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April 28, 2009

Bullying reaches to cyberspace

Cyberbullying increasing in prominence

By Sue Loughlin

TERRE HAUTE — At least 25 percent of school-aged children say they’ve experienced cyberbullying, but they frequently don’t tell their parents or other adults.

Cyberbullying has become a major problem facing school-age children, says Bridget Roberts-Pittman, an Indiana State University assistant professor of counseling. She and doctoral student Sally Davies presented a seminar on the topic Tuesday.

Cyberbullying can be defined as “sending or posting harmful or cruel text or images using the Internet or other digital communication devices,” including e-mail, text messaging, instant messaging, cell phones and Internet social networking sites.

While it’s a serious problem, there hasn’t been a lot of formal research on it, Roberts-Pittman said.

Children frequently don’t tell parents because they fear their computer use will be restricted. Many parents believe they know what their children are doing online, but children indicate otherwise, Roberts-Pittman said.

For victims, cyberbullying can cause lower self-esteem, school avoidance, lower academic performance, depression and thoughts of suicide, she said.

Roberts-Pittman offered several suggestions to parents and educators about what they can do.

Parents should talk to their children about computer use and cyberbullying, since some students don’t recognize it as bullying.

They should teach their children to save evidence such as e-mails and texts, with can be traced, tracked and reported. They also should instruct children to protect their passwords.

She encouraged parents to use monitoring software such as Spectorsoft and IamBigBrother.

Parents should familiarize themselves with the sites their children visit. If parents fear a child is being bullied, they can ask the Web site or social networking site to remove the material.

Students also need to understand that online communication lacks nonverbal and body language, and it can be subject to misinterpretation.

“In high school, we used our voices,” said Davies. “Now, students use their thumbs.”

Among those attending the seminar was Kathy Miller, a teacher at West Vigo High School.

“It just seems more and more students are dependent on communicating through technology rather than face-to-face,” Miller said. Without eye contact and body language, something can get lost in the translation.

Miller hopes to put together a student leadership activity on cyberbullying at the high school.

Roberts-Pittman provided several resources and Web sites for educators and parents, including www.cyberbully.org.

Schools should have policies and procedures in place that address cyberbullying and it should be clearly defined for both students and staff.

A schoolwide approach is important in preventing cyberbullying. “It has to be a culture that everyone buys into … that we won’t tolerate this,” Roberts-Pittman said.

She suggested anonymous surveys to help schools gauge the amount of cyberbullying that occurs.

Also, the role of the student bystander is critical, she said. If one person says it’s not cool, the bullying frequently stops.

She noted that schools can be found liable for not stopping cyberbullying if it is determined that personnel acted negligently or violated federal or state laws.

She also described a case in which a court backed disciplinary action taken by a school. The court ruled that schools do have authority to discipline students when speech or behavior committed off campus results in a clear disruption of the classroom environment.

In that case, a student was expelled for creating a Web site that had “nasty” information about a teacher and digitally altered photos, Roberts-Pittman said.

Among those attending Tuesday’s seminar was Rhonda Lawrence, director of special services with Clay Community School Corp. “We’re seeing more of it [cyberbullying] in the schools and I just wanted to gather more information so we’re more prepared to deal with these issues,” she said.

While much of it occurs outside school, it could be happening more and more in schools, she said.

Susan Rozgony, Otter Creek Middle School dean of students, said she hoped to gain some awareness of what legally schools are expected to be doing with regard to cyberbullying.

“It appears it’s still pretty unclear because it hasn’t apparently specifically been addressed by legislation,” she said.

While it’s not rampant, cyberbullying is occurring, Rozgony said. It may be occurring more than school officials realize because it often goes unreported, she said.



Sue Loughlin can be reached at (812) 231-4235 or sue.loughlin@tribstar.com.

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