Cyberbullying Flies Under the Radar

When most people think of bullying they think of physical violence, verbal threats, or unwanted teasing. The Internet, e-mail, and instant messaging in the home are not necessarily liked to school, yet they affect school safety in a very real way. Wiseman (2007) eloquently describes how technology can lead to bullying at home as well as in school, and how bullying outside of school can affect students in school. Bullying through various modes of technology is called cyberbullying, and has become much more prevalent. Unfortunately, most administrators and parents are completely unaware when a child or adolescent is being cyberbullied. Wiseman (2007) lists the following statistics about cyberbulling and students (which were taken from wiredsafety.org):

• 90% of middle school students report feelings being hurt online
• 75% have accessed a Web site “bashing” a student
• 40% have had passwords stolen, and some of that 40% had e-mail or messages sent from their accounts by those who stole the password
• 15% of parents reported knowing how to define cyberbullying
  

Some students have taken photographs with cell phone cameras of other students changing clothes after PE or a sporting event, and then posted them online with disparaging comments. Text messaging has been used to deliver threats from one or more students to another student. Parents should speak to their children about cyberbullying, and monitor their technology use (including the Internet at home and cell phones). You may find out more about cyberbullying by reading Wiseman's article. The reference is:
Wiseman, R. (2007) How to fight the new bullies. Parade, February 25, p. 6-7.

It is clear that cyberbullying is a major problem, and it will only become larger with time. At the moment most cyberbullying is flying under the radar. It is important for educators and parents to become aware of this type of bullying, so they can intervene.