Cyber-bullying is a problem but I don't really think there is any way that we could stop it'
A comment made by the best friend of a fourteen-year-old Victorian schoolgirl who killed herself after a cyber-bullying incident

'The Government is interested in fostering a safe online environment and helping develop responses to internet risks'
Senator Conroy, the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy

The issue at a glance
In May 2009 it was reported that two adolescent girls had been asked o leave one of Sydney's elite private schools because of cyber-bullying.
The girls were taken out of the school after they published material on the social networking website, My Space, containing personal and possibly defamatory information about their classmates. The postings included information on the other students' alleged sexual proclivities, drinking, drug use and relationships.
A parent of one the girls who had been victimised in this way said that her daughter was horrified when strange boys began approaching her in public because they had read these fraudulent and damaging posts about her.
In July, 2009, the media carried reports of the suicide of a 14-year-old Melbourne schoolgirl whose death followed an incident of cyber-bullying. The girl's mother was interviewed on radio and stated her belief that her daughter's suicide was linked to the bullying.
Incidents such as these have led some authorities to argue that Australia is not doing sufficient to address the problem of cyber-bullying, especially as it affects the young.
The federal government has defended itself against such accusations by pointing to the large amount of funding it has directed toward addressing cyber issues. It has also pointed to its use of extensive surveys and consultation with young people to help it develop more effective measures in this area.

Background
Some definitions
Cyber-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.

Internet information
On May 7, 2009, the ABC broadcast a report detailing the case of two female students at a Sydney private school who had been encouraged to leave the school after posting on the Internet insulting claims about the behaviour of some of their fellow students. The full text of this report can be found at http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/05/07/2563942.htm?site=sydney

On May 21, 2009, The Brisbane Times published a news report titled, 'Is cyber-bullying a crime?' The article details the various Australian laws that might be violated by cyber-bullying. The full text of the article can be found at http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/technology/biz-tech/is-cyberbullying-a-crime-20090615-c9gl.html

On July 23, 2009, the ABC broadcast a report detailing the circumstances surrounding the death of a 14-year-old Melbourne schoolgirl who had committed suicide shortly after receiving abusive Internet messages. The full text of this report can be found at http://abc.com.au/news/stories/2009/07/23/2633775.htm

On July 23, 2009, The Daily Telegraph published an opinion piece by Tracey Spicer, titled, 'Bullies' new cyber gateway to evil'. The comment outlines some of the forms cyber-bullying can take and suggests some means of countering it. It was prompted by the death of the Melbourne schoolgirl who had taken her life after being a victim of cyber-bullying. The full text of the article can be found at http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25823106-5007146,00.html

On July 23, 2009, The Western Advocate reported on the nature and extent of cyber-bullying in Bathurst. It also suggests ways of dealing with the problem. The report is titled, 'Experts can help you defeat cyber bullies'. The full text of the article can be found at http://www.westernadvocate.com.au/news/local/news/general/experts-can-help-you-defeat-cyber-bullies/1575800.aspx

Pandora are an Internet company which specialises in cyber security. On May 4, 2009, the Pandora blog carried a report detailing the manner in which the federal government will be using a youth advisory council to help it counter cyber-bullying. The full text of the article can be found at http://blog.pcpandora.com/2009/05/05/australian-gov%E2%80%99t-gets-cyberbullying-lesson-from-students/

Cyber Bully Alert is a United States Internet site giving information on cyber bullying and. suggesting ways of dealing with it. The site gives statistical data on the incidence of cyber-bullying and the extent to which it is reported. This information can be found at http://www.cyberbullyalert.com/blog/2008/08/cyber-bullying-statistics-that-may-shock-you/

Arguments suggesting that Australia is doing sufficient to prevent cyber bullying
1. Certain types of cyber bullying are an offence under the Crimes Act and other criminal provisions
Lawyer James Newman says the act of cyber bullying could result in criminal charges. Mr Newman has stated, 'There can be offences against the Commonwealth Crimes Act for things all the way from threats to kill down to simply harassment. If that harassment, threats to injure, threats to kill occur over telecommunications equipment, those students can be exposing themselves to criminal charges.'
There are some laws which cover the most aggressive forms of cyber-bullying. In cases where bullying involves a threat to kill or seriously injure a person, state-based criminal legislation can be used to lay criminal charges against bullies.
In addition, under the NSW Crimes Act it is a criminal offence to harass or intimidate a school student while the student is at school.
The Commonwealth Criminal Code sets out an offence of using a carriage service (such as a mobile phone service or the internet) in a way that is menacing, harassing or offensive. The maximum penalty for committing the offence is 3 years imprisonment.
Some state governments have specifically expanded the scope of the off-line harassment laws to cover online activities.
In Victoria, for example, the stalking provisions of the Crimes Act could extend to catch cyber-bullies who post information about a victim on the internet, intending the post to cause mental harm to the victim, or to cause the victim to fear for his or her safety.
Anti defamation laws may offer some redress to victims about whom false statements have been published online as may laws preventing harassment of individuals on the basis of race, region and sexual orientation.

2. All school's have anti-bullying policies, which include policies against cyber bullying and run education programs to curb cyber bullying
It is generally considered that the most effective weapons for combating cyber-bullying are education programs and a commitment by schools to implement and enforce anti bullying policies. Such education programs include continuing education of teachers and schools about changes in technology and the potential for technology to be used by cyber-bullies.
They also include educating students about cyber-bullying - why not to do it and how to deal with it; and educating parents about technology so they can understand what their kids are doing online and can talk to them about it.
The South Australian Education Department has released the following account of the action its schools have taken to protect students against cyber bullying:
'What schools are doing to protect children
Research shows schools are one of the safest environments for your child. Cyber bullying has been found to occur more often outside of school...
Most schools have clear guidelines about internet access, mobile phone use and student behaviour such as bullying...
Schools use filters to guard against students accessing inappropriate material. As filters are not 100% effective, schools can block additional sites if necessary...
Department of Education and Children's Services (DECS), Catholic Education South Australia and
Association of Independent Schools of SA are developing initiatives in their respective sectors.'

3. Schools offer counselling and other forms of support to students who have suffered cyber bullying
Schools offer counselling support to students encountering problems; this includes students who have been targeted by cyber bullies.
NSW Education Minister, Verity Firth, has said, 'Public schools deal with it in a very similar way to how private schools do. All school sectors deal with cyber-bullying as a serious offence, and as something that needs to be fixed. We have both disciplinary powers but we also use, as we do with all bullying, counselling powers as well.'
In Western Australia the following situation is meant to apply, 'Teachers need to become familiar with these technologies that students use so confidently, so that they can recognise the issues and raise them with their students.
The Curriculum Framework provides the context:Students recognise that everyone has the right to feel valued and be safe, and, in this regard, understand their rights and obligations and behave responsibly...
This outcome elaboration goes on to say students should 'respect the rights of others to equal access to resources and to a work and leisure environment which is non-threatening and free from harassment such as teasing, sarcasm or remarks that stereotype or denigrate others or their efforts.'
Among the standard supports usually given are the following:
Ensure the student is safe and arrange support, including the involvement of student wellbeing. Support from student wellbeing staff should be provided on an ongoing basis with the agreement of the student and parent/carer to assist the student to work through the effects of the cyber bullying and to help them develop and implement effective coping strategies.
Contact the student's parents to alert them to the issue, and ongoing concerns regarding the welfare of the student, and request a meeting to discuss the issue and how best to deal with it.
Reassure the student that the school is taking the incident seriously and that the reported bullying will be acted on.
Gather basic facts about the suspected cyber bullying and, if possible, identify the students involved.
Implement appropriate procedures to address the bullying using evidence-based responses such as restorative justice approaches to conflict resolution. These approaches seek to address bullying issues while providing support to both the victim and the bully. This approach to strengthen the school community and respect individuals. Examples of evidence-based approaches to address bullying are provided at Bullying. No Way!.
Bear in mind that advising students to completely disengage from their online activities is not always helpful as this can also isolate them from supportive friends.'
Beyond Blue's Internet site notes, 'If you are feeling very upset by it, it's also a good idea to consider counselling to make sure you're okay. You can talk to your school counsellor about it. It's important to do everything you can to put a stop to it because if the cyber bully is particularly nasty and persistent and a person lets it go on, in rare cases, it has lead to self-harm or suicide.'

4. The extent of cyber-bullying and the threat it poses have been exaggerated
It has been claimed that the media and other groups are overstating the extent and the impact of cyber-bullying. Larry Magid, in an opinion piece published on July 17, 2009, on SafeKids.Com, has stated, 'The first things you need to know about cyber-bullying are that it's not an epidemic and it's not killing our children. Yes, it's probably one of the more widespread youth risks on the Internet and yes there are some well publicized cases of cyber-bullying victims who have committed suicide, but let's look at this in context.
Bullying has always been a problem among adolescents and, sadly, so has suicide. In the few known cases of suicide after cyber bullying, there are other contributing factors. That's not to diminish the tragedy or suggest that the cyber-bullying didn't play a role but - as with all online youth risk, we need to look at what else was going on in the child's life. Even when a suicide or other tragic event doesn't occur, cyber-bullying is often accompanied by a pattern of offline bullying and sometimes there are other issues including long-term depression, problems at home, and self-esteem issues...
Partly because there is no single accepted definition of cyber-bullying, the extent of the problem is all over the map. I've seen some reports claim that up to 80 percent of online youth have experienced cyber-bullying, while two national studies have put the percentage closer to one-third. A UCLA study conducted in 2008 found that 41 percent of teens surveyed reported between one and three online bullying incidents over the course of a year.
A recent study by Cox Communications came up with lower numbers, finding that approximately 19 percent of teens say they've been cyber-bullied online or via text message and 10 percent say they've cyber-bullied someone else.'
Colin Jacobs, the vice-chair of Electronic Frontiers Australia, says research shows that bullying is more of a problem offline. Mr Jacobs has stated, 'Cyber bullying occurs alongside everyday offline bullying - which is probably still more of a problem - but nevertheless cyber bullying is quite common.'

5. The federal government is proposing a range of provisions which will reduce opportunities for cyber bullying
In May, 2009, the federal government announced it had established a Youth Advisory Group, consisting of young Australians, to advise it on cyber-bullying and other online issues.
The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy, stated that a group of 305 young Australians would be advising the Government on online issues such as cyber-bullying.
Senator Conroy stated, 'Young people are at the leading edge of online experience and can provide valuable advice on emerging problems such as cyber-bullying, invasions of privacy and illegal content.
The Youth Advisory Group is a unique opportunity for young people to contribute to policy development by advising the Government on cyber-safety concerns and solutions...
The National Broadband Network will herald a revolution in education, providing new opportunities for students, teachers and parents across the country. The Government is interested in fostering a safe online environment and helping develop responses to internet risks," Senator Conroy said.
A safe online environment helps develop digital confidence, increasing the opportunities for people to benefit from online services.'
The Rudd Government has stated that it recognises that there is no single solution to the problem of online risks and that a range of measures is required.
The Youth Advisory Group is one part of the Government's $125.8 million cyber-safety plan announced in May 2008, which includes a comprehensive range of measures such as: law enforcement, including 91 extra Australian Federal Police officers; education and information measures; resources such as help-lines and websites; ISP content filtering; consultative arrangements with industry and child protection bodies; and research to identify possible areas for further action.
In July, the Australian Communications and Media Authority launched a new Cybersmart Web site that offers resources for teachers, parents and students to address cyber safety issues.

Arguments suggesting that Australia is not doing sufficient to prevent cyber bullying
1. Many children suffer at the hands of cyber bullies
Critics claim that one indication that Australia is not doing sufficient to address cyber-bullying is the extent of the problem. Cyber bullying is said to be a very widespread problem that afflicts more young people than is popularly recognised.
Professor Donna Cross of Edith Cowan University has recently completed a landmark study on cyber bullying, commissioned by the Federal Government.
Twenty-thousand Australian school children were surveyed using a combination of anonymous questionnaires and interviews. According to the survey conducted by Professor Cross, about 10 per cent of young people reported they were being cyber bullied.
Studies in the United States indicate that cyber bullying is a significant problem there also. According to the United States National Crime Prevention Center, over 40% of all teenagers with Internet access have reported being bullied online during the past year. According to another recent United States study, 58% of 4th through 8th graders reported having mean or cruel things said to them online. 53% said that they have said mean or hurtful things to others while online. 42% of those studied said that they had been 'bullied online'.
Young people in Australia are increasingly using technology, with Australians known as early adopters and young people being labelled 'the digital generation'. In the United Kingdom, 75% of 7- to 16-year-olds have used the Internet with young people reporting that they integrate on- and off-line communication in order to sustain their social networks.
The National Children's Home (2002) study in Britain found that one in four children reported being bullied by mobile phone or on the Internet, while in an Australian study of 120 students in Year 8, over a quarter said they knew someone who had been bullied using technology,(2005). The figures were lowered (6%) when students were asked in England if they received threatening e-mail or text messages when at school (Rivers, 2003). Ybarra and Mitchell (2004) in the United States reported that 15% of their sample identified themselves as Internet bullies while 7% said they had been targeted on-line.

2. Child and adolescent victims of cyber bullying do not believe adults take this form of bullying seriously
Critics of the current level of action taken against cyber bullies and to protect their targets note that there is a wide-spread belief among young victims of cyber-bullies that the adults in their lives do not take the problem seriously. They also do not appear to believe that there is any effective action which can be taken to stop cyber-bullying.
The best friend of the fourteen-year-old Victorian high school student who recently killed herself, stated that some other students had begun teasing her friend about her appearance. She further stated that she and her friend believed that there was nothing that could be done about this sort of bullying. She claimed, 'Cyber-bullying is a problem but I don't really think there is any way that we could stop it.'
It has further been claimed that many parents and schools are not sufficiently proactive in addressing this problem and that this relative inactivity foster the belief among the targets of cyber-bullies that nothing either can or will be done to help them.
Research indicates that in the home, the location of the computer is an important issue that parents need to consider carefully. It has been urged that parents take back the power to control the technology, as they do other issues. It has also been stated that schools could assist in parent education to this end and encourage parents to talk to young people about the technology. In this way young people would be made aware that adults do know something about the technology and they can seek help from adults when they need to.

3. Many young people do not report cyber bullying
The United Stated National Crime Prevention Center study found that only 10% of those young people who were cyber bullied told their parents about the incident, and that a mere 18% of the cases were reported to a local or national law enforcement agency. A second American study found that of the 42% of those studied who said that they had been 'bullied online' almost 60% had never told their parents about the incident.
On Chris Webster's anti cyber bullying Internet site, the claim is made, 'A third of those who experience cyber bullying do not report it. If we are to succeed in preventing bullying, we need to break the climate of silence in which it thrives by empowering children and young people to speak out and seek help.'
Critics of the policies and practices currently adopted by governments and schools argue that if these policies and practices were working then the extent of reporting of cyber bullying would be far higher.
The Australian federal government has acknowledged there is a problem that has yet to be properly addressed. Federal Education Minister, Julia Gillard has stated that 'cyber bullying is cruel .. torturous and intimidating .. as the federal government releases two reports showing bullying by mobile phones and the internet is on the rise and under-reported.'
The research Ms Gillard referred to involved seven-thousand young people from 124 schools around the nation.
Ms Gillard indicated that many young people do not report incidents of cyber bullying ... The Australian Covert Bullying Prevalence Study says one in four students in Years 4 to 9
experience bullying every few weeks and that many of these bullying incidents go unreported.

4. Cyber bullying is particularly harmful because it is taking a wide and growing range of forms
Those who are concerned that Australian governments and schools are not doing enough to curb cyber bullying note that the problem is actually increasing. They observe that advances in technology are dramatically increasing the means that can be used to bully and intimidate.
Studies have shown that, of the technologies available, chat rooms are currently where the most cyber bullying occurs, with various sources finding anywhere between 45% - 57% of all incidents originating there.
Social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace are growing fast, and so are the cyber-bullying incidents originating from them. Experts believe that they will soon overtake chat rooms as the top source of cyber bullying problems worldwide.
Cell phone cameras and digital cameras are also a growing problem in the cyber-bullying world. A recent United States survey found that 10% of 770 young people surveyed were made to feel 'threatened, embarrassed or uncomfortable' by a photo taken of them using a cell-phone camera.
According to extensive research on middle school age students and teenagers online, the fastest growing problems within the world of cyber-bullying are stealing an individual's name and password to a social networking site, then using their profile to post rumors, gossip or other damaging information; altering photographs using PhotoShop or other photo editing software in order to humiliate the individual; recording conversations without the individual's knowledge or consent, then posting the call online; creating confrontational and mean-spirited online polls about the individual and posting them on different web sites; and using web sites and blogs to post hurtful, embarrassing information about another individual.
Queensland University of Technology cyber bullying expert, Dr Marilyn Campbell, says bullying is deeply embedded in our society and that the transition between the playground and technology use is seamless. According to Campbell, young people do not make a distinction between their online social life and offline social life.
Dr Campbell has said, 'We have a bullying culture which kids learn and they grow up with technology as a social medium, not just the communications that adults use it for. Even though there are good things about that, such as connecting with people, there's also a dark side.'

5. Cyber bullying is particularly harmful and difficult to contain because it is anonymous and invades the privacy of the target's home
It has been noted that one of the things that makes cyber bullying particularly insidious is that it often takes place anonymously within the privacy of the target's own home.
Caslon Analytics is an Internet site seeking to give information to the business community and broader society on the manner in which the law might regulate technology. The Caslon Analytics site states, 'Cyber bullying may ... take place 24/7, rather than being quarantined to a few horrendous hours in transit or in the playground. It can invade the target's personal space - for instance a bedroom - and what the target and associates perceive as personal space (for example, a profile on MySpace and other social network services or a blog on which the author allows comments).'
It is claimed that cyber bullying is particularly harmful because there is no place of refuge from it. As noted, it can invade areas like the target's home or bedroom which are usually seen as a place of refuge. It is also claimed that this form of bullying is harmful because it can be anonymous which makes it seem impossible for the target to take any action against the bully.
Sophie Reid, a child psychologist from the Royal Children's Hospital, believes cyber bullying is more toxic than playground bullying because it is often anonymous, allowing children to be more cruel.
Dr Reid has stated, 'The victim can't tell on the kid because they don't know who's actually doing the bullying so they feel very out of control. One of the things that leads to depression is that sense of feeling out of control.'
Dr Reid added, 'They (bullies) take photos of each other with mobile phones or videos that are ugly then they pop them on websites like Facebook. It's horrible. They can go to a revolting porn site and enter someone else's email address in there and that person receives spam from that website. Alternatively they might set up an email address with someone else's name in it with Gmail or Hotmail and then start sending revolting messages so it seems like they are the ones who are doing it.'
Similarly, Susan Limber, professor of psychology at Clemson University, said in an interview that appeared in a publication of the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools, 'a student willing to abuse technology can easily wield great power over his or her target just by having the ability to reach a large audience, and often by hiding his or her identity.'
Those who believe that Australian governments and schools have not done enough to deal with this problem stress both of the above aspects. They argue that action must be taken because the target, unaided, will have difficulty dealing with the problem. They also argue that action must be taken because cyber bullying has the capacity to seriously harm its victims.

Further implications
International research suggests that education is more effective than the threat of legal punishments in preventing cyber bullying.
A United States study, conducted by online safety expert and Educational Technology Policy, Research and Outreach Director, Dr. Davina Pruitt-Mentle, found that the number of students describing effective responses to cyber bullying scenarios increased by more than 43 percent after the schools that the students attended introduced an effective education program to counter cyber-bullying.
This increase in student knowledge of how to respond to cyber bullying appeared to be the result of anti cyber bullying programs.
The programs helped students understand that some of their actions - such as telling the cyber bully to stop - may serve to antagonise the cyber bully into continuing their behavior. Students were also taught that deleting the message can remove a source of evidence and a means to track the perpetrator.
Student recognition that they should tell a trusted adult when someone else was being cyber bullied went up 77 percent.
After the training programs, students also recognised the key elements of safe online behaviour, including not giving out personal information. They had been taught the dangers of revealing personal information through online communication.
In some places in the United States, this anti cyber bullying curriculum is taught to children in grades five and six during the school year by specially trained officers in classrooms throughout the country. Students are taught by these officers how to identify cyber bullying and the steps they can take to prevent and to combat it. Students learn to protect their privacy and reach out for help if they - or friends - become victims of cyber bullying. To date, approximately 3,200 officers have been trained to provide the instruction.
The changes in the behaviour and knowledge level of United States students would seem to indicate that such education programs teaching safe Internet behaviour can be highly effective.
It seems unlikely that specially trained officers need to be recruited in Australia to deliver these programs. However, it does seem probable that existing teachers within Australian schools may need specialised training to deliver this sort of program. Funds would then need to be given over to schools to ensure that the training program was effectively delivered in schools. As in the United States, it would also be necessary to regularly survey students to gauge whether students' knowledge and behaviour regarding cyber bullying had changed.
The Australian Government is including education and information measures in its $125.8 million cyber-safety plan announced in May 2008. It is to be hoped that this will include an effective school-based education campaign designed to teach young people who to combat cyber-bullying.

Newspaper items used to compile this issue outline
H/SUN, June 19, page 1, news item (photos - ref to website designed to allow people to post obscene comments about girls, young women and others, including teachers and police) by Healey and Murphy, `Shut him down' (see also pages 4-5 items on internet site designer Andrew Pallant's "cyberbullying" - see also page 38 editorial, `Deal with this bullying filth').
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25657365-661,00.html
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25656953-24218,00.html

AUST, July 23, page 13, editorial, `Keep talking to teens'.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25821652-25209,00.html

AUST, July 23, page 5, news item by Wilson and Lunn, `Silence the worst reaction in schools with cluster suicides'.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25822371-23289,00.html

H/SUN, July 22, page 24, editorial, `Protect our innocent kids'.
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25816766-24218,00.html

H/SUN, July 22, page 5, news item (photos) by Anthony Dowsley et al, `Bully drove my girl to death'.
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,,25817632-2862,00.html

AUST, July 22, page 3, news item (photo) by Wilson and Lunn, `Chanelle, 14, joins college's tragic suicide toll'.
http://wl.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25817515-5006785,00.html

AGE, July 26, page 7, news item by Jill Stark, `How parents can help keep their children safe' (with photos and related item, `Teens' view of cyber threats').
http://www.theage.com.au/national/how-parents-can-help-keep-their-children-safe-20090725-dww8.html
http://www.theage.com.au/national/teens-view-of-cyber-threats-20090725-dww9.html

AUST, July 25, page 5, news item (photos) by Chip Le Grand, `"Depression, not the web, killed Chanelle"'.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25832122-5006785,00.html

AGE, July 25, Insight section, page 6, analysis by Mary Anne Toy, `Looking for a way to talk about suicide'.
http://www.theage.com.au/national/looking-for-a-way-to-talk-about-suicide-20090724-dw8h.html

AUST, August 1, page 22, analysis by Lauren Wilson, `Dying to talk with someone' (no online link available)