Pierluigi Paganini November 02, 2013

The post is an intro to Cyberbullying concept and proposes an interesting infograph to better understand the entity of the forms of cyber harassment.

Cyberbullying is the use of the Internet and any other technology to harm or harass other people, in a deliberate, repeated, and hostile manner.  Unfortunately this phenomena are in constant increase, in many cases the repercussion are serious especially for youngsters, due this reason legislation and awareness campaigns have arisen to combat it.

Be aware, cyberbullying is not limited to children because similar practices are diffused within adults, in this case many experts used the term  cyberstalking or cyberharassment to identify the harmful conduct perpetrated by adults toward adults.

Typical cyberbullying conduct is based on the in cyberharassment in public forums, social media, blog and any other form of online media with the intent to threaten a victim’s reputation, earnings, employment or safety. Very common is the habit to encourage others to harass the victim and trying to compromise its online experience on social media.

Fortunately law enforcement is aware of the cyberbulling phenomena, despite it was erroneously considered a low threat for a long time. Principal law framework today consider cyberbullying as a crime and numerous awareness campaign are conducting on a global scale to originate the concerning habits especially through the scholastic education.

After this short intro I desire to present an eloquent and interesting infograph that was sent me by a representative of the organization BestEducationDegrees  – http://www.besteducationdegrees.com/cyberbullying/

Following some interesting statistics on cyberbullying:

Inside CyberBullying

Cyberbullying is defined as the “willful and repeated harm inflicted through the use of computers, cell
phones, and other electronic devices.” With 80% of teens on cell phones and the same on social media sites,
it’s time to understand that technology is connecting teens in ways they can’t escape.

Cyberbullying rates

1 in 6 (16.2%) of teens are cyber bullied [22.1% girls / 10.8% boys]
18.6% of white [25.9% girls / 11.8% boys]
8.9% of blacks [11% girls / 6.9% boys]
13.6% of hispanics [18% girls / 9.5% boys]
15.5 of 9th graders [22.6% girls / 8.9% boys]
18.1 of 10th graders [24.2% girls / 12.6% boys]
16 of 11th graders [19.8% girls / 12.4% boys]
15 of 12th graders [21.5% girls / 8.8% boys]

Off-line bullying rates

1 in 5 are bullied offline [22% girls / 18% boys]

Cyberbullying rates by state

Alabama [12.3%], Alaska [15.3%], Arkansas [16.7%], Colorado [14.4%], Connecticut [16.3%], Florida [12.4%],
Georgia [13.6%], Hawaii [14.9%], Idaho [17%], Illinois [16%], Indiana [18.7%], Iowa [16.8%], Kansas [15.5%],
Kentucky [17.4%], Louisiana [18%], Maine [19.7%], Maryland [14.2%], Michigan [18%], Mississippi [12.5%],
Montana [19.2%], Nebraska [15.8%], New Hampshire [21.6%], New Jersey [15.6%], New Mexico [13.2%], New
York [16.2%], North Carolina [15.7%], North Dakota [17.4%], Ohio [14.7%], Oklahoma [15.6%], Rhode Island
[15.3%], South Carolina [15.6%], South Dakota [19.6%], Tennessee [13.9%], Texas [13%], Utah [16.6%], Ver-mont [15.2%], Virginia [14.8%], West Virginia [15.5%], Wisconsin [16.6%], Wyoming [18.7%]

But cyber bullying is punishable by the law. [4]

49/50 states have bullying laws (Montana is the one state that doesn’t)
47/50 include “electronic harassment.
44/50 include school sanctions.
18/50 specifically include “cyberbullying”
and 12/50 include criminal sanctions.
With Federal cyberbullying laws pending.

What it causes

Teenagers who are cyberbullied are 3 times more likely to commit suicide.
Teenagers who are traditionally bullied are 2 times more likely to commit suicide.

Suicide attempts that require treatment:
1.5% for youths not bullied
2.3% for youths physically bullied
5.4% for youths cyberbullied
6% for youths physically and cyberbullied
Only 1/10 victims ask their parents for help.
Leaving 9/10 to deal with the abuse alone.

Tips for parents

• Unconditional support.
• Inform the child of options in dealing with the bully.
• Work with school officials.
• Work with the parents of the bully.
• Contact IT providers to get content removed and bullies blocked.
• If necessary, contact the police.

Tips for Educators

• Teach that cyberbullying is wrong.
• Listen and respond to all reports of bullying.
• Have students work on projects against cyberbullying.
• Have a system for complaints to be documented.
• Host speakers on the topic of bullying.
• Ensure that school is a safe place; free from cyberbullying.

Cyberbullying is real and often more emotionally brutal than traditional bullying.
Stay informed and protect your children because sometimes words hurt more than sticks and stones.

Do not forget that cyberbullying will die!