CYBERBULLYING

Cyber-bullying

Cyber-bullying

Introduction

Cyberbullying issues still are relatively new, and future court cases will further delineate educators' ability to regulate bullying or harassing cyberspeech. Insofar as so much legal uncertainty still exists on this topic, school systems must ensure that ongoing training of administrators and teachers is an important component of their professional development efforts.

As the Internet matures into a regular part of everyday life for many people, several issues related to the online environment continue to confound young people and their parents as well as those who educate or market to them. Young people who give out their personal information online are increasingly targeted for identity theft and child trafficking or abuse. Young people are also reporting cases of cyberbullying and invasions of privacy in increasing numbers. Teachers at the high school and university levels find themselves pressed to establish policies about the use of laptops and handheld devices in classrooms, as checking email and text messages or surfing the Web on these devices can lead young people to pay less attention in class and can be disruptive for other students. There are also legal issues on the horizon, such as the case of the prospective Harvard University students who hacked into Harvard's site to see if they had been granted admission, and the burgeoning number of lawsuits filed on behalf of the music industry to discourage illegal downloading. As mobile devices become more prevalent, however, young people will be able to multitask with ever greater efficiency, further securing the place of the Internet in their everyday lives.

Cyberbullying can take many forms. For example, a harassing message can be transmitted as a blog post, cell phone text message, or Web page comment. Similarly, bullying behavior can occur as mocking videos, pictures with denigrating captions, hurtful user-created cartoons or animations, and so on. The very tools that empower numerous legitimate uses also enable harassing behaviors.

Discussion

One of the biggest challenges facing educators who are trying to address cyberbullying issues is the difficulty of monitoring all of the various communication methods that are available to students and employees. Shutting down a Web page or blog is not a viable solution when individuals can easily repost offending material on an infinite variety of free Web site or blog hosts. Tracking down an anonymous e-mail could require a court order and still might result in failure. Even finding harassing or bullying content within the vast ocean of online material can be quite difficult; educators typically learn about hurtful messages from victims or other students and employees.

The ability of individuals to anonymously send or post material online is another challenge for educators. For example, if a student receives a harassing text message on her cell phone from an anonymous antagonist, it can be nearly impossible to track down the offender. Similarly, Internet service providers and online companies often provide individuals with the ability to either keep their identities secret or to create alternative, false identities. Cracking the veil of anonymity poses significant difficulties for educators attempting ...