THE shocking deaths of four students at Western Heights College in Geelong over the last six months have devastated a school community, leaving them searching for answers. That at least one of the students - 14-year-old Chanelle Rae - took her life shortly after being bullied on the internet has brought attention to an insidious dark side of today’s technology-savvy teens.

It may seem unfathomable to adults that bullying – through instant messaging, social networking sites or text messages - can compel a young person to end their life. But for the teenagers who are the targets of cyber bullying, the torment is relentless.

Victorian Premier John Brumby has called for better education about cyber bullying in schools to better understand the pervasive problem. The Federal Government announced in August it is funding a national pilot project aimed at addressing cyber bullying in schools. The Alannah and Madeline Foundation will develop and conduct the $3 million initiative, which will involve at least 150 schools.

Cyber-safety advocate and Victorian high school student Tom Wood understands the devastating impact of cyber bullying. Several years ago, someone hacked into his account in a web forum and posted abusive messages under his name to other members. Horrified and distressed, Wood retaliated. The bullying went on for several months before Wood finally stopped responding to the messages, which then tapered off.

“I didn’t tell anyone. I felt bad about what was said and I didn’t know whether the threats were real. I was bad and worried and upset. Every third word would be the ‘c’ or the ‘f’ word and just bagging, really, but also mixed with threats and stuff,” the Year 12 student says.

New research into bullying in Australia, published in June, shows cyber-bullying has become a serious issue for many young people. At least 10 per cent of children report being cyber bullied every few weeks, while another 8 per cent admit to cyber bullying others. The study, which involved 7000 students from 124 schools nation-wide, found although face-to-face ‘overt’ bullying, such as hitting and teasing has declined, ‘covert’ bullying – particularly cyber bullying - is becoming more prevalent and insidious.

The rate of children who have reported being cyber bullied in countries such as the United States, Canada and the UK is still much higher – at around 20 per cent. But professor Donna Cross, director of Edith Cowan University’s (ECU) Child Health Promotion Research Centre, which conducted the research, says cyber-bullying often goes unreported in Australia.

“We suspect that [the rate of cyber bullying] is higher and that young people aren’t talking very much about it because their fear is adults will take away the technology,” she says.

ECU researchers found cyber bullying increases by 1-2 per cent as students progress through high school – perhaps relating to increased access to technology as children mature, Cross says. That’s in contrast to face-to-face bullying, which peaks around Year 5 and 6 and again when students transition into high school. Girls report they are cyber bullied more often, usually via social networking sites, while boys are traditionally more likely to bully through gaming sites, although that it now changing, Cross says. Students living outside metropolitan areas were also more likely to experience cyber-bullying, compared to their urban peers, the study found.

Cross says there are several features of cyber bullying that create a “toxic cocktail” – one that sometimes pushes vulnerable students to the edge. The pervasiveness of technology means targets can be cyber bullied 24 hours a day, seven days a week – usually after school and at home, when they have freer access to technology, she says. The potential for humiliation is much greater in cyberspace, where bullying messages, via sites such as MySpace, can be viewed by potentially thousands of other people. The written word is particularly powerful, as students can read it time and time again, etching it into their memory.

Cross says adults respond quickly to overt bullying, but that’s untrue of covert forms like cyber-bullying. “Adults don’t think of it as harmful to young people, so they tend to be dismissive of it. Sadly, young people are telling us adults are not taking it anywhere as seriously.”

It’s not just researchers who have flagged the problem. School psychologists and counsellors are reporting higher rates of cyber bullying, too, as well as a rise in other mental health issues. Lesley Fraser, president of the Australian Guidance and Counselling Association, agrees most cyber bullying is still “underground”.

“One of the biggest issues is students aren’t reporting it, they’re just putting up with it. We are seeing increased incidents of it in schools, some of it on school email, also on personal emails and text messaging,” she says.

“Fortunately, we have haven’t heard of suicide, but certainly [there are] increased levels of anxiety and depression, which may be due to cyber bullying, There’s also an increase in self harm among young people.”

Fraser, who works as a school psychologist at three schools in Tasmania, says incidents range from school emails saying, ‘I wish you were dead’ to making fun of others to having bystanders film fights, with the intention of posting them on video-sharing website YouTube. She says the anonymity of cyber bullying, which is usually carried out by someone known to the target, makes it particularly cruel.

“The bully doesn’t see the actual effect it’s having, they can be relentless and go much further than they like because they don’t realise how devastating it is.”
Fraser is concerned that some schools are failing to confront the issue. “Some schools are still coming to terms with it. Some have had to deal with it because it’s happened and it’s become very public and they’ve had to take steps. I would like to see schools be more proactive.”

Critics argue that since cyber bullying occurs out of school hours, it is the responsibility of parents to handle it. But Alexei Hawkins, senior pastoral coordinator at Delany College in Sydney, says it is imperative schools get involved. “It’s an ever growing problem; I deal with it constantly. Although it physically doesn’t happen here on site, we have to deal with the consequences at the college,” she says.

Ignorance on the part of parents is an area Delany College is working to address – something Hawkins says is a necessity. “Parents don’t understand what their children are doing. They don’t understand this whole concept of MSN and Facebook. There seems to be implicit trust for their kids to do the right thing,” she says.

Teachers are also looking for guidance. Cross says although some schools have developed policies and trained staff to deal with cyber-bullying, a wider effort is needed. “Teachers are telling us they really lack the skills. They recognise they need to do something, but they don’t know what to do,” she says.

Cross, whose team is developing programs and resources for parents and schools to fight cyber-bullying, says many schools have responded quickly, forming policies and taking a stance against bullying.

“Where they’re challenged is they have yet to get support around curriculum delivery and strategies to use when children have been cyber-bullied,” she says.

But Queensland University of Technology senior lecturer, Dr Marilyn Campbell, warns there are no quick fix solutions.

“It’s a complex social problem and it’s deeply embedded in our society. You can’t expect schools always to change society. What we’ve got to do is early intervention for the bullies. We’re concentrating too much on trying to change victims’ behaviours.”

Fraser agrees that bullies need counselling – and points out the line between ‘victim’ and ‘bully’ is often blurred, due to retaliation. “The people doing the bullying have their own sets of problems. They require sensitivity and counselling in the same way as the people who are bullied do.”

LINKS

Cyberbullying Stories: www.cyberbullyingstories.org.au

Australian Federal Police - ThinkUKnow: www.thinkuknow.org.au

ACMA - CyberSmart: www.cybersmart.gov.au

National Safe Schools: www.deewr.gov.au/Schooling/NationalSafeSchools/Pages/research.aspx

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Name

Email

Website

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (registered users only)

I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment Preview