Cyber Bullying
Cyber Bullying
“Bullying” is often defined as being an aggressive, intentional act or behavior that is carried out by a group or an individual repeatedly and over time against a victim who cannot easily defend him or herself (Whitney & Smith, 1993; Olweus, 1999). Bullying is a form of abuse that is based on an imbalance of power; it can be defined as the systematic abuse of power (Smith & Sharp, 1994; Rigby, 2002). According to a 2013 Pew Research study, eight out of ten teens who use social media now share more information about themselves than they have in the past. This includes their location, images, and contact information (Madden, M., Lenhart, A. Cortesi, S, Gasser, Duggan, Smith, Beaton, 2013).
To protect children, it is essential that personal information such as age, birthday, school/church, and phone number should be kept confidential. Cyber Bullying has emerged as a new form of criminal behavior that involves harassing a victim over a period through texting, emails, picture or video clips. The increase in the use of technology through apps, social media, and gaming has increased the avenues for which cyberbullying can occur. Facebook, Twitter, Myspace are some of the listed social media sites that teens use to communicate. A study from National Sun Yat-sen University observed that children who enjoyed violent video games were significantly more likely to both experiences and perpetrated cyberbullying ( Yang, 2013). Another common characteristic of cyberbullying is the invisibility of those doing the bullying: cyberbullying is not a face-to-face experience, and (like rumor-spreading) provides those doing the bullying with invisibility” and at times anonymity. Cyberbullying has become a problem in which many states have enacted legislation to combat the issue of cyber-bullying. Nevertheless, much of the legislation that was enacted at the state and local level did not come previous cyber-bullying legislation.
Many states have taken the initiative to enact their legislation to address the issue of cyber-
bullying. For example, Idaho House Bill provides 750 provide, “that no student shall
intentionally commit, or conspire to commit, an act of harassment, intimidation or bullying against another student. Provides that an act of harassment, intimidation or bullying may also be committed through the use of a landline, car phone or wireless telephone or through the use of data or computer software that is accessed through a computer, computer system or computer network. Provides that a student who personally violates any provision shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. Amends and adds to existing law to provide that superintendents and principals may temporarily suspend pupils for student harassment, intimidation or bullying.” (Sacco, Surbaugh, Corredor, Casey and Doherty, 2013).
The problem in most state legislation between 2006-2010 was the fact that some state legislation did not distinguish between cyber-bullying and bullying. Second, some legislation limited cyber-bullying to school system only. With technology in the 21st century, cyber-bullying does not have a parameter and cannot be limited to schools. In addition to technology, some legislation categorizes cyber-bullying to computer only. Nevertheless, teens have many methods to communicate.
Cyber-Bullying is evolving problem that is continuously evolving. Although there are no federal legislation to combat cyberbullying, states have taken the initiatives to combat the problem of cyberbullying. Nevertheless, states must improve their legislation to enhance the definition of cyber-bullying. Thus far, some states have not correctly defined the difference between cyber-bullying and bullying
References
Madden, M., Lenhart, A. Cortesi, S, Gasser, U. Duggan, M., Smith, A., Beaton, M. ( 2013).
Teens, Social Media, and Privacy. Pew Research Center of Internet & Technology.
Retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org/2013/05/21/teens-social-media-and-
privacy/
Sacco, D. Silbaugh, K. Corredor, F., Casey, J. and Doherty, D. (2012). An Overview of State
Anti-Bullying Legislation and Other Related Laws. Retrieved from: http://cyber.harvard.edu/sites/cyber.harvard.edu/files/State_Anti_bullying_Legislation_Overview_0.pdf
Yang, C. (2013). Paths to Bullying in Online Gaming: The Effects of Gender, Preference for
Playing Violent Games, Hostility, and Aggressive Behavior on Bullying. Journal of Education Computing Research. Vol 47, Issue 3, 2012, pp 235-249. https://doi.org/10.2190/EC.47.3.a
