The nature of cyberbullying

Traditional face-to-face bullying has long been identified as a risk factor for the social and emotional adjustment of perpetrators, targets and bully victims during childhood and adolescence; ^{Reference Almeida, Caurcel and Machado1-Reference Sourander, Brunstein, Ikomen, Lindroos, Luntamo and Koskelainen6} bystanders are also known to be negatively affected. ^{Reference Ahmed, Österman and Björkqvist7-Reference Salmivalli9} The emergence of cyberbullying indicates that perpetrators have turned their attention to technology (including mobile telephones and the internet) as a powerful means of exerting their power and control over others. ^{Reference Smith, Mahdavi, Carvalho, Fisher, Russell and Tippett10} Cyberbullies have the power to reach their targets at any time of the day or night.

Cyberbullying takes a number of forms, to include:

1. • flaming: electronic transmission of angry or rude messages;

2. • harassment: repeatedly sending insulting or threatening messages;

3. • cyberstalking: threats of harm or intimidation;

4. • denigration: put-downs, spreading cruel rumours;

5. • masquerading: pretending to be someone else and sharing information to damage a person’s reputation;

6. • outing: revealing personal information about a person which was shared in confidence;

7. • exclusion: maliciously leaving a person out of a group online, such as a chat line or a game, ganging up on one individual. ^{Reference Schenk and Fremouw11}

Cyberbullying often occurs in the context of relationship difficulties, such as the break-up of a friendship or romance, envy of a peer’s success, or in the context of prejudiced intolerance of particular groups on the grounds of gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation or disability. ^{Reference Hoff and Mitchell12}

A survey of 23 420 children and young people across Europe found that, although the vast majority were never cyberbullied, 5% were being cyberbullied more than once a week, 4% once or twice a month and 10% less often. ^{Reference Livingstone, Haddon, Anke Görzig and Ólafsson13} Many studies indicate a significant overlap between traditional bullying and cyberbullying. ^{Reference Perren, Dooley, Shaw and Cross5,Reference Sourander, Brunstein, Ikomen, Lindroos, Luntamo and Koskelainen6,Reference Kowalski and Limber14,Reference Ybarra and Mitchell15} However, a note of caution is needed when interpreting the frequency and prevalence of cyberbullying. As yet, there is no uniform agreement on its definition and researchers differ in the ways they gather their data, with some, for example, asking participants whether they have ‘ever’ been cyberbullied and others being more specific, for example, ‘in the past 30 days’.

The impact of cyberbullying on emotional health and well-being

Research consistently identifies the consequences of bullying for the emotional health of children and young people. Victims experience lack of acceptance in their peer groups, which results in loneliness and social isolation. The young person’s consequent social withdrawal is likely to lead to low self-esteem and depression. Bullies too are at risk. They are more likely than non-bullies to engage in a range of maladaptive and antisocial behaviours, and they are at risk of alcohol and drugs dependency; like victims, they have an increased risk of depression and suicidal ideation. Studies among children ^{Reference Escobar, Fernandez-Baen, Miranda, Trianes and Cowie2-Reference Kaltiala-Heino, Rimpalä, Rantanen and Rimpalä4,Reference Kumpulainen, Rasanen and Henttonen16} and adolescents ^{Reference Salmivalli, Lappalainen and Lagerspetz17,Reference Sourander, Helstela, Helenius and Piha18} indicate moderate to strong relationships between being nominated by peers as a bully or a victim at different time points, suggesting a process of continuity. The effects of being bullied at school can persist into young adulthood. ^{Reference Isaacs, Hodges and Salmivalli19,Reference Lappalainen, Meriläinen, Puhakka and Sinkkonen20}

Studies demonstrate that most young people who are cyberbullied are already being bullied by traditional, face-to-face methods. ^{Reference Sourander, Brunstein, Ikomen, Lindroos, Luntamo and Koskelainen6,Reference Dooley, Pyzalski and Cross21-Reference Riebel, Jaeger and Fischer23} Cyberbullying can extend into the target’s life at all times of the day and night and there is evidence for additional risks to the targets of cyberbullying, including damage to self-esteem, academic achievement and emotional well-being. For example, Schenk & Fremouw ^{Reference Schenk and Fremouw11} found that college student victims of cyberbullying scored higher than matched controls on measures of depression, anxiety, phobic anxiety and paranoia. Studies of school-age cyber victims indicate heightened risk of depression, ^{Reference Perren, Dooley, Shaw and Cross5,Reference Gradinger, Strohmeier and Spiel22,Reference Juvonen and Gross24} of psychosomatic symptoms such as headaches, abdominal pain and sleeplessness ^{Reference Sourander, Brunstein, Ikomen, Lindroos, Luntamo and Koskelainen6} and of behavioural difficulties including alcohol consumption. ^{Reference Mitchell, Ybarra and Finkelhor25} As found in studies of face-to-face bullying, cyber victims report feeling unsafe and isolated, both at school and at home. Similarly, cyberbullies report a range of social and emotional difficulties, including feeling unsafe at school, perceptions of being unsupported by school staff and a high incidence of headaches. Like traditional bullies, they too are engaged in a range of other antisocial behaviours, conduct disorders, and alcohol and drug misuse. ^{Reference Sourander, Brunstein, Ikomen, Lindroos, Luntamo and Koskelainen6,Reference Hinduja and Patchin26}

Technological solutions

The most fundamental way of dealing with cyberbullying is to attempt to prevent it in the first place, through whole-school e-safety policies ^{Reference Campbell27-Reference Stacey29} and through exposure to the wide range of informative websites that abound (e.g. UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS; www.education.gov.uk/ukccis), ChildLine (www.childline.org.uk)). Many schools now train pupils in e-safety and ‘netiquette’ to equip them with the critical tools that they will need to understand the complexity of the digital world and become aware of its risks as well as its benefits. Techniques include blocking bullying behaviour online or creating panic buttons for cyber victims to use when under threat. Price & Dalgleish ^{Reference Price and Dalgleish30} found that blocking was considered as a most helpful online action by cyber victims and a number of other studies have additionally found that deleting nasty messages and stopping use of the internet were effective strategies. ^{Reference Livingstone, Haddon, Anke Görzig and Ólafsson13,Reference Kowalski and Limber14,Reference Juvonen and Gross24} However, recent research by Kumazaki et al ^{Reference Kumazaki, Kanae, Katsura, Akira and Megumi31} found that training young people in netiquette did not significantly reduce or prevent cyberbullying. Clearly there is a need for further research to evaluate the effectiveness of different types of technological intervention.

Asking adults for help

Parents play an important role in prevention by banning websites and setting age-appropriate limits of using the computer and internet. ^{Reference Kowalski and Limber14} Poor parental monitoring is consistently associated with a higher risk for young people to be involved in both traditional and cyberbullying, whether as perpetrator or target. ^{Reference Ybarra and Mitchell15} However, adults may be less effective in dealing with cyberbullying once it has occurred. Most studies confirm that it is essential to tell someone about the cyberbullying rather than suffer in silence and many students report that they would ask their parents for help in dealing with a cyberbullying incident. ^{Reference Smith, Mahdavi, Carvalho, Fisher, Russell and Tippett10,Reference Stacey29,Reference Aricak, Siyahhan, Uzunhasanoglu, Saribeyoglu, Ciplak and Yilmaz32} On the other hand, some adolescents recommend not consulting adults because they fear loss of privileges (e.g. having and using mobile telephones and their own internet access), and because they fear that their parents would simply advise them to ignore the situation or that they would not be able to help them as they are not accustomed to cyberspace. ^{Reference Smith, Mahdavi, Carvalho, Fisher, Russell and Tippett10,Reference Hoff and Mitchell12,Reference Kowalski and Limber14,Reference Stacey29} In a web-based survey of 12- to 17-year-olds, of whom most had experienced at least one cyberbullying incident in the past year, Juvonen & Gross ^{Reference Juvonen and Gross24} found that 90% of the victims did not tell their parents about their experiences and 50% of them justified it with ‘I need to learn to deal with it myself’.

Students also have a rather negative and critical attitude to teachers’ support and a large percentage consider telling a teacher or the school principal as rather ineffective. ^{Reference Aricak, Siyahhan, Uzunhasanoglu, Saribeyoglu, Ciplak and Yilmaz32,Reference DiBasilio33} Although 17% of students reported to a teacher after a cyberbullying incident, in 70% of the cases the school did not react to it. ^{Reference Hoff and Mitchell12}