Table Of ContentCYBERBULLYING PREVENTION
AND RESPONSE
Just as the previous generation was raised in front of televisions, adolescents at
the turn of the 21st century are being raised in an internet-enabled world where
blogs, social networking, and instant messaging are competing with face-to-face
and telephone communication as the dominant means through which personal
interaction takes place. Unfortunately, a small but growing proportion of our
youth are being exposed online to interpersonal violence, aggression, and
harassment via cyberbullying. The mission of this book is to explore the many
critical issues surrounding this new phenomenon. Key features include the
following.
Comprehensive – The book provides a comprehensive, up-to-date look at
the major issues that teachers, school administrators, counselors, social workers,
and parents need to be aware of with respect to cyberbullying identification,
prevention, and response.
Practical – While the information is informed by research, it is written in an
accessible way that all adults will be able to understand and apply.
Expertise – Justin W. Patchin and Sameer Hinduja are Co-directors of the
Cyberbullying Research Center (www.cyberbullying.us). Chapter authors rep-
resent a carefully selected group of contributors who have demonstrated both
topical expertise and an ability to write about the topic in clear, easily accessible
language.
This book is appropriate for teachers, administrators, parents and others seeking
research-based guidance on how to deal with the rising tide of cyberbullying
issues. It is also appropriate for a variety of college-level courses dealing with
school violence and educational administration.
CYBERBULLYING
PREVENTION AND
RESPONSE
Expert Perspectives
Edited by Justin W. Patchin and
Sameer Hinduja
First published 2012
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Simultaneously published in the UK
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2011.
To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
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© 2012 Taylor & Francis
The right of the editors to be identified as the authors of the editorial
material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been
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and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and
recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without
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Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Cyberbullying prevention and response : expert perspectives / edited by
Justin W. Patchin, Ph.D., Sameer Hinduja, Ph.D.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Cyberbullying. 2. Bullying in schools. 3. Computer crimes. 4.
Internet and teenagers. I. Patchin, Justin W., 1977–II. Hinduja,
Sameer, 1978–
LB3013.3.C94 2011
371.5(cid:397)8–dc22
2011005152
ISBN 0-203-81831-8 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN: 978-0-415-89236-0 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-415-89237-7 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-203-81831-2 (ebk)
CONTENTS
Preface vii
Justin W. Patchin and Sameer Hinduja
Acknowledgments xii
1 A “Living Internet”: Some Context for the Cyberbullying
Discussion 1
Anne Collier
2 Cyberbullying: An Update and Synthesis of the Research 13
Justin W. Patchin and Sameer Hinduja
3 Cyberbullying and the Law 36
Nancy Willard
4 Youth Views on Cyberbullying 57
Patricia Agatston, Robin Kowalski, and Susan Limber
5 Cyberbullying: How School Counselors Can Help 72
Russell Sabella
6 Empowering Bystanders 93
Stan Davis and Charisse Nixon
vi Contents
7 You Mean We Gotta Teach That, Too? 110
Mike Donlin
8 A “Toolbox” of Cyberbullying Prevention Initiatives
and Activities 128
Jenny Walker
9 Responding to Cyberbullying: Advice for Educators and
Parents 149
Elizabeth K. Englander
10 School Law Enforcement and Cyberbullying 161
Sameer Hinduja and Justin W. Patchin
Appendix A: Select Cyberbullying Curricula, Lesson Plans,
and Materials 185
Appendix B: List of States with Bullying and Cyberbullying Laws 189
Biographies 192
Index 198
PREFACE
Justin W. Patchin and Sameer Hinduja
So much has changed over the last two decades with regard to the ways youth
interact using technology. Many of us grew up experimenting with online com-
munications through dial-up bulletin board services such as Prodigy, CompuServe,
and America Online using the one desktop computer that our families could
afford. And, we used the landline phone to talk to our friends from school – but
couldn’t talk for too long unless it was really late at night, to keep the line free in
case there was a more important call that needed to come in. There was also the
expense of long-distance calls – and no “free nights and weekends.” Today, teens
are texting, Facebooking, and instant messaging their friends all over the nation and
world through their portable devices – from which they can often access the entire
Internet and all it has to offer – day and night. Many also have personal laptops,
tablets, and webcams, which provide for previously unheard-of opportunities to be
as close as possible to someone else – irrespective of geographical distance.
The advances in technology have, without question, been an extremely
positive development. Indeed, many educational and social benefits have
resulted from our headfirst plunge into the Information Age, but sometimes we
feel there should have been obligatory bungee cords tied around our ankles
before we leapt. As adults, we often feel that we are constantly trying to keep
up with technological changes and sometimes don’t understand the immense
appeal that our kids see in certain devices, environments, applications, or games.
Nevertheless, we can acknowledge some of the value they add in allowing us to
keep in closer contact with loved-ones, to be more efficient and organized with
work responsibilities, and to access various sources of entertainment and
information more readily.
Apart from the obvious benefits of encyclopedic amounts of content at one’s
fingertips, the welcome digital diversions which pass our time and keep us
viii Preface
amused, and the speed with which we can correspond with others, online par-
ticipation has tremendous utility in teaching youth various social and emotional
skills that are essential to successfully navigating life. For example, cyberspace
provides a venue to learn and refine the ability to exercise self-control, to relate
with tolerance and respect to others’ viewpoints, to express sentiments in a
healthy and normative manner, and to engage in critical thinking and decision-
making. These skills, however, cannot be effectively internalized if the online
learning environment is unwelcoming or altogether hostile to the user.
If adolescents are uncomfortable or unwilling to explore technology and take
advantage of all of its positive attributes, they will be sorely lacking in certain
developmental qualities that others who do embrace electronic communications
will naturally obtain. Over the last decade, the vast majority of youth have
quickly acquired a propensity for digital devices and the Internet, and have
tended to outpace their adult counterparts who were not raised in a wired
world. Nonetheless, a respectable proportion of kids online are being exposed
to interpersonal violence, aggression, mistreatment, and harassment through
what has been termed cyberbullying.
In our previous work, we defined cyberbullying as “willful and repeated
harm inflicted through the use of computers, cell phone, or other electronic
devices” (Hinduja & Patchin, 2009:5). Using technology, a bully can send or
post hurtful, humiliating, or even threatening messages and content to a victim,
to third parties, or to a public forum or environment that many other online
participants visit. Cyberbullying is the unfortunate byproduct of the union of
adolescent aggression and electronic communication, and its growth gives us
cause for concern. Moreover, there is no shortage of potential offenders or
targets of cyberbullying because of the widespread availability of personal
technological devices in the developed world.
Given the prominence of several high-profile incidents in recent months,
cyberbullying has been all over the media. The tragic suicides of several teens
who experienced cyberbullying have shined a bright light on a significant social
problem that, if left unchecked, stands to detrimentally affect the current gener-
ation of youth. Wanting to intervene in some way, many parents, school per-
sonnel, and other professionals who work with adolescents are looking for
information to educate themselves about this problem. Even though it may
seem fairly new to them, a core group of researchers, educators, counselors, and
others have been exploring this problem for years, and therefore have a unique,
empirically-informed perspective to offer. This book represents a compendium
of the lessons learned through their efforts.
We hope that Cyberbullying Prevention and Response: Expert Perspectives will
serve as the definitive guide to assist you in addressing the ways teens misuse
technology to cause harm to their peers. This book voices the views and
experiences of the best and brightest youth online risk professionals in the
United States – those widely recognized in our nation and abroad as experts in
Preface ix
this area. The knowledge and resources shared in this book are guided by
research, but presented in an accessible way that will be useful for all who work
with teens. What is more, they can be considered some of the “best practices”
currently known regarding preventing and responding to cyberbullying. We
hope that you benefit greatly from what is shared throughout these chapters.
The Book
The book begins with an overview of the current state of knowledge concern-
ing the ways in which youth are using and abusing online technologies. First,
Anne Collier discusses “the living Internet,” a place that is constantly evolving
and reflecting the personalities of its varied user base. She argues that the (mis)
behaviors of teens are generally the same as they have always been, except that
in the 21st century they are occurring on a landscape unfamiliar to many adults.
One solution, then, is to take traditional safety messages and augment them with
instruction and modeling of digital citizenship and media literacy. In Chapter 2,
we review and summarize the body of cyberbullying research to inform readers
about the nature, extent, and consequences of online aggression. We present
results from our own data collected in 2010 involving over 4,400 students,
along with findings from several other published research projects on the topic.
We explain how cyberbullying affects a meaningful number of youth on a
regular basis and that those who experience cyberbullying also report having
emotional and psychological issues, suicidal thoughts, low self-esteem, and aca-
demic and behavioral problems at school.
Next, Patricia Agatston, Robin Kowalski, and Susan Limber present the per-
spectives of students who have experienced cyberbullying as targets, bullies, or
bystanders. From the students we learn that cyberbullying isn’t often reported to
adults, despite being a significant problem. Youth are more likely to report their
experiences to adults when they know they will be taken seriously and appropri-
ate actions will be taken.
Chapter 3 summarizes some of the important legal issues surrounding cyber-
bullying. Nancy Willard argues that schools, parents, law enforcement officers,
and others need to work together to respond to on- and off-campus cyberbully-
ing incidents, and that they are endowed with the responsibility and right to
informally or formally intervene, depending on the situation.
Chapter 5 presents a framework for school counselors to use when address-
ing cyberbullying, and shows how they can play a significant role in meeting
the needs of parents and youth in the midst of their victimization and struggles.
Parents who are wrestling with what to do when faced with a cyberbullying
incident should consider consulting with an informed school counselor as they
can often provide knowledgeable guidance to pragmatically deal with a variety
of adolescent relationship problems. Accordingly, Russell Sabella provides
concrete solutions and strategies to aid counselors in their efforts.
