As a growing public health issue, cyber bullying has become a problem in schools throughout Australia. Around 20% of children experience cyber bullying, with 17% of them encountering it every week. If you’re a concerned parent or teacher who wants to protect their kids or students from cyber bullying and its ill-effects, we have some tips you may find useful in reaching that goal.
When someone comes forward about cyber bullying, all too often their concerns are dismissed—or, worse, they’re told that they brought the situation on themselves. As with many other forms of abuse, the victim is sometimes told that they’re responsible for their own abuse. A new research published in Computers in Human Behavior links the amount of blame the victim receives to the aspect of social attractiveness.
Cyber bullying is now increasingly being seen as a public health crisis in Australia. In fact, approximately one-third of kids has experienced cyber bullying. However, only a few report the incidents to adults or the authorities. This can lead to more victims experiencing depression and anxiety, sometimes with life-threatening results.
One reason victims may hesitate before coming forward is the fear that they’ll be blamed for the cyber bullying behaviour of others. The new research attempted to understand and go deeper into this issue.
The British University conducting the research had more than 100 undergraduates examine screenshots of eight artificially created Facebook feeds. After looking at the feeds, the “victims” were rated by social attractiveness and how responsible they were for their behaviour. Researchers found direct correlations between the perception of social attractiveness and victim blaming.
What researchers saw was that if the victim received a significant amount of bullying from a single source, they were less likely to be blamed. However, when the victim received a low volume of bullying from a single source, they were more likely to be blamed. In the second case, it was assumed that something about themselves had caused the bullying or that they were somehow responsible for the hurtful things said.
In the first case, however, researchers believe that occasional bullying comments from a single source aren’t thought of as bullying, but as socially acceptable teasing or banter, especially when two people are going back and forth regularly.
Social attractiveness has to do with more than just whether someone looks good or not. Those who are seen as socially attractive are deemed likeable enough to receive attention from others. Also, if we can identify with or relate to someone better, they have a higher social attractiveness rating.
Interestingly, researchers found that victims were thought to be less socially attractive if they were only bullied occasionally by a single source. When they were bullied often by a single source, they were perceived as being more socially attractive, which seems to earn them less blame for the behaviour of others according to the study. Since we see the person as likeable and similar to us, we have more sympathy for them. Those who seem less socially attractive are more likely to be blamed for being bullied online or offline.
It’s important that parents and educators to not dismiss bullying as “kids being kids” and instead look at comments that can be interpreted as being malicious or abusive. Even if someone “didn’t mean it,” the impact of their words needs to be considered as carefully—if not more so—as their intent.
And it’s important to remember that children and students can both be victims and the cyber bullies themselves. It’s important for parents to watch out for both, and not assume that because their child is being bullied, they would never bully another kid. In all this, however, it should be clear that being bullied is never the victim’s fault.
At StarShell Student, we’ve created a platform that acts as a social media monitoring tool that filters online content and updates to protect children and students from the ill-effects of cyber bullying. It also acts as an educational platform that helps turn the youth into responsible users of social media. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us today to learn more about how we can help.
Research from the youth charity Reach Out has revealed that an overwhelming number of Australian children experience cyber bullying. Using a nationally representative survey of people aged between 14 and 25, it found that up to 380,000 children experienced cyber bullying in 2017 alone. In some cases, the bullying became so severe that those who experienced it sought medical advice for their mental health.
Using this survey’s results and concerns commonly expressed by parents, it’s possible to argue that cyber bullying is now becoming a public health issue. Another study from Kings College has revealed that online bullying can lead to anxiety, depression, and impulsivity. As conditions that can all affect a person’s ability to focus, complete tasks, and socialise, it’s important not to ignore them.
As the evidence that cyber bullying negatively affects mental well-being is mounting, it’s clear it can have a broader long-term impact on health at a population level. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 300 million people worldwide suffer from depression. The WHO recognises the severity of the condition and so it treats it as one of its primary targets for improvement.
For its part, the Australian Government recognises that depression can have a significant impact on the sufferer’s life. One of the biggest concerns is that it can cause young people to stop engaging with their schoolwork. Additionally, they may choose to withdraw from family and friends. If this is the effect that cyber bullying is having, tackling it as a cause of depression is crucial if young people are going to develop into thriving adults. That said, it’s no question that cyber bullying can also lead to more extreme consequences.
No parent likes the idea of their child experiencing bullying in any way or form. According to the aforementioned Reach Out study, many now see it as a bigger threat to their children’s well-being than alcohol and smoking. One of the biggest challenges with this is that parents may find it easier to keep their children away from alcohol and cigarettes. Due to the insidious nature of cyber bullying and the fact that it takes place online, it isn’t as easy to resolve.
As one-in-three young people experience some form of online bullying, it’s clear that both parents and teachers must take a proactive approach to stopping it. One way to approach this is to utilise the same technologies that make cyber bullying possible such as the internet and digital services through options such as parental controls and online monitoring tools.
Different organisations such as Reach Out have begun asking the platforms where cyber bullying takes place to take more effective steps towards stopping it. This includes calling for safety standards that make social networks such as Facebook a safer place for its users, especially the youth. Interestingly, they’re also focusing on games such as Fortnite, and they’re calling on parents to help their children access safer versions of online games.
Although it’s reasonable to expect organisations and schools to begin making greater efforts towards preventing cyber bullying, parents should become more proactive as well. Useful approaches towards addressing cyber bullying and its effects can include online awareness and having a culture of open communication that reassures children and students that experiencing bullying is nothing to be ashamed of and that they can always ask for help. By creating a more honest dialogue, they may feel empowered to seek help when they need it most.At Starshell Student, we’ve developed a platform that aims to help protect both students and young people from cyber bullying and deal with it the right way. It functions both as a prevention and education tool that filters potentially harmful social media content and helps transform the youth into responsible users of social media. Contact us today to know more.