Virtual Bullying

Group Name
The Bully, The Bullied & the Bystander

Group Members
Nicole Moralek

Mark Frankiw

Kevin Bui

Jasdish Shahi

Introduction Statement
To some, it may seem like a harmless joke or silly comment, but to the person on the other end of it, it may be interpreted as something much worse. Virtual bullying has become a major problem in today’s internet community. Although cell phones, computers, blogs and forums do have many advantages, virtual bullying is one outcome of technology that is extremely serious. It can seem harmless at first but can cause people to become depressed, dejected, miserable and even suicidal if the harm is intense enough. "you can have 60 people bullying you on the internet, but in real life there wouldn’t be 60 people beating you up"

Definition
Virtual bullying can be defined as someone making fun of another person repeatedly through text messages, emails, online forums, blog postings, etc. These messages are intended to hurt, harm, humiliate, or damage the person who the bully does not like. However, there is a difference between virtual bullying and virtual harassment. The term, ‘virtual bullying’ only refers to confrontation between two minors. As soon as one person is not a minor, it is no longer considered virtual bullying but virtual harassment. The bully can hide behind there computer and attack whom ever they please and almost never get caught. Some differences between physical bullying and virtual bullying include: face to face vs. impersonal, school vs. online, familiar bully vs. unknown bully.

History
Physical bullying itself has been around for quite awhile. Most commonly seen in schools, it has become almost a mainstay all over the world. With the advancements in technology however, bullies have taken their harassment to the next level. As if attacking people in person was not bad enough, they are now able to attack them at basically any time of day no matter where they are. Virtual Bullying can be said to have started as soon as the technology craze in our world took off. With more and more things being available to younger and younger people, it is a simple way for bully’s to reach their victims. This has become probably the fastest growing form of harassment in today’s schools. Virtual bullies are always trying to find personal information about their victims and the internet is the perfect place to find that and use it to their advantage. Although schools have become much less tolerant of bullying then in the past, society itself has become much more violent and aggressive causing schools to still be a hot spot for harassment. Virtual bullying is very favorable for the bully because their audience can be reached quickly and efficiently, twenty four hours a day, seven days a week.

Statistics
With nearly one in every three children in North America having experienced some form of virtual bullying, researchers have further analyzed this subject and thus developed in-depth statistics.

A 2006 American survey aired by ABC and produced by isafe.org found:

42% of kids have been bullied online.

35% of kids have been threatened online.

Of that 35%, one in five of those kids said it happen on a regular occurrence

21% of kids have received mean or threatening e-mails

58% of kids have not told their parents or an adult about the bullying they have experienced

Further Statistics go on to show that:

38% of kids told an online friend about their experience

Of the percentage that felt comfortable in telling an individual about the bullying they have experienced, only 19% percent of the victims felt that their situation had improved. A mere 17% admitted to bullying another individual online.

Canadian Statistics show a much smaller percentage of children involved in virtual bullying as:

99% of Canadian students have used the Internet

48% of Canadian students use it for a least an hour a day

60% of Canadian students use chat rooms and instant messaging

Only 35% of children have experienced a form of virtual bullying in chat rooms 41% of children have been bullying via text messaging and of that 41%, 41% were unaware of the identity of the perpetrators

A 2005 survey conducted by CBC found that only 14% of young Canadian users had been threatened while using instant messaging while 16% admitted they've posted hateful comments.

Effects of Virtual Bullying
Virtual Bullying can have many dangerous effects on internet users. The effects can range from being emotional to being physical. The effects that are about to be discussed are very harmful and have extremely serious consequences. These Consequences can lead to depression, frustration, anger, and potentially, self suicide.

Emotional Effects
Virtual Bullying can affect a net user in many different ways. One of the most common and harmful effects are emotional changes. Changes such as sudden mood swings, anger problems, depression, fear from socializing, fear of safety, scared for their life. These effects listed mainly effect the youth from about ages 10 to 17. It is difficult for teenagers to ignore constant criticism and bullying, things like this impact them tremendously. These emotional changes can cause ideas of revenge and hate. Emotional changes can potentially occur such as one becoming more assertive in seek of revenge. Some victims of cyber bullying can also change in way that they desire to be in a position where they’re the bully so they won’t have to be bullied. One 14 year old girl from Illinois said: “It makes me depressed a lot. It affected me for about 3¬4 years. I hated being [cyber] bullied. I would come home and just start crying. I really hurt.” Since Virtual bullying is not experienced face to face physically, the effects arena bit dissimilar. Instead of dealing with the bully physically, the victim usually spends most of his or her time thinking about the criticisms and jokes that were directed at them. This causes huge amounts of time loss which can steer teenagers of track by affecting their studies or your regular lifestyle. Cyber bullying can even affect teenagers offline and promotes the fear of being bullied outside of the internet, in reality.

Psychological effects
Virtual Bulling and its psychological effects are extremely dangerous and harmful. When one is exposed to constant criticism, their way of thinking changes which can affect their regular lifestyle. For example, instead of focusing on what’s going around in society, cyber bullying and its effects will take over. The victim will constantly think about the criticisms and names that were directed at them which greatly affect them. Furthermore, another psychological effect that is harmful is change in perspective on life and ones reality about life. The victim will being thinking that he or her doesn’t need friends and begins avoiding people and society. The victim will stop joining in on activities and would prefer to be isolated because they think that socializing will just bring more negativity that they experienced from Virtual bullies. These types of thinking begin to process mentally into victims that are exposed to cyber-bullying. Their behavior can change drastically in ways such as self remoteness and constant resentment towards socialization.

Physical Effects
Physical effects are the most dangerous effects of all, if the victim is affected physically, that could lead to many detrimental outcomes. Virtual bullying first attacks emotionally, then psychologically, and then physically which is the most harmful. When a victim can no longer cope with the online bullying he or her is experiencing, many victims decide to make changes physically. They can no longer withstand the constant thinking of bullying and decide to take different actions. Actions such as:

•	Confronting the bully physically if the victim knows the online bully in reality.

•	Starting fights with other kids or teenagers at school to experience being the bully himself/herself because he/she is tired of being bullied.

•	Self hate which leads to self torture.

•	Suicide

Suicide is the most fatal consequence virtual bullying has. This is the last stage where very victims get to but this usually happens at a very little rate. When suicide does occur, it affects many people around the victim, causing emotional and maybe even other physical effects. “Awhile ago our 13-year-old son Ryan took his own life. For the first few days we were nearly immobilized with shock and grief. I made absolutely no sense.”

Virtual Bullying: A Canadian Case
The rapid development of technology, such as the Internet and cell phones has led to the increasing integration of these forms of communication into school systems. However, in spite of the benefits of these new forms of communication, a negative outcome of this technology has been virtual bullying. Virtual bullying refers to bullying that is done through electronic devices. New technologies have created new means through which bullies can gain access to their victims, and this is a phenomenon that has become an increasing problem in schools across Canada.

A recent study conducted on virtual bullying shows that at least one in four adolescents is a victim of virtual bullying, and one of those adolescents was David Knight. His personal experiences with virtual bullying have allowed the public to understand the emotional implications that this form of bullying can have on a child’s development. Knight’s story begins in the schoolyard, with teasing and physical assault, which escalated to online bullying when a fellow classmate of his created a website titled 'Welcome to the website that makes fun of Dave Knight'. This website allowed other students to post hateful remarks about Knight. Knight recounts the experience as follows:"Rather than just some people, say 30 in a cafeteria, hearing them all yell insults at you, it's up there for 6 billion people to see. Anyone with a computer can see it. And you can't get away from it. It doesn't go away when you come home from school. It made me feel even more trapped" (CBC News Online, 2005).

A recent survey found 53 percent of young Canadians have posted hateful comments about others on the internet with seven percent admitting to doing it often. Often these virtual bullies go unidentified, and the justice system, along with the school system have done little to prevent virtual bullying. According to Knight’s parents, they tried talking to the police; however the police refused to investigate because the bullying did not involve serious threats to David’s life. Detective Constable Kevin McCarty will not comment on David’s case, but says that, "It's an unfortunate situation, but quite often are hands are tied. There's nothing supporting a criminal offence by which we can investigate and obtain records and identify the person responsible for setting up the site" (CBC News Online, 2005).When Knight’s parents tried the school system, they too said that it was difficult to determine whether the bullying was done from a computer at school or not. Eventually it was Yahoo (the ISP through which the site was created and posted) that took the website down. However, the emotional damage that David suffered due to the virtual bullying had already taken a toll on his social life and his self-esteem. According to David’s mother, “After this bullying started, he began withdrawing completely, isolating himself from everyone” (CBC News Online, 2005).

It is therefore up to the Canadian justice system and the school system to work together to create solutions that will create a safe environment for children at school and on the internet. Recently, the province of Ontario, the Safe Schools Act added virtual bullying to its list of offences for which a student can be suspended or expelled. It is necessary for other provinces to also follow suit, as well as the federal government to do more to fund anti-bullying efforts and to create new provisions that will protect children and adults alike from violent attacks on the internet.

Prevention
With the advancements in technology, specifically in the accessibility of the Internet, virtual bullying is becoming more prominent in our everyday life. As a result, many resources have been established in order to prevent virtual bullying from progressing.

Staying Safe Online
What may seem as simple as “Staying Safe” is a daunting task for many individuals. In order to stay safe online, the following measures must be taken:

•	Never give out passwords, pin numbers, or any personal identification

•	Don’t open messages from individuals you do not know

•	Don’t be “connected” for a extended period of time

•	Do NOT believe everything you read

•	Understand the technology you are using

•	Never jeopardize your position

•	Use proper etiquette: Treat other the way you would treat them if you were talking to them face to face.

What an Individual can do if they become the victim
There are many precautionary measures that can be taken to stop virtual bullying before it escalates into a detrimental state. These measures include:

•	Talk to a trusted individual whether it is a friend, teacher, or parent

•	Save the message for further reference

•	Try changing your Online ID’s or mobile numbers

•	Block messages from the bullies

•	Do not reply back to the messages as this could only make the situation worse

•	Finally, do not be afraid to report bullying to your parents, teachers, or even the police as failing to address the issue may only cause it to become worse

Getting Help
Due to the severe nature of virtual bullying, many kids do not get or receive the proper help in dealing with virtual bullying. The most influential way in dealing with the issue is to talk about what has occurred and receive the proper help. Unfortunately many kids feel that by “telling” on the bully it will only make the situation worse. It is key for kids to feel safe when reporting the issue and anonymous help phone lines such as Kid Help Phone is a great resource in helping individuals overcome virtual bullying. Another form of help is through school guidance counselors and online research. If proper measures are taken, virtual bullying can be overcome.

Conclusion
In conclusion, virtual bullying can be detrimental to an individual. They can effect ones mental and physical health and may even lead to a further consequence, death. Ultimately, if the proper measures are taken, virtual bullying can be prevented and hopefully eliminated from society.