1. Philippine Normal University College of Arts and Sciences
Taft Avenue, Manila SY 2010-2011
CYBERBULLYING
Olweus (1993)
“A person is bullied when he or she is exposed, repeatedly and over time, to
negative actions on the part of one or more other persons, and he or she has
difficulty defending himself or herself."
This definition includes three important
components:
1. Bullying is aggressive behavior
that involves unwanted, negative
actions.
2. Bullying involves a pattern of
behavior repeated over time
3. Bullying involves an imbalance of
power or strength.”
Bullying
• Physical
• Relational/Verbal
• Internet
Online Harassment & Cyberbullying
• Online harassment: aggressive
behavior, “harm doing,” insults,
denigration, impersonation,
exclusion, outing, activities
associated with hacking –
stealing information, breaking
into accounts, damaging
websites, profiles etc. (Willard,
2006)
• Cyberbullying: online harassment that is
– repeated over time
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2. – Involves a power imbalance between a perpetrator and a victim. Power
imbalance may be differences in online skills.
• Other complicating factor -- perpetrators are also often victims, sometimes
online, sometimes elsewhere. Internet bullying can be particularly hard to
disentangle. (Willard, 2006)
What makes online harassment & bullying different?
• Technology is vehicle
• Persistence of content
– Editable, alterable
• Distributability of content
– Speed
– Breadth
• Dis-inhibition over computer-
mediated communication
• Invasive
Cyberbullying "involves the use of information and communication technologies to
support deliberate, repeated, and hostile behavior by an individual or group, that is
intended to harm others. -Bill Belsey"
Cyberbullying is being cruel to others by sending or posting harmful material or
engaging in other forms of social aggression using the internet or other digital
technologies. Cyberbullying can take
different forms:
• Flaming. Online fights using
electronic messages with
angry and vulgar language.
Joe and Alec’s online
exchange got angrier
and angrier. Insults were
flying. Joe warned Alec
to watch his back in
school the next day.
• Harassment. Repeatedly
sending nasty, mean, and insulting messages.
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3. Sara reported to the principal that Kayla was bullying another student.
When Sara got home, she had 35 angry messages in her e-mail box. The
anonymous cruel messages kept coming—some from complete
strangers.
• Denigration. “Dissing” someone online. Sending or posting gossip or rumors
about a person to damage his or her reputation or friendships.
Some boys created a “We Hate Joe” Web site where they posted jokes,
cartoons, gossip, and rumors, all dissing Joe.
• Impersonation. Pretending to be someone else and sending or posting
material to get that person in trouble or danger or to damage that person’s
reputation or friendships.
Laura watched closely as Emma logged on to her account and discovered
her password. Later, Laura logged on to Emma’s account and sent a
hurtful message to Emma’s boyfriend, Adam.
• Outing. Sharing someone’s secrets or embarrassing information or images
online.
Greg, an obese high school student, was changing in the locker room
after gym class. Matt took a picture of him with his cell phone camera.
Within seconds, the picture was flying around the phones at school.
• Trickery. Talking someone into revealing secrets or embarrassing
information, then sharing it online.
Katie sent a message to Jessica pretending to be her friend and asking
lots of questions. Jessica responded, sharing really personal information.
Katie forwarded the message to lots of other people with her own
comment, “Jessica is a loser.”
• Exclusion. Intentionally and cruelly excluding someone from an online group.
Millie tries hard to fit in with a group of girls at school. She recently got on
the “outs” with a leader in this group. Now Millie has been blocked from
the friendship links of all of the girls.
• Cyberstalking. Repeated, intense harassment and denigration that includes
threats or creates significant fear.
When Annie broke up with Sam, he sent her many angry, threatening,
pleading messages. He spread nasty rumors about her to her friends and
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4. posted a sexually suggestive picture she had given him in a sex-oriented
discussion group, along with her e-mail address and cell phone number.
Impact of Cyberbullying
It is widely known that face-to-face bullying can result in long-term psychological harm
to targets. This harm includes low self-esteem, depression, anger, school failure and
avoidance, and, in some cases, school violence or suicide. It is possible that the harm
caused by cyberbullying may be greater than harm caused by traditional bullying
because . . .
• Online communications can
be extremely vicious.
• There is no escape for those
who are being cyberbullied—
victimization is ongoing, 24/7.
• Cyberbullying material can
be distributed worldwide and
is often irretrievable.
• Cyberbullies can be
anonymous and can solicit
the involvement of unknown
“friends.”
• Teens may be reluctant to
tell adults what is happening
online or through their cell phones because they are emotionally traumatized,
think it is their fault, fear greater retribution, or fear online activities or cell
phone use will be restricted.
A group of girls at Alan’s school had been taunting him through instant
messaging, teasing him about his small size, daring him to do things he
couldn’t do, suggesting that the world would be a better place if he
committed suicide. One day, he shot himself. His last online message was
“Sometimes the only way to get the respect you deserve is to die.” This is
also a true story.
PREVENTING CYBERBULLYING
There are several important things that
you can to do to avoid being a target
of cyberbullying:
• Protect yourself. Never provide
any information or images in
electronic form that could be used
against you.
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5. • Examine how you are communicating. If you find that people are frequently
attacking you, look closely at how you are communicating with them. You might be
communicating in a way that is irritating others or hurting their feelings.
• Find some new friends. If you are trying to fit into a group of people who are
treating you badly, it might be easier to simply find some nicer friends. Life’s too
short to waste time trying to be friends with mean people.
Discipline and Legal Issues
An article entitled, “Senate bill
seeks to stop bullying in schools”
written by Kimberly Jane T. Tan of
GMA news said that Senator Miriam
Defensor-Santiago submitted Senate
Bill No. 2677. The bill mandates all
schools, whether public or private,
including colleges and universities, to
craft policies that will address the
problem of bullying in their respective
institutions.
“Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV and
Cong. Rodel Batocabe have come up
with their respective Anti-bullying bills in a bid to break this vicious cycle and create a
school environment that is truly child-friendly”, as said in the article “School Bullies,
Beware!: Anti-Bullying Bills to the Rescue” in the Manila Bulletin.
Batocabe’s House Bill 2361 or the Anti-Bullying Act criminalizes bullying and
cyberbullying, and penalizes bullies who are minor (below 18) and their parents.
Trillanes’ Anti-bullying Act (SBN 413), on the other hand, requires school districts
to adopt policies prohibiting harassment, intimidation and bullying.
What We Can Do1
De La Salle University
Psychology professor Anton Simon
Palo says the solution to bullying
should be a preventive policy, not a
reactive one. This, he adds, is best
achieved not just in school but in the
community level.
Marlon Era, a sociologist and
professor at DLSU, states that children
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6. who resort to bullying may be seeking recognition in some other way. They may also
have the wrong role models at home.
“All the basic things in life we learn that from the family, from the parents. Even if
good laws are implemented on this issue, if the family orientation is bad, you still cannot
address the program. We are developing the country’s future leaders here so it is
important to teach the right values to our children. We should teach them that its better
to be friendly and caring so they would gain more friends,” Era stresses.
For Palo, the best solution is to
empower the students to have a
unified effort to stop the bullies; to
teach proper counseling techniques to
teachers and guidance counselors; to
involve the parents in the treatment of
the child; and to set up community
psychosocial centers that play an
active role in educating people and
children on bullying.
Submitted to:
PROF. SYLVIA T. CABERIO
Counseling Theories and Practice 1
Submitted by:
MR. REYNANTE S.TAGUM
M.A. in Education Major in Guidance and Counseling
1
Really, What Constitutes Bullying? by Rachel C. Barawid, November 10, 2010
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7. http://mb.com.ph/articles/286812/really-what-constitutes-bullying
Reference
Online Articles
A new menace: cyberbullying
http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view/20100716-281552/A-new-menace-
cyberbullying
Cyber bully victims hit with depression—survey
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/infotech/view/20100922-293654/Cyber-bully-victims-
hit-with-depressionsurvey
Cyber Parenting (How it could work)
http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/235379/cyber-parenting-how-it-could-work
Gay student in alleged webcam bullying commits suicide
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/infotech/view/20101001-295328/Gay-student-in-
alleged-webcam-bullying-commits-suicide
Have you been a victim of cyber-harassment?
http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/you/2bu/view/20091016-230461/Have-you-been-a-victim-of-
cyber-harassment
Heart in cyberspace
http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view/20080619-143480/Heart-in-cyberspace
In Cyber Bullying, Depression Hits Victims Hardest
http://www.depnet.ph/uni0/news/newsitem/3381/default.aspx
Parents still crucial vs. online risks
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/infotech/view/20090602-208452/Parents-still-crucial-
vs-online-risks
Research on cyber bullying, technical issues expose dangers
http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/aug/17/yehey/top_stories/20080817top4.html
S. Korea's Cyworld touts privacy in battle with Facebook
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/world/view/20101216-309307/SKoreas-Cyworld-
touts-privacy-in-battle-with-Facebook
School Bullies, Beware!: Anti-Bullying Bills to the Rescue
http://mb.com.ph/articles/286811/school-bullies-beware-antibullying-bills-rescue
Senate bill seeks to stop bullying in schools
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