© 2009 Charles D. Knutson Cyberbullying: Growing up on the Digital Playground Dr. Charles D. Knutson Brigham Young University

© 2009 Charles D. Knutson

Cyberbullying:Growing up on the Digital

Playground

Dr. Charles D. Knutson

Brigham Young University

www.charlesknutson.net


Victims

12 year-old girl from Virginia:

"Being bullied makes me feel really bad, and I often get depressed later at home. I would also plot revenge and privately express my 'hatred' towards the bully, but I doubt I would really do anything about it ... I don't usually go to adults to 'tattle' on people, even though I know it's not tattling, it's real."

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Victims

14 year-old girl from New Jersey:"Being bullied besides over the internet is worse. It's torment and hurts. They say 'sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.' That quote is a lie and I don't believe in it. Sticks and stones may cause nasty cuts and scars, but those cuts and scars will heal. Insultive words hurt and sometimes take forever to heal."

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Victims

12 year-old girl from Michigan: "The internet is not a place to harass others or

hurt them. The internet is supposed to be a place that is safe and fun for people, not a place to be criticized or harassed. I used to be bullied at school frequently and I was sometimes hurt so badly that I had to fake sick at school just so I could go home. One girl actually told me she would come and murder my parents and kill me personally. She made me cry so hard that I threw up. So, I know firsthand what its like to be bullied beyond your imagination."

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Victims

13 year-old girl from Virginia:"When I still had AOL, this one guy asked me how I looked and wanted to know about my body and stuff and I just flat out told him leave me alone!!! I would have reported him but AOL wouldn't even let me block him without parental permission so he bullied me and stuff online when ever I got on. I felt horrible. That was over four years ago and I still remember every thing he said to me. Every exact word. I felt awful. I hated it. I wanted to tell my parents but I was afraid that they would never let me chat again and I know that's how a lot of other kids feel. It is a bad feeling knowing that people that don't know you are judging you."

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Offenders

15 year-old boy from undisclosed location:

"Well the only reason I bullied is because the same person I was doing it to, did it to me like a week before. It wasn't the right thing to do but at the time it felt like I was getting revenge."

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Offenders

15 year-old girl from Canada:"Sometimes I get insulted for no reason because i said my mind so then I get into a fight and feel good when i convince the person/change their perspective/prove I'm right because it shows I have an impact on people. Once I got into a huge fight because these girls were bullying one of my friends and I tried to tell them to stop resulting in them insulting me very badly but me getting insulting them all the same. They made threats to beat her up, what else could I do? They printed out what I said but not what they said and showed the principal. I got in a lot of trouble but talked my way out of it telling the TRUTH (something THEY didn’t do) and got let off with a warning."

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First cyberbullying suicide

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Some statistics

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Some statistics

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Some statistics

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Some statistics

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Some statistics

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Some statistics

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Some statistics

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Some statistics

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Some statistics

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Some statistics

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Some statistics

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Cyberbullying

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CyberbullyingMinors harassing minors

Cyberstalking or CyberharassmentAdults involved

Use technology to harass or intimidate someone else

May involve any and every possible form of digital communication


Cyberbullying

Leave threatening messagesMultiple teens leaving tons of junk

messagesSend inappropriate materialPost private information about the

victim onlinePost false information about the

victim online

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Cyberbullying

Pose as victim and act obnoxiousSimilar identity

Make user name that sounds like the victim

Pose as the user via similar accountStolen identity

Actually steal account/password information

Use victim's accounts/phoneLock victim out of his or her own accounts

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Cyberbullying

Send damaging messages to other teens as if from the victimDamage the victim's reputation

Install spyware on victim's computerThen control or damage system

Warning warsNotify service provider that victim is

behaving inappropriatelyVictim temporarily denied access

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Cyberbullying

Get someone else to abuse the victim

Post personal information about victim onlineOthers use information against victim

Pose as person and entice a predator or other criminal to victim's house

Can be extremely dangerous

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Cyberbullying

Pose as victim, make slanderous, hateful, or bigoted comments in some communityPost screen names and personal cell

phone number of victimOffended community members take it

from there

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Cyberbullying - Prevention

ProtectMessaging account infoCell phone numberOther account information

Involve parents as soon as possible Involve authorities if needed

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Cyberbullying - Responses

Confront or challenge the cyberbullyMake it clear that action will be taken

Ignore the cyberbullyAvoid areas of contact

File a complaintAppropriate authority

Contact the parentsContact and attorneyContact law enforcement

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Adults can be bullied too

High stakes cyberbullyingScams and blackmail

Playground behavior at a larger levelTypically more capable of causing

damage

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Adults can be bullied too

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Cyberbullying lawsElizabeth Thrasher now has the dubious honor of being the first person charged with the felony of cyberbullying under a new Missouri state law.

Thrasher is accused of posting a photo of a teenage girl, along with personal information about her, in the "Casual Encounters" section of Craigslist.

Prosecutors in the case said that the 40-year-old Thrasher posted the girl's picture, e-mail address, and cell phone number on the site, which is geared toward people interested in quick sexual encounters. … The 17-year-old girl, who has not been named, reportedly received e-mails, text messages, and cell phone calls from strange men, forcing her to call the police.

The incident isn't random--the alleged victim is the daughter of Thrasher's ex-husband's girlfriend …

Thrasher and the teen's mother had been arguing, prompting the girl to send a MySpace message to Thrasher telling her to grow up. The situation then escalated when Thrasher created a listing for the teen on the Craigslist adult site.

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Parenting guidelines

Children should not loan phones to other kids

Children should protect their account information for everythingEmail, instant messaging, social

networking sites, etc.

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All of the same parenting guidelines for technology access applyKids with limited access are far less

vulnerable!Limit time onlineLimit access to cell phoneLimit access to social networks and

other technologies

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Everything ultimately depends upon relationships between parents and children

Children with healthy outlets within their families are the least at risk in any of the many areas of concernIncluding cyberbullying

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Questions?

Internet Safety Podcastwww.internetsafetypodcast.com

Internet Safety Wikiwiki.internetsafetypodcast.com

Dr. Charles Knutson

[email protected]

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Documents

© 2009 Charles D. Knutson Cyberbullying: Growing up on the Digital Playground Dr. Charles D. Knutson Brigham Young University