Thesis exploration for Communications Design graduate program.

1. TOPIC 2:
VISUAL EMPATHY
TO FOSTER DIGITAL
INTIMACY & PREVENT
YOUTH BULLYING
Victoria Potente
Directed Research – Spring 2015 | Rodger Guilfoyle

2. “Could a greater moment take place than
for us to look through each other's eyes
for an instant.”
- Henry David Thoreau
American author, poet, philosopher, abolitionist, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor,
historian, & leading transcendentalist (1817 – 1862)
“A friend is someone who knows you in
depth, not someone who has collected you
like an electronic playing card.”
- John David Ebert
The New Media Invasion: Digital Technologies and the world they Unmake

3. STATEMENT:
Bullying victims can no longer escape
identity-damaging words in the digital age.
Government legislates that schools have
educational programs for youth and faculty.
Support groups offer programs, resources,
and online forums to share youths’ creative
expressions and testimonials. However, the
content doesn’t visually connect well.
Online platforms can be redesigned to
foster deeper engagement and connection.

4. TIMELINE OF BULLYING
Bullying in
literature; Tom
Brown - School Days
1857
1st report of death
from bullying;
Canterbury, UK
1862
1st significant
research on
bullying;
Pedagogical Seminary
– Frederick L. Burk
1897
Bullying includes
stealing and
robbery;
The Psychology of
the adjusted School
Child – John Jacob
Brooke Morgan
1952
1st systematic
method for studying
bullying;
Dr. Dam Olweus using a
self-respect
questionnaire
1978
1st proposition of
anti-bullying law;
Dr. Dam Olweus
proposed law against
bulying
1981
Definition of
bullying continues
to evolve; direct
verbal taunting,
exclusion, and
spreading rumors
1989
Columbine;
two bullied teenage boys
brought 50 bombs to
school and opened mass
gunfire – 23 wounded,
13 fatalities, and
2 suicides
1999
Cyberbullying
leads to suicide;
13-year old Ryan
Halligan hangs himself
due to relentless
cyberbullying
2003
Federal law
passed against
cyberbullying; federal
crime to “annoy, abuse,
threaten or harass” another
person over the internet
2006
First anti-cyberbullying
legislation passed;
gives schools authority to
discipline for bullying others
off or online
2008

5. TIMELINE OF BULLYING
Bullying in literature; Tom Brown - School Days
1st Report of death from bullying; Canterbury, UK
1st Significant research on bullying; Pedagogical Seminary – Frederick L. Burk
Bullying includes stealing and robbery; The Psychology of the adjusted School Child – John Jacob Brooke Morgan
1st Systematic method for studying bullying; Dr. Dam Olweus using a self-respect questionnaire
1st Proposition of anti-bullying law; Dr. Dam Olweus proposed law against bulying
Definition of bullying continues to evolve; direct verbal taunting, exclusion, and spreading rumors89
Columbine; two bullied teenage boys brought 50 bombs to school and opened mass gunfire – 23 wounded, 13 fatalities, and 2 suicides
Cyberbullying leads to suicide; 13-year old Ryan Halligan hangs himself due to relentless cyberbullying
Federal law passed against cyberbullying; federal crime to “annoy, abuse, threaten or harass” another person over the internet
First anti-cyberbullying legislation passed; gives schools authority to discipline for bullying others off or online
1857
1862
1897
1952
1978
1981
1989
1999
2003
2006
2008

6. STATS BEHIND BULLYING
⌃160,000 bullied kids miss school each day
⌃280,000 kids are physically attacked each day
4,500 teens
commit suicide each year
every
7 min
a child is
bullied on the
playground
Cyberbullying victims almost
twice as likely to attempt
suicide compared to youth
who do not experience it
Concern/severity increased over past 20 yrs; factors include:
• Larger classrooms and budgetary cuts in school (less time for teacher’s to connect with students)
• Break-down of family structure (stable environment), parent involvement, and parents not willing to take
responsibility for their children’s actions or discipline – can even encourage behavior
• Decrease in social skill development, such as empathy, teamwork, leadership, and communication
• Overexposure to social media (over sharing opens the door to bullying)

7. THE INTERNET – A NEW PLAYGROUND
Teenagers using internet have
profiles on social networks
Teenagers and kids
who are bullied
inform their parents
80%
School shooting
incidents in US are
related to bullying
and harassment
75%
Teenagers say they
have been bullied online
81%
42%
Teenagers using
internet are bullied
by peers
40%

8. CREATIVE ANTI-BULLYING VIDEO – “SHARE IT TO END IT”
http://shareittoendit.com/
To make a point about bullying, video gets shorter every time you share it on Facebook;
Launched by Singapore's Coalition Against Bullying for Children and Youth
Created by JWT Singapore (creative agency) - Juhi Kalia, Executive Creative Director

9. HYPOTHESIS:
Employing visual empathy can create online
communities that engage with youths more
intimately, making anti-bullying messages
relatable to this audience. Building user
experiences that cater to the youth will
encourage participation, and deeper, more
personal connections, anonymously; striving
to offer more intimate support platforms to
elicit empathy with one another, gain
acceptance, and lull bullying’s effects.

10. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ito, Mizuko. Hanging Out, Messing Around, and Geeking Out: Kide Living and Learning with New Media.
Cambridge: Mit, 2010. Print.
Shirky, Clay. Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age. New York: Penguin, 2010. Print.
Ebert, John David. The New Media Invasion: Digital Technologies and the World They Unmake. Jefferson, NC: McFarland &, 2011. Print.
Bennett, W. Lance. Civic Life Online: Learning How Digital Media Can Engage Youth. Cambridge, MA: MIT, 2008. Print.
Buckingham, David. Youth, Identity, and Digital Media. Cambridge, MA: MIT, 2008. Print.
”Is Bullying A Silent Epidemic Among Kids? - Facts & Infographic." Is Bullying A Silent Epidemic Among Kids?
N.p., n.d.Web. 14 Apr. 2014.
"Humanae (work in Progress)." Angelica Dass. N.p., n.d.Web. 14 Apr. 2014.
"History of Bullying in Schools." Timetoast. N.p., n.d.Web. 14 Apr. 2014.
"Anti-Bullying Video Gets Shorter With Each Share." Marketing Land. N.p., n.d.Web. 21 Apr. 2014.
"The Evolution of Bullying." Latest and Greatest from Chicagoans. N.p., n.d.Web. 28 Apr. 2014.
"Realizing Empathy: An Inquiry Into the Meaning of Making.” N.p., n.d.Web. 30 Apr. 2014.
Bullying and Cyberbullying: History, Statistics, Law, Prevention and Analysis Richard Donegan* Strategic Communication Elon University
The Elon Journal of Undergraduate Research in Communications • Vol. 3, No. 1 • Spring 2012
The Digital Self: Through the Looking Glass of Telecopresent Others Author(s): Shanyang Zhao, Source: Symbolic Interaction, Vol. 28,
No. 3 (Summer 2005), pp. 387-405 Published by: Wiley on behalf of the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction Stable URL:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/si.2005.28.3.387.
Chayko, M. (2007) ‘The portable community: envisioning and examining mobile social connectedness’, Int. J. Web Based Communities,
Vol. 3, No. 4, pp.373–385.
A Socio-economic Analysis of Youth Disconnectedness Friedhelm Pfeiffer ZEW Mannheim and IZA Ruben R. Seiberlich University of
Konstanz Discussion Paper No. 4855 March 2010