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Annotated Bibliography

Is Cyberbullying worse than Traditional School Yard bullying?

Jenna Brown Professor Malcolm Campbell English 1103 10/15/12

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Annotated Bibliography Aftab, Parry. STOP Cyberbullying. Wired Safety. Web. 15 Oct. 2012. Stopcyberbullying.org is a website-based project started by Dr. Parry Aftab, and sponsored by Wired Safety, a volunteer organization that is dedicated to promoting online safety. The site provides easy to follow information on what cyberbullying is, how and why it happens, how to prevent it, and what laws there are regarding cyberbullying. There are links for different age groups of children, parents, educators, and law enforcement. As far as I can tell, the creators of the site do not have a motive other than to help educate parents, teachers, and students about the warning signs and dangers of cyberbullying and harassment. The website and organization are both nonprofit and run on a volunteer basis, so the founders are not out for financial gain. They even offer free safety/tool kits that you can sign up and receive. The site presents a rather technical view on cyberbullying, defining which situations constitute being bullied, common motives and demographics of predators/victims, and ways to handle a situation if one arises. There is not a whole lot of emotion tangled in with the technicalities, but it is obvious that the authors of the website believe in putting an end to bullying via technology. Dr. Parry Aftab is a lawyer specialized in internet security, and is considered a founder of cyber law, so the information presented on the site and by this organization she created can be trusted as accurate.

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This website will be useful to me in forming my definition of cyberbullying for my extended inquiry project. It will also be helpful when I am looking for ways to explain cyberbullying to an audience with little to no prior knowledge. Dooley, Julian J., Jacek Pyzalski, and Donna Cross. Cyberbullying Versus Face-to-Face Bullying: A Theoretical and Conceptual Review. Zeitschrift fr Psychologie/Journal of Psychology, 217.4 (2009):182-188. EBSCOhost Discovery Service. Web. 15 Oct. 2012. Cyberbullying versus Face-to-Face Bullying: A Theoretical and Conceptual Review is a scientific article that defines cyberbullying as aggressive behaviors performed using electronic media. It explores how repetition of acts, power imbalances, and the group effect differentiate face-to-face bullying and online bullying. In a case of cyberbullying, the perpetrator is less likely to have perceived power, but the victim is likely to exhibit a lack of power. They end the article by highlighting the need for more research on the topic in order to understand the behaviors. There is a tremendous amount of research done to create this article, as can be seen by the references and citations throughout. The authors are well educated and well informed, so I am inclined to trust the information presented. This article is non-biased as to whether one type of bullying is worse, because it is only analyzing the social and psychological differences, without a judgment being made. This journal will be useful to me in identifying psychological differences between traditional bullying (face-to-face) and cyberbullying. This will be key when I am looking for evidence that cyberbullying is indeed worse than traditional because I can use their non-biased inferences to support my argument.

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Mishna, Faye, Michael Saini, and Steven Solomon. Ongoing and Online: Children and youths perceptions of cyberbullying. Children and Youth Services Review 31.12 (2009):12221228. EBSCOhost Discovery Service. Web. 15 Oct. 2012. This paper is an academic exploration of a study conducted on students, grades 5-8, and the perspectives they have on cyberbullying. Several unifying themes could be identified in their research. The first was that technology is becoming a dominant form of communication amongst younger generations. The second was that cyberbullying has unique factors that differentiate it from traditional bullying because it can happen anytime and anywhere. The third was that the majority of adults are oblivious to cyber bullying when it happens. Another finding was that of perceived anonymity for the person who bullies, though in most accounts, bullying happened within the context of a childs social group. In this article, the authors mention that the research team was involved with relevant stakeholders, which means that there is possibility of outside influence on the results collected. In any study of people and their reactions or perceptions, you have to be wary of what you tell those test subjects. If they know what you are looking for, they are more likely to give the researchers what they want even if that data is false. This could be the case for some of the participants in this study and the other studies I read. This journal will be useful to me because the theme appeared through their research that cyberbullying is in fact worse than face-to-face because it can happen anywhere and at any time. The article supports one side of the argument I intend to explore. Spears, Barbara, et al. Behind the Scenes and Behind the Screens: Insights into the Human Dimension of Covert and Cyberbullying. FlindersUniversity, Adelaide, SA, Australia,

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2008. Print. Behind the Scenes and Behind the Screens is a case study where Australian students, teachers, and counselors were asked to recount stories of cyberbullying experiences. Cyberbullying is categorized in this study as covert bullying, behaviors that are concealed. The study outlines methodology and procedures, and then goes into a discussion of the results. They found that acts of cyberbullying were described with words like vicious, cruel, and obscene; the subjects attached a lot of negative emotion to the experiences. Other themes that emerged in the victims and witnesses of cyberbullying were fear, change in self-image, and disruption of relationships. This case study is scientific in nature; however, it analyzes the human emotional component of cyberbullying, which cannot necessarily be measured. I got the impression that the authors of the article thought cyberbullying left deep emotional scars on all victims, and that cyberbullying was a dark trend that needed to be made known to people. This is because of the imagery and diction they use in the Human Dimension section and the summary, for example pain and suffering, of humiliation and anger, and of violation and vulnerability, and clearly supports previous studies which reported that the impact of cyberbullying is significant, (Spears et al.). In all the case studies I have looked through it is difficult to say that any information gathered or conclusions drawn can be referred to as fact due to the nature of the observations. This study will be useful to my research and writing because it gives a good understanding of how people react when being bullied in different ways, which can be used to determine an opinion on which form is worse, or has the worst outcome.

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Sullivan, Bob. "Cyberbullying bad, but not that bad." Red Tape Chronicles. (2007) Web. 17 Oct. 2012. The Red Tape Chronicles is a consumer affairs column published by NBC news, a popular source. In this article, Cyberbullying bad, but not that bad author Bob Sullivan reviews a study done a few years ago that found a decided lack of cyberbullying in a group of teenagers. The study found that kids were thought they were 67% more likely to experience traditional bullying than bullying online. According to one researcher on the study, the results were unexpectedly tame, given the media attention focused on the problem of cyberbullying, (Sullivan). The author summarizes the findings of the original study, which seem to suggest that cyberbullying does exist but that it has been hyped by the media and generated more attention and worry than necessary. I think that the author, Bob Sullivan, is non-biased on the topic of cyberbullying, because he presents both sides in the article. He shares findings of the study while also giving tips for how to deal with real cyberbullying and harassment. This source will be useful to me because it shows a different view of cyberbullying than what I have already explored. The majority of other articles I have read talk about how harmful cyberbullying is, how it is worse than school yard bullying, and how instances are on the rise. This article examines a study where cyberbullying was shown to be just another aspect of childrens lives, something that they become accustomed to because it is just a part of their world. Forcing me to see different sides of my argument will help me shape my extended inquiry project with a wider base of knowledge on the topic of cyberbullying.