Cyberbullying is a pervasive problem in society. This presentation explores (a) definitions and common forms of cyberbullying, (b) the prevalence and characteristics of cyberbullying, (c) the targets, victims. and outcomes of cyberbullying, and (d) practical advice to confront this societal problem. Hopefully, one day, through research and active intervention, we will see a decline of this destructive behavior in schools. Join the discussion at www.wvucommmooc.org!

1. CYBERBULLYING: THE DARK SIDE OF
ONLINE COMMUNICATION
Dr. Alan K. Goodboy & Dr. Matthew M. Martin
West Virginia University
#WVUCommMOOC

2. WELCOME!!!!
• This PowerPoint slide show gives an overview of cyberbullying research including
• Throughout the slides you will see the following audio buttons below:
• When you see an audio button like the one above, please feel free to click on it for a
narrative by Dr. Alan Goodboy. Dr. Goodboy will help you make sense of the slides and
the research findings on cyberbullying with his audio commentary.
• We hope you find this presentation informative and helpful in deciphering how
cyberbullying affects our youth.

3. WHAT IS BULLYING?
• Bullying occurs when a student “student “is exposed, repeatedly and over time, to
negative actions on the part of one or more other students” (Olweus, 1993, p. 9).
• So what do we mean by a “negative action”?
• A negative action occurs when someone intentionally inflicts, or attempts to inflict,
injury or discomfort upon another.
• Bullying can include:
• Physically aggressive behavior (pushing, hitting, restraining, pinching, spitting)
• Verbal communication (using words that are threatening, taunting, name calling)
• Nonverbal communication (making faces, silent treatments, excluding others)

4. UNFORTUNATE BULLYING BEHAVIOR…
According to our working definition, the video below depicts classic bullying behavior in
the physical sense. In this video from Australia, Casey Heynes is being bullied and
punched several times by a younger and smaller boy. Casey decides he has had
enough and retaliates.
For more on this story, check out the following link: Australian Bully

5. CYBERBULLYING: ONE TYPE OF BULLYING
• Cyberbullying is considered is considered “an aggressive, intentional act carried out by a
group or individual, using electronic forms of contact, repeatedly and over time against a
victim who cannot easily defend him or herself” (Smith & Slonje, 2010, p. 249)
• A great resource for cyberbullying: http://www.cyberbullying.us/

6. A SAD STORY ON CYBERBULLYING…

7. COMMON FORMS OF CYBERBULLYING
(SMITH ET AL. 2008)
• Cell phone call bullying (e.g., prank calls)
• Text Message bullying (e.g., sending nasty text messages)
• Picture/Video Clip Bullying (e.g., taking a picture of someone and uploading it to
Facebook to ridicule him/her).
• E-mail bullying (e.g., sending harassing emails)
• Chat-room bullying (e.g., using chat room features to ridicule someone)
• Instant message bullying (e.g., using AOL instant messenger to send nasty instant
messages)

8. PREVALENCE OF CYBERBULLYING
• Although estimates vary by research study (data from multiple sources), it is clear that
data from the United States suggest a higher prevalence of cyberbullying than in many
other countries.
Country % of adolescent victims who
report being recipients of
cyberbullying
United States 49%
Canada 35%
United Kingdom 22%
Greece 21%
Sweden 12%

9. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN TRADITIONAL
BULLYING AND CYBERBULLYING
• Nowhere to hide/avoid it
• Breadth of large audience
• Anonymity of bullies
• Ignorance of consequences/outcomes
• Correlation between physical bullying and Internet bullying (r = .66)
• Correlation between verbal bullying and Internet bullying (r = .87)

10. CHARACTERISTICS OF CYBERBULLIES
(YBARRA & MITCHELL, 2004; YBARRA ET AL.,
2008)
• Adolescent cyberbullies tend to be:
• avid internet users
• problem and rule-breaking behavior (stealing, assault, etc.)
• aggressive in general (physical and sexual)
• report poor child-caregiver relationships
• are victims of bullying themselves
• substance abuse
• having delinquent peer networks
• low parental monitoring

11. CHARACTERISTICS OF VICTIMS
(YBARRA ET AL., 2006)
• tend to be victims with bullying in person too
• social problems
• older/female
• receive more detentions/suspensions
• are absent from school frequently

12. OUTCOMES OF BEING CYBERBULLIED
• Effects of being cyberbullied were…
• Frustration (ranging from 34% to 43%)
• Anger (ranging from 31% to 40%)
• Sadness (ranging from 22% to 29%)
• Data from multiple studies (Burgess-Proctor et al., 2008; Hinduja &
Patchin, 2007; Patchin & Hinduja, 2006)
• Ybarra et al. (2006) found that 65% of victims ages 10 to 17 felt worried of threatened by
their cyberbullying incidents.

13. WHAT SHOULD WE TELL CHILDREN TO DO IF
THEY ARE BEING CYBERBULLIED?
• What to do:
• Encourage victims to self-disclose their experiences
• Block bullies if possible (phones, Facebook)
• Keep a record of texts/emails/conversations
• Report to authorities (teacher, police, etc.) if needed

14. WHAT CAN SOCIETY DO TO HELP STOP
CYBERBULLYING?
• Schools should provide preventative interventions to change students’ norms about
cyberbullying in schools.
• Students and parents should read and sign new school policies that contractually prohibit
cyberbullying.
• Schools should give more negative sanctions to students and provide them with the
power to discipline cyberbullies.
• Parents, teachers, and students should be educated about the research on cyberbullying
to increase their awareness of the problem and provide ways to respond to cyberbullying.
• Local communities should be engaged and encouraged to prevent cyberbullying as
normative behavior.

15. REFERENCES CITED
• Olweus, D. (1993). Bullying at school: What we know and what we can do. Oxford: Blackwell
Publishers.
• Smith, P. K., & Slonje, R. (2010). Cyberbullying: The nature and extent of a new kind of
bullying, in and out of school. In S. R. Jimerson, S. M. Swearer, & D. L. Espelage
(Eds.), Handbook of bullying in schools: An international perspective (pp. 249-262). New York:
Routledge.
• Smith, P. K., Mahdavi, J., Carvalho, M., Fisher, S., Russell, S., & Tippett, N. (2008).
Cyberbullying: Its nature and impact in secondary school pupils. Journal of Child Psychology
and Psychiatry, 49, 376-385.
• Smith, P. K., & Slonje, R. (2010). Cyberbullying: The nature and extent of a new kind of
bullying, in and out of school. In S. R. Jimerson, S. M. Swearer, & D. L. Espelage
(Eds.), Handbook of bullying in schools: An international perspective (pp. 249-262). New York:
Routledge.
• Ybarram M. L., Mitchell, K. J., Wolak, J., & Finkelhor, D. (2006). Examining characteristics and
associated distress related to internet harassment: Findings from the second youth internet
survey. Pediatrics, 118, 1169-1177. doi: 10.1542/peds.2006-0815