Research Summary 2: Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying is “the use of information and communication technologies to support deliberate, repeated, and hostile behaviour by an individual or group, that is intended to harm others” (Belsey, in Butler et al, 2009, p. 1).

According to a Bill recently presented to the Queensland government, roughly one in ten Australian schoolchildren has been the victim of cyberbullying (Flegg, 2009). Cyberbullying has become a highly visible and worrying feature of the digital age, and one that receives a great deal of attention in the media, with high-profile cases making national news. A spate of cyberbullying-related suicides in recent years has heightened the profile of this worrying trend (Flegg, 2009, p. 1). While face-to-face bullying was once thought of and tolerated as a “normal part of childhood” (Campbell, 2005, p. 68), the rise of cyberbullying has invoked a greater public interest in this malignant use of information and communication technologies.

As often happens with the advent and adoption of new technologies, the Australian law system is struggling to keep pace with the ever-changing uses of information and communication technologies such as the internet, instant messaging, SMS, social networking sites and related technologies. At present Australia does not have any specifically anti-cyberbullying legislation, and only New South Wales has any legislation addressing face-to-face bullying. For victims who seek redress after a cyberbullying incident, cyberbullies must be prosecuted according to traditional legislation against crimes such as assault, stalking, threats, extortion, harassment and so on (Butler et al, p. 89). The Commonwealth Criminal Code Act 1995 also includes offences relating to the misuse of telecommunications, which may apply to cyberbullying. However, despite the likelihood of some of the above offences applying to individual cases of cyberbullying, no cyberbullying cases have yet made it to Australian courts, so we have no precedents on which to base a detailed discussion of how it will be handled by Australian law.

What is more worrying to the public than the illegality of cyberbullying, is the psychological damage it can inflict on its victim. Similarly to face-to-face bullying, cyberbullying can cause serious emotional distress to the bullied child, and by its very nature can be relentless. Whereas a child suffering from face-to-face bullying can physically escape their bully in their own home, the use of information and communication technologies to bully mean that the impact can be felt twenty-four hours a day (Butler et al, 2009, p. 2). There is literally no escaping a cyberbully. In addition to this, the Australian Institute of Criminology asserts that many victims appear to be reluctant to report cyberbullying to adults such as parents or teachers (AIC, 2010). This may be partly due to Australia’s “don’t dob” culture and partly due, in the school environment, to the victim’s perceived risk of being punished for using banned equipment such as mobile phones, and internet services such as YouTube, Facebook or MySpace.

The public and enduring nature of content shared on the internet is another reason why cyberbullying is being treated as more serious than traditional face-to-face-bullying. The ability to share bullying content with a very large audience brings with it a greater imbalance of power between bully and victim, and the range of information and communication technologies that a cyberbully may use makes it more difficult for authority figures such as teachers to compel the bully to stop. The large and public audience can exacerbate the effects of the cyberbullying, where the original bully is aided by bystanders who, although not the instigator, exacerbate the humiliation of the victim by viewing, forwarding, commenting on or replying to, and otherwise taking part in the use of ICTs in a manner which is insulting or hurtful to the victim. As an example of the way in which bystanders deepen the impact of cyberbullying, in a 2009 incident in Sydney, a young female victim of cyberbullying was approached by male strangers in Bondi Junction after slanderous statements about her sexual proclivities was posted on a public MySpace profile page (ABC News, 2009). Incidents such as this highlight the potential for ‘real-life’ danger to cyberbullying victims.

The public concern around cyberbullying stems from a general lack of knowledge about information and communication technologies, and an attendant reservation about allowing young people and children to access such technologies without sufficient supervision. While blocking websites and installing internet-censoring products such as Net Nanny can go some way to curtailing inappropriate use of the internet by children, cyberbullies, like face-to-face bullies, will find ways of circumventing technological blocks. The most effective weapon against cyberbullying, just like face-to-face bullying, is likely to still be sufficient adult supervision and open lines of communication with teenagers and children about ICTs, their use of them, and who to go to for help.

Cyber-bullying experts recommend that schools address cyberbullying with a similar strategy as has been applied to other social problems such as drink-driving, unsafe sexual practices and illegal drug use. This strategy involves a whole-school approach which includes the students, their parents, teachers and school administrators, as well as outside authorities such as the police. The strategy aims at crafting a social norm which looks down on cyberbullying and educates young people about the support networks available to them, to encourage victims to speak out (Bazelon, 2010). Such cyberbullying prevention programs should also seek to demystify ICTs and empower parents and teachers to speak with their children and monitor their online activities.

Cyberbullying has become a contentious contemporary issue, but if it is conceptualized as a social ill similar to other youth issues such as drug use, drink-driving or unsafe sexual practices, it can be addressed with similar community health education strategies. These include educating parents about the risks of information and communication technologies, creating a shared culture of disapproval of cruel online behaviours, opening up the lines of communication between young people and adult support networks, and specifically legislating against cyberbullying. With a concerted and shared approach, the prevalence of cyberbullying can be curtailed and ICTs can be harnessed in educational environments for their benefits, rather than mistrusted and restricted for their attendant risks.

Sources:

Bazelon, E., (February 8, 2010) “Could Anyone Have Saved Phoebe Prince?” Slate.com, Washington Post. Accessed at http://www.slate.com/id/2244057/pagenum/all

Butler, D., Kift, S., & Campbell, M. (2009) "Cyber Bullying In Schools and the Law:
Is There an Effective Means of Addressing the Power Imbalance?" eLaw Journal: Murdoch University Electronic Journal of Law, 16(1). Accessed at https://elaw.murdoch.edu.au/index.php/elawmurdoch/article/view/24/8

"Covert and Cyber Bullying: Research in Practice No. 9" (2010) Australian Institute of Criminology, Canberra. Accessed at http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/current%20series/rip/1-10/09.aspx

Lifeline Australia, http://www.lifeline.org.au/find_help/cyber_bullying

David Mark, "Elite school's horrific cyber-bullying case", May 8, 2009, http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/05/07/2563942.htm

Reach Out Teachers Network, http://teachers.reachoutpro.com.au/using-technology/supporting-young-people-to-be-safe-online/cyber-bullying.aspx