Although technology provides numerous benefits to young people, it also has a ’ dark side ’, as it can be used for harm, not only by some adults but also by the young people themselves. Email, texting, chat rooms, mobile phones, mobile phone cameras and web sites can and are being used by young people to bully peers. It is now a global problem with many incidents reported in the United States, Canada, Japan, Scandinavia and the United Kingdom, as well as in Australia and New Zealand. This growing problem has as yet not received the attention it deserves and remains virtually absent from the research literature. This article explores definitional issues, the incidence and potential consequences of cyber bullying, as well as discussing possible prevention and intervention strategies.

Cyber bullying: An old problem in a new guise?

Cyberbullying research is rapidly expanding with many studies being published from around the world in the past five or six years. In this article we review the current international literature published in English, with particular attention to the following themes: The relationship of cyberbullying to the more traditional face-to-face bullying, including differences and similarities; the impacts of cyberbullying on victims, bullies, schools, families, and communities; coping strategies for victims, schools, and parents; and solutions, both effective and ineffective. A focus of this article is evidence-based prevention and intervention strategies, which may be employed by educators, psychological service providers, and by parents to counter the problem of cyberbullying. Here we address the importance of school and home culture, modelling, curriculum development in information and communication technology (ICT) and social media, peer and bystander education, and other non-punitive approaches. We conclude with a discussion of implications on policy and practice and future research directions. Language: en

Cyberbullying among youth: a comprehensive review of current international research and its implications and application to policy and practice

Educators play an important role in preventing cyberbullying and encouraging positive online behaviour. In this article we report on the educator portion of a study of cyberbullying at two large, t...

‘Under the radar’: Educators and cyberbullying in schools:

The use of information and communication technology (ICT) has not only brought advantages to mankind. One downside is the emergence and increase of cyberbullying in schools. Affecting students of all ages, teachers, parents, and other educators, this special form of bullying is an increasing challenge for schools. This article offers an overview of the current state of research regarding prevalence and forms of cyberbullying; its psychosocial correlates in victims, bullies, and bully-victims; possible avenues for prevention and intervention approaches for school practitioners; and implications for future research.

Cyberbullying: An increasing challenge for schools:

The aim of this study is to identify and describe the occurrence of bullying among students in the 9th year (8th grade) from public and private schools from 26 Brazilian state capitals and the Federal District. It is a cross-sectional study involving 60,973 students and 1,453 public and private schools. Data analysis indicates that 5.4% (IC95%: 5.1%-5.7%) of students reported having suffered bullying almost always or always in the last 30 days, 25.4% (IC95%: 24.8%-26.0%) were rarely or sometimes the victim of bullying and 69.2% (IC95%: 68.5%-69.8%) of students felt no humiliation or provocation at school. The capital with higher frequency of bullying was Belo Horizonte (6.9%; IC95%: 5,9%-7,9%), Minas Gerais, and the lowest was Palmas (3.5%; IC95%: 2.6%-4.5%), Tocantins. Boys reported more bullying (6,0%; IC95%: 5.5%-6.5%) compared with girls (4,8%; IC95%: 4.4%-5.3%). There was no difference between public schools 5.5% (IC95%: 5.1%-5.8%) and private (5.2%) (IC95%: 4.6%-5.8%), except in Aracaju, Sergipe, that show more bullying in private schools. The findings indicate an urgent need for intersectoral action from educational policies and practices that enforce the reduction and prevention of the occurrence of bullying in schools in Brazil.

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Bullying nas escolas brasileiras: resultados da pesquisa nacional de saúde do escolar (PeNSE), 2009

Partners from nine European countries developed a cyberbullying training manual for the benefit of trainers working with parents, school staff and young people. The development of the training manual built on a two-level qualitative research process that combined elements of the Delphi method and online focus groups. The two studies outlined in this article aimed to assess trainers' and experts' views on the problem of cyberbullying while also gathering insight in relation to their preferences in terms of a training manual. This article outlines the main outcomes of a content analysis of experts' and trainers' views. According to experts and trainers, the sources of cyberbullying were specifically related to new technical developments and new patterns of usage, a lack of media literacy and media education, and the lack of appropriate laws, control and reporting mechanisms. Approaches for tackling cyberbullying suggested by experts and trainers included the provision of enhanced information on ICT and e-safety, adequate rules, monitoring mechanisms and sanctions. Furthermore a range of approaches targeting children and young people, parents and other adults, schools as well as approaches run by authorities and IT providers were suggested. In terms of the elements and style of a training manual, experts and trainers emphasised that it should be practically oriented, and that elements like narratives, case examples or video clips would be vital for the implementation of training.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S1037291100001102

Analysis of Experts' and Trainers' Views on Cyberbullying

This study examined the extent and nature of cyberbullying in 23 Portuguese schools. A sample of 3,525 sixth-, eighth-, and eleventh-grade students completed a self-response questionnaire assessing their perceptions and experiences of cyberbullying. The findings showed that 7.6% of students have been victimized, and 3.9% have bullied others at least once over the last year. The incidences of victimization were higher for females and for the older students. In contrast, more boys reported having bullied others in the eleventh grade. The most frequent medium of cyberbullying was via websites, whilst sending offensive messages was the most widely reported type of behavior. Telling someone about cyberbullying is among the most frequent coping strategies used by cybervictims, who usually chose to tell their friends rather than adults. Implications of these findings for students, schools, and parents are discussed.

Cyberbullying in Portuguese Schools: Prevalence and Characteristics

Ciências da Educação: epistemologia, identidade e perspectivas

Neste artigo comecamos por referir a actualidade do tema do cyberbullying e a  natureza do fenomeno. Na sequencia, damos conta da sua investigacao e das accoes para o prevenir e combater, no contexto nacional, e das principais conclusoes que a pesquisa internacional, ainda que incipiente, permite desde ja registar. Seguidamente faremos uma breve explicitacao de alguns resultados obtidos nas primeiras fases do projecto CyberTraining: A Research-based Training Manual On Cyberbullying. Trata‑se de dar a conhecer os resultados da consulta por questionario on-line a formadores e a investigadores, no sentido de captar a sua opiniao acerca das diferentes facetas e natureza do cyberbullying, dos seus proprios limites e necessidades de formacao para lidar com o problema frente a varios publicos, e de quais os principais elementos que, do seu ponto de vista, devem constar num manual que possa servir, de forma cabal, aos interesses da formacao nesta area e a publicos diversos.

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Cyberbullying: Um desafio à investigação e à formação

After analysing some paths of research on affectivity in pedagogical relations, we present the main findings of two recent research projects carried out in Portuguese schools based on the views of 2nd and 3rd cycle primary school pupils (Carvalho, 2007; Andre, 2007). The first, among other methodologies, analyses pupils’ narratives to bring to the fore their (dis)satisfaction as regards the quality of relations with their teachers. The second is based on an analysis of data gathered through interviews and application of the Relations with Teachers sub‑scale from the Academic Experience Questionnaire (Almeida et al ., 2002), pointing out the qualities pupils appreciate in their teachers, chiefly as regards relations, in line with their age group and gender and looking at some implications for the teacher education.

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João Amado

Papers

Analysis of Experts' and Trainers' Views on Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying in Portuguese Schools: Prevalence and Characteristics

Ciências da Educação: epistemologia, identidade e perspectivas

Cyberbullying: Um desafio à investigação e à formação

O lugar da afectividade na Relação Pedagógica: Contributos para a Formação de Professores