This document discusses youth victimization and cyberbullying. It defines traditional bullying and cyberbullying, and describes common methods of cyberbullying such as flaming, harassment, denigration, impersonation, outing/trickery and exclusion. The document also reviews several studies that found high percentages of youth experiencing cyberbullying through rumors, impersonation, and persistent attacks. While both boys and girls can be victims, different types of cyberbullying tend to affect each gender. The law provides some protections against cyberbullying, but it remains a serious problem for youth.

1. Youth Victimization
Cyberbullying
Presentation by : Katarzyna Szklanny

2. Introduction:
 Traditional bullying.
 Cyberbullying.
 Methods of cyberbullying.
 Who is in danger?
 Digital Abuse Survey.
 Virtual Violence II.
 Ditch the Label’s Annual Cyberbullying Survey.
 Cyberbullying and the Law.
 Children who cyberbully.
 Conclusion.

3. Bullying - is unwanted, aggressive behaviour among school aged children
that involves a real or perceived power imbalance.
(Olweus, 1993b)
 direct behaviour: e.g. hitting, kicking, having money or other things taken or
damaged, taunting, malicious teasing or name-calling.
 indirect behaviour: e.g. rumour-spreading, social exclusion or shunning,
manipulation of friendship.
 other types of bullying includes sexual comments and gestures, threats,
taunts based on race or ethnicity.
The earliest studies of bullying with children were conducted in Norway and Sweden in the
1980s. In anonymous survey with over 150, 000 children and youth, Olweus found out that
approximately 15% of the questioned between 8-16 years old had been involves in problem
with bullying.
(Olweus, 1993a)

4. ‘What makes cyber bulling so dangerous…is that anyone can practice it
without having to confront the victim. You don’t have to be strong or
fast, simply equipped with a cell phone or computer and a willingness to
terrorize.’ (King, 2006)
Cyberbullying, also known as electronic bullying or online social cruelty, is
defined as bullying through email, instant messaging (IM), in a chat room, on a
Website, on an online gaming site, or through digital messages or images sent to
a cellular phone.
 direct cyberbullying – sending messages directly to the other children or
youth.
 Cyberbullying by proxy (indirect cyberbullying) involves using others to help
cyberbully the victim (with or without the accomplice’s knowledge).
(Feinberg, Robey, 2010)

5. Methods of Cyberbullying
 Flaming
 Harassment and Stalking
 Denigration (e.g. JucyCampus.com)
 Impersonation
 Outing and Trickery
 Exclusion
(Feinberg & Robey, 2010)

6. Who is in danger?
 Boys tend to bully by "sexting" (sending messages of a sexual nature) or with
messages that threaten physical harm,
 Girls, on the other hand, more commonly cyberbully by spreading lies and
rumours, exposing victim’s secrets, or by excluding him from emails, buddy
lists, or other electronic communication.
(McQuade, Colt, Meyer, 2009)

7.  1 355 people interviewed age 14 – 24.
 24% of youths reported that someone had written something bad about them
on an internet page (up from 19% from two years prior).
 21% of young people noted that someone has used e-mail, IM, or text
messages to spread untrue rumours about them (risen from 18% from two year
ago).
 1 in 20 children and teenagers reported that someone has impersonated them
by creating a fake Facebook or MySpace profile of them.
(Digital Abuse Survey, 2011)
Digital Abuse Survey

8. Virtual Violence II
 1 in 13 children experienced persistent and intentional cyberbullying.
 23% of children reported that the bullying lasted for a year and more.
 20% of children and young people indicated that fear of cyberbullies made
them reluctant to go to school.
 1 in 5 (19%) reporting they experience reduced confidence and self-esteem.
 14% living in fear for their safety.
 5% resorting to self-harm.
 3% reporting an attempt of suicide as a direct result of cyberbullying.
(Virtual Violence II: the real impact of cyberbullying reviled, 2012)

9. Ditch the Label’s Annual Cyberbullying
Survey
 7 out of 10 young people have been victims of cyberbullying.
 37% of young people have experienced cyberbullying on a highly frequent
basis.
 20% of youth have experienced extreme cyberbullying on a daily basis.
(Ditch the Label, 2013)

10. Cyberbullying and the UK Law
 Malicious Communications Act 1988.
 Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994.
 Protection from Harassment Act 1997.
 Communications Act 2003 which according to it is criminal offence to
send:’…by means of the public electronic communications network, a
message or other matter that is grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene
or menacing character’.
 Defamation Act 2013 (came into force in 1st January 2014)
(The Cybersmile Fundation, 2014)
Law in action:
 Kelly Houghton and Emily Moore case (2009).
 Nicola Brookes and Facebook case (2012).
(Bulling Facts, Bullying Laws, 2014)

11. Characteristics of children who
cyberbully
 Vengeful Angel
 The ‘power angry cyberbully’
 Mean girl
 The ‘inadvertent’ cyberbully
(Feinberg & Robey, 2010)
‘Kids can be cruel. And kids with technology can be
cruel on a world-wide scale.’
(McQuade, Colt, Meyer, 2009)

12. Conclusion
 Cyberbullying and bulling shares three of the same characteristics.
 The school ability to deal with cyberbullying is limited.
 Kids who have been cyberbullied are more likely to become the
perpetrator in the future.
 Research shows that young males and females are equally at risk.
 An estimated 5.43 million young people in the UK have experienced
cyberbullying. (Ditch the Label, 2013)
 Young people are found to be twice as likely to be bullied on
Facebook as any other website. (Ditch the Label, 2013)
 There need to be far more research done on cyberbullying and it
prevention.

13. References
 Beat Bullying (2012). Virtual Violence II: the real impact of cyberbullying reviled.
[Online]. Available at: http://archive.beatbullying.org/dox/media-centre/news-
archive/Feb%202012/Virtual-Violence-II-The-Real-Impact-Of-Cyberbullying.html
[Accessed: 11/02/2015].
 Bulling Facts, Bulling Laws (2014). Anti-Cyberbullying Laws in UK. Available at:
http://nobullying.com/anti-cyber-bullying-legislative-matters-in-the-uk/ [Accessed:
16/02/2015].
 Crown Prosecution Service (2012). Interim guidelines on prosecuting cases involving
communications sent via social media. Available at:
http://www.cps.gov.uk/consultations/social_media_consultation.pdf [Accessed:
12/02/2015].
 Ditch the Label (2013). The Annual Cyberbullying Survey 2013. [Online] Available at:
http://www.ditchthelabel.org/annual-cyber-bullying-survey-cyber-bullying-statistics/
[Accessed: 13/02/2015].
 Feinberg, T., Robey, N. (2010) Cyberbullying: Intervention and Prevention Strategies.
National Association of School Psychologists. [Online] Available at:
http://www.nasponline.org/resources/bullying/Cyberbullying.pdf [Accessed:
13/02/2015].

14.  Hunter, N. (2012). Cyber bullying. Hot topics. [Online] Available at:
http://www.vlebooks.com/vleweb/Product/Index/54689?page=0 [Accessed:
15/02/2015].
 King, L. (2006). No hiding from online bullies. [Online] Available at: http://www.news-
leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20060815 [Accessed: 12/02/2015].
 Knowledge Networks (2011). Digital Abuse Survey. [Online]. Available at:
http://www.athinline.org/pdfs/2011-MTV-AP_Digital_Abuse_Study_Full.pdf [Accessed:
12/02/2015].
 Kowalski, R., Limber, S., Agatson, P. (2008). Cyberbullying: bullying in the digital age.
Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
 McQuade, S., Colt, J., Meyer, N. (2009). Cyber bullying. Dawson era. [Online]. Available
at: https://www.dawsonera.com/abstract/9780313351945 [Accessed: 08/02/2015].
 Olweus, D. (1993a). Bullying at school: What we know and what we can do. New York:
Blackwell
 Olweus, D. (1993b). Victimization by peers: Antecedents and long-term outcomes. In
Rubin, K. & Asendort, J. (Eds.) Social withdrawal, inhibition, and shyness. Pp. 315-141.
Hillsdale NJ: Erlbaum.
 The Cybersmile Fundation (2014) Cyberbullying and the Law. Available at:
http://www.cybersmile.org/advice-help/category/cyberbullying-and-the-law
[Accessed: 12/02/2015].

15. THANK YOU FOR YOUR
ATTENTION!