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CYBER BULLYING

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Cyberbullying Definition

“…the use of information and communication technologies, particularly mobile phones and the internet, deliberately to upset someone else.”

DCSF 2007

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Statistics

• 84% 12-15 year olds access internet outside of school on average 14 hours per week

• 33% CYP aged 11-16 are cyberbullied

• 25% of these experience persistent cyberbullying

• LDD 16% more likely to be persistently cyberbullied

• Pupils receiving FSM 13% more likely to be persistently cyberbullied

• Girls experience twice as much persistent cyberbullying as boys

• 48% CYP admitted to having undertaken cyberbullying

• 22% do not know how to protect themselves against cyber bullies 64% victims fail to tell their parents

• 54% parents have not talked to children about how to protect themselves from cyberbullying

• 61% said they thought a good way to stop cyberbullying would be for parents to know how to deal with it.

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Specific features of cyberbullying

• Location- 24/7-anywhere• Impact- scale and scope can be

great• Targets and source- profiles do

not necessarily conform to traditional power imbalances

• Anonymity- bully not always known

• Motivation- bullying may be unintentional

• Evidence- digital footprint remains

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Impact

• Undermines confidence, self-esteem and sense of security

• Affects performance and attendance at school• Causes stress and affects health • Results in negative offline behaviours, such as

running away from home • Fuels prejudice in areas such as race, religion and

sexuality • Can lead to suicidal thoughts • Can affect a child for the rest of their lives

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How to deal with incidents

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Pupil Victim• Support the person being bullied, use existing pastoral support

procedures and inform parents• Advise pupil on next steps- no retaliation, review of info in

public domain, gather evidence for investigation, make sure person understands how to prevent it happening again- changing contact details, blocking contacts

• Contain incident- ask person responsible to remove content, contact providers to remove content, use disciplinary powers to confiscate phones, in cases of illegal content contact police

• Investigate incident- all incidents should be recorded and investigated, gather evidence, take steps to identify bully, audit of school systems, identify and interview witnesses, contact service provider and police if necessary

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Working with the bully and sanctions

Key is to change bully’s attitude and behaviour.Factors to consider when considering sanctions to use include;• The impact on the victim- was the bully acting anonymously, was

the material widely circulated and humiliating• The motivation of the bully: was the incident unintentional or in

retaliation to bullying by others Sanctions should:• Hold perpetrator to account, recognise harm caused and deter them

from repeating the behaviour• Demonstrate to school community that cyber bullying is

unacceptable and that school has effective ways of dealing with it

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Staff Victim• Don’t retaliate- report incidents and seek support• Keep record of abuse i.e. texts, emails, voice mail, website. Take

screen shots, record time and date of and URL of websites• Inform designated member of school leadership team• School should deal with via mediation and disciplinary procedures

where perpetrator is known to be a pupil or staff member• Support should be provided to staff member• Service providers can be contacted to take down inappropriate

web content/ deal with phone bullying• Designated member of senior management team should contact

police if it appears a law has been broken- i.e. death threats, assault threats or racially motivated crime

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Steps to tackle cyberbullying in school

• Understand and talk about cyberbullying to staff, parents and pupils what it is, its impact, sanctions and support

• Decide who in school will take responsibility for co-ordination and implementation of cyberbullying prevention and response strategies

• Update existing policies e.g. anti bullying, behavioural, pastoral care, AUP and e safety policies

• Make reporting cyberbullying easier• Publicise AUP to pupils, staff and parents• Promote and discuss netiquette and positive use of technology• Review and evaluate impact of prevention activities

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Safety advice for pupils• Respect others- be careful what you say and send online• Think before you send• Treat your password like your toothbrush- keep it to yourself• Block the bully- learn how to block and report a bully• Don’t reply- or retaliate• Save the evidence- learn how to keep records of bullying

messages, pictures or online chat• Tell- a trusted adult

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Safety advice for staff• Protect Personal information• Set your own privacy levels to Friends Only• Do not Friend pupils or parents or add them to your contact

lists• Think carefully about what content you post online• Keep your password private• Prevent access to mobile phone• Do not use personal equipment for school business e.g.

phones, cameras, memory sticks, laptops

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Resources for schools

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Resources for Pupils

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Further Advice• Thinkuknow www.thinkuknow.co.uk• Childnet – www.childnet-int.org• StopText bully

www.stoptextbully.com/ • Cybermentors -

www.cybermentors.org.uk• Bullying Online www.bullying.co.uk • Bullying via mobile phone

www.stoptextbully.com• DCSF DVD and resource pack for

teachers called ‘Let’s Fight It Together’. Available to download from the Teachernet website.