What is Cyberbullying?

Cyberbullying is a form of bullying that takes place using an electronic medium.

The term bullying has been defined in different ways by experts in the field. Many use a definition from Olweus, a pioneering researcher on bullying, which states, "...a student is being bullied or victimized when he is exposed repeatedly and over time to negative actions on the part of one or more other students" (Olweus 1993, 9). Other researchers have maintained that bullying involves an intention to hurt the victim, and a power differential between bully and victim (Pepler et al. 1997, 2; Coloroso 2002, 13). Most experts now agree that bullying must include these four features:

1. Negative or hurtful behaviour: The behaviour of the bully is negative or hurtful to the victim. The bullying behaviour can range from nonverbal aggression, such as stares and teasing, to serious physical assaults. It can be direct or indirect; indirect bullying comprises behaviours that covertly cause distress to the victim, such as gossip, spreading of rumours, or encouraging others to exclude a person (Pepler et al. 1997, 2).
2. Intent to harm: The bully means to inflict emotional and/or physical harm on the victim.
3. Imbalance of power: The bully is more powerful (either real or perceived power) than the victim. The power differential in bullying may arise from differences in size and stature, but also from higher social status, a knowledge of vulnerabilities, or from the number of children colluding with the bully (Pepler et al. 1997, 2).
4. Repeated over time: The negative behaviour towards the victim occurs repeatedly.

Cyberbullying is behaviour that involves these elements and takes place via e-mail, cell phones that can send text messages, instant-messaging programs, Internet chat rooms, or web sites or blogs. Some examples of ways that young people bully online are (adapted from National Crime Prevention Council 2003):

• Sending someone mean or threatening e-mails, instant messages, or text messages.
• Excluding someone from an instant messenger buddy list or blocking their e-mail for no reason.
• Tricking someone into revealing personal or embarrassing information and sending it to others.
• Breaking into someone's e-mail or instant messaging account to send cruel or untrue messages while posing as that person.
• Creating web sites or blogs to make fun of a peer.
• Using web sites to rate peers as prettiest, ugliest, fattest, and so on.
  

Young people should be aware that some forms of cyberbullying are considered criminal acts (Media Awareness Network 2004). Under the Criminal Code of Canada, it is a crime to communicate repeatedly with someone if your communication causes them to fear for their own safety or the safety of others.

It's also a crime to publish a "defamatory libel" - writing something that is designed to insult a person or likely to injure a person's reputation by exposing him or her to hatred, contempt or ridicule.

>> Next, examples of cyberbullying.