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Cyberbullying
Over the past fifteen years, technology has evolved so greatly, and so rapidly, that it is fast
becoming difficult to keep up. Every year, new computer models, mobile technology and gaming
consoles are introduced to the market, with everyone scrambling for and spending money on the
latest product. As a result of this, nearly every household in the country has access to the World
Wide Web. The Internet, whilst a very useful tool, is so open-ended that it can end up being
mishandled and misused. Such a case is through bullying. Bullying typically relates to aggressive
behaviours (physical and psychological) that are repeated over time to intentionally cause harm, and
can refer to direct (face-to-face encounters), indirect (social exclusion) or cyberbullying (which
takes place through ICT) (Neilsen-Hewitt & Bussey, 2014). This essay will focus on cyberbullying,
but in most cases, direct, indirect and cyberbullying all relate to one another, with it being common
that all three take place at the same time. Cyberbullying is a prevailing issue, not only in Australian
society, but worldwide, for four reasons. The first is anonymity. The impression of being
anonymous on the Internet incites in youths a misplaced confidence, and much less accountability
for their actions, making the idea of bullying someone seem far less arduous and far more
appealing. The second is geography. Bullying is no longer restricted to the playground. It is
conducted wherever there is access to the Internet. This means practically anywhere and
everywhere, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. The third is audience. School yard
bullying is restricted to those in the vicinity at the time, but spreading a rumour online could
potentially reach thousands of people. Lastly, the fourth is permanence. Verbal comments are
fleeting, but something posted online stays around almost indefinitely. It is widely believed that the
target age-range of cyberbullying is teenagers, but more and more children under the age of twelve
are being granted access to the Internet every day, which makes it an important issue for primary
schools to be aware of, and to try to prevent.

Guidelines and management plans

The Australian government takes cyberbullying very seriously. The Department of Education has
come up with a national policy that aids schools and their communities address cyberbullying and
the effects of cyberbullying. This national policy covers only a small portion, however, with states
and territories building upon it to develop their own policies. The national cybersafety policy
includes the Better Practice Guide: ICT in schools, which provides advice on planning for ICT,
technical, security and infrastructure issues. It links to and builds on frameworks and guidance
already being used by schools (Cybersmart, 2015), and the National Safe Schools Framework
(NSSF), which incorporates existing good practice and provides an agreed national approach to
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addressing bullying, harassment, violence, child abuse and neglect (Cybersmart, 2015). All states
and territories take a holistic approach to combat cyberbullying. This means that the entire school
community pitches in to develop the policies and procedures that govern that particular school.
Cybersmart (2015), a national cybersafety and cybersecurity education program that is managed by
the Australian Communications and Media Authority, suggests that schools put together a team to
develop and implement policies and codes of conduct, and the procedures to follow if the policy has
been breached. The team should also aid the staff utilise Cybersmart resources that will help them
understand how students use technology so that they have a way to identify and address cybersafety
issues, and also provide cybersafety information to parents.
In Victoria, the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development have developed two
main cybersafety guides. Firstly, the Building Safe and Respectful Schools strategy, which
encompasses anti-bullying guidelines and policies. It demands that all Victorian public schools
develop and implement a Student Code of Conduct that incorporates and deals with cyberbullying,
and includes anti-bullying and anti-harassment strategies (Goff, 2011). This strategy also uses the
Student Engagement and Inclusion Guidance, which contains information on student engagement
policy, student behaviour, strategies and supports available to schools and discipline, as well as
bullying prevention. This is linked to the second guide, a program called Bully Stoppers, which
calls on all Victorians to make a stand and lend a hand to prevent and respond to bullying
behaviour (Cybersmart, 2015). It is essentially an online toolkit which provides easy-to-use
printable tools and resources. On the site, there are interactive learning modules, which encourage
students to discuss cyberbullying and responsible social media use, as well as quizzes that they can
take afterwards. Bully Stoppers also provides advice sheets that describe what cyberbullying is in
detail and how to deal with it. In addition to that, Bully Stoppers has sections of relevant
information dedicated to principals, teachers, parents and students. In the teachers section, there are
subsections that deal with identifying and addressing bullying, individual and classroom strategies,
behaviour support plans and lots of resources that will aid in the promotion of cybersafety, and the
prevention of cyberbullying (Bully Stoppers, 2014).

Analysing cyberbullying and its implications in the classroom

Cyberbullying is a social problem. It can be argued that cyberbullying is a subset of bullying, [and
is therefore] not a problem of a different kind from bullying in an offline environment and is
platform neutral (Berg & Breheny, 2014). Bullying is related to age, with researchers finding that
bullying appears to peak between the ages of 11 to 13 (Berg & Breheny, 2014), which
corresponds to the later years of primary school (grades 5 and 6, although cases of cyberbullying
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occurring in the younger years is not uncommon). Through their research, Berg & Breheny (2014)
have found that cyberbullying is less common than traditional bullying, but admit that
determining the prevalence of cyberbullying is difficult, as the definition varies between researchers
and students. Dwyer & Easteal (2013) agree, but state that cyberbullying is on the rise, and may be
even higher than we think. This is so because, in many cases, bullying victims do not speak up
about their experiences. However, in almost every case, traditional bullying and cyberbullying
coexist - children who are cyberbullied suffer from traditional bullying as well.
Berg & Breheny (2014) believe that the principles behind anti-bullying programs are clear, but
their implementation in schools in Australia and around the world is still a work in progress.
Instead, it is suggested that blocking, by itself, tackles much of the harm imposed by
cyberbullying, certainly more efficiently and effectively than a government imposed scheme,
which can often come in conflict with other rights, [such as] the right to free expression. Berg &
Breheny (2014) discuss the consequences if the government implements their proposal to remove
material that is harmful to a child from the large social media sites, stating that if this comes to
pass, young people [might end up on] less controlled and less transparent sites. The problem with
the governments proposal is that it treats bullying and cyberbullying as separate entities, and
ignores the support system that is already in place to tackle bullying (parents, teachers and
guardians). Berg & Breheny (2014) conclude by stating that the responsibility for tackling
cyberbullying ultimately lies with the parents, as they are liable for their children, and therefore
should not be negligent.
Is it the parents, then, who hold the duty of care to protect against cyberbullying? Or is it the
schools that are responsible? The governments laws do not provide us with a clear answer. It is
generally well believed that a school is responsible for its students within school-times, and when
the students are using the schools property. This applies to cyberbullying too - if a student is
cyberbullied within school times using a school computer, the school is liable. However, often,
cyberbullying happens outside school hours and off school premises. According to Dwyer & Easteal
(2013), a school authority could [still] be held liable for failing to prevent such conduct if they
have knowledge of its occurrence and therefore the damage was reasonably foreseeable and
preventable by the school. Although this is difficult to pinpoint, as victims of cyberbullying do not
(usually) show signs of physical evidence of their suffering. Additionally, schools cannot overstep
their authority and limit free speech off school grounds (Bergin & Bergin, 2015). This complicates
the duty of care - if schools are not aware of cyberbullying occurring, how could the duty of care be
extended to them? The laws do not provide them with any guidelines to follow in such cases. This
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may be so because Australian law has failed to keep up with the advances in technology and does
not effectively deal with the problems surrounding cyberbullying (Goff, 2011). Even the Student
Codes of Conduct cannot cover cyberbullying completely.
These legal ramifications are a hindrance on child and adolescent development. Every parent wants
their child to grow up safe, in a secure and nurturing environment. They put their trust into the
schools to protect their children from harm, but when bullying (and cyberbullying) happens, it takes
a toll on the child, and the people around them. Cyberbullying poses a significant risk not only to
childrens social-emotional wellbeing and mental health, but their overall health as well. Health,
which is defined by the World Health Organisation (1948) as a sate of complete physical, mental
and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity can be split up into six
categories: physical, intellectual, social, emotional, environmental and spiritual (Donatelle, 2004).
In relation to cyberbullying, children may feel socially isolated, their intellectual decisions may be
undermined, they may lose faith in their spiritual selves as they may lose purpose in life and feel
like their existence is a burden on others, lowered self-esteem and confidence may lead to drastic
emotional reactions and responses, which may include, but is not limited to, many mental health
problems such as depression and anxiety, physical health may be compromised if one was bullied
for their weight (anorexia and bulimia are prevalent in todays society), and ones appreciation of
the environment may change due to peer pressure (it may not be cool to recycle). Furthermore,
children who are cyberbullied are at risk of experiencing a range of short- and long-term negative
psychological issues (Neilsen-Hewitt & Bussey, 2014), such as feelings of loneliness, anxiety,
shame, fear, guilt and depression. Bowes & Shakoor (2010, as cited in Neilsen-Hewitt & Bussey,
2014) have found that cyberbullying has long lasting effects that can extend into adolescence, with
victimisation associated psychotic symptoms and self-harm. This may lead to a catastrophic
change in childrens education, as they do not feel supported or safe in schools and therefore may be
more unsuccessful in their school work and may develop behavioural problems. Additionally, if the
situation persists, children may not even want to go to school. Their learning may be disrupted, and
they run the risk of staying down - which may affect their state of health and wellbeing greatly,
because they may feel isolated in the younger year level.
Furthermore, teachers will have to spend more class time dealing with issues rather than teaching,
which affects the whole class. Even though schools are a place where learning occurs, and
teachers must teach the necessary lessons to meet the curriculums expectations, Holden (2005)
argues students health and wellbeing is an issue that they must address first, as it is fundamental to
them as learners. This means that in the classroom, procedures must be taken in order to mitigate
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cyberbullying as much as possible. Outside of the classroom, children must learn, through any
means - their parents, helplines and websites such as Bully Stoppers (using cyber technology to
combat cyberbullying is a good start (Dwyer & Easteal, 2013)) - to be resilient, to be aware of the
effects of cyberbullying and how to combat it. It is prevalent in our society, but if we all work
together to overcome it, then perhaps we will come out the other side stronger and much more
wiser.

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References
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