Although passion and widespread sympathy for bullying victims is natural and admirable, those who want to stop bullying abuse need to act in ways that reflect good science and proven research if they want to contribute to a culture that does not condone this behavior, according to the director of the University at Buffalo’s anti-bullying center.
“There is such a tension right now around the issue of bullying. A lot of people have passion and want to make a difference,” says Amanda B. Nickerson, the director of UB’s Dr. Jean Alberti Center for the Prevention of Bullying Abuse and School Violence in the Graduate School of Education.
“But I’m worried that passion is not coupled with good science and theory behind it,” Nickerson says. “So one of the things the Alberti Center can do is conduct research and also look closely at what we know about the research to guide the efforts.”
National attention and concern with bullying continues to be one of the most discussed and debated social issues of the year. Most recently, singer Lady Gaga started a new nonprofit foundation to promote “self-confidence and anti-bullying.” The entertainer has often cited the suicide of 14-year-old Williamsville high school student Jamey Rodemeyer. Her new “Born This Way” foundation came about after she recently met with President Obama to discuss ways to combat youth bullying.
Given the attention and outcry over this tragedy — and the steady stream of media attention to the implications of Rodemeyer’s death — Nickerson addressed related topics, from the tell-tale signs your child is being bullied to Nickerson’s mission at UB’s Alberti Center.
Illustration on digital bullying by Annlaug Auestad
At Thursday’s White House Conference for Bullying Prevention in Washington, D.C., Facebook is announcing a new suite of tools to protect users from bullying, foster a stronger sense of community in the social network, and “create a culture of respect” among Facebook users.
U.S. President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle popped up on Facebook to deliver the message about cyber-bullying. The video, exclusive to Facebook, serves as a promo and curtain-raiser for the White House Conference on Bullying Prevention, which takes place Thursday. In the video, President Obama jokes about not bugging the viewer for a friend request but instead bringing to light the upcoming conference. “This isn’t an issue that makes headlines every day, but it affects every single young person in our country,” he says in the video.
Facebook’s changes boil down to two main aspects: an improved safety center with more multimedia resources, and better, more social tools for reporting offensive or bullying content.
In addition to reporting harassing or TOS-violating content directly to Facebook, users now have two important options that are more social and more community-centric. Within the reporting options interface, the targeted user can choose to privately message the user who posted the stressful or offensive content. If the user wishes to report the content to Facebook, he or she can also choose to include a trusted authority figure, such as a teacher or parent, as a contact in that incident report.
As for the Safety Center upgrades, Facebook will be bringing “new educational videos, external resources from renowned experts, downloadable materials for people to share and discuss” and more resources within the coming weeks. The company is also asking teens to contribute feedback on smart, safe uses of technology.
Illustration on digital bullying by Annlaug Auestad
Two out of three children have experienced bullying via the Internet or mobile phones according to a survey made by Telenor in 2008 in Norway. The survey also shows that parents are uncertain about what to do about this kind of bullying.
1. Take bullying through social media seriously
2. Talk with children and young people about Internet use and netiquette
3. Get involved in the children’s Internet use and become friends with your children on Facebook
4. Remember to save harassment and threats on the hard disc and mobile device
5. Contact the police on suspicion of offenses
For many victims of bullying cyber-bullying is just one of several ways in which they are being harassed. This may mean that they never have any protected place. At school, they are left out or maligned and when they come home they receive insults on mobile phones and net. Access to social media in recent years has unfortunately provided some new bullying tools,”
Tove Flack
Research Fellow Tove Flack at the Centre for Behavioural Research (SAF) at the University of Stavanger has extensive experience in counselling work in anti-bullying, which includes the centre’s program zero, where zero tolerance for bullying and active involvement are important concepts. Zero gives schools advice on how to prevent, detect and solve problems and create continuity. She has also worked with cases of bullying and conducted bullying research in schools. In her research and practice, she has particularly focused on hidden bullying. Curious? Continue reading
According to young people, individual traits are the main reasons for bullying.
Both the bully and the victim’s individual characteristics, rather than the wider social environment, explain why bullying occurs, according to Swedish teenagers. The new study, by Dr. Robert Thornberg and Sven Knutsen from Linköping University in Sweden, also shows that 42 percent of teenagers blamed the victim for the bullying. The study is published online in Springer’s journal, Child & Youth Care Forum.[continue reading…]
