Teens wield cyber sticks and stones

THE phenomenon of cyber-bullying is spreading at a worrying rate.

The use of mobile phones and social networking websites to harass or victimise is most common among young people and its prevalence has been highlighted by teachers and principals.

In most Irish homes, an internet connection is as common as a TV, but parents are reporting difficulty keeping up with the technological progresses with which their children are familiar with through camera phones and websites like Bebo and Facebook.

Alan Woods has been giving talks to parents’ groups since completing a thesis about online child protection last year for a masters degree in electronic and commercial law. He points to a number of factors giving enormous scope for using these kind of websites for bullying.

“It is free of charge and the ability to remain anonymous is very welcoming to bullies, which is obviously dangerous. They can take advantage of the fact teachers or parents, who can moderate behaviour in the playground, are not as knowledgeable about the internet,” he said.

He refers to instances of students, or even teachers, having Bebo or Facebook profiles set up in their name without their knowledge.

“The creators make it appear the victim is expressing views which put them in a bad light. I know of a student being badly affected by mental health problems as a result,” he said.

In other instances, people make anonymous comments on a person’s homepage about their sexuality or their appearance. A number of cases of young people taking their own lives in recent years have been linked with online bullying.

Institute of Guidance Counsellors president Frank Mulvihill made a call in March for penalties to be imposed on website operators who do not stop their facilities being used by young people for bullying. But legislators would face extreme difficulties trying to impose sanctions.

Mr Woods said, despite legitimate concerns, it is an unlikely prospect, which international debate on the issue has highlighted.

“It’s very difficult for any government to legislate the internet because it transcends international boundaries,” he said.

Having trawled thousands of Bebo profiles in his research, Mr Woods believes Bebo — the most common social networking site for Irish teenagers — operates a fairly conscientious service. Its staff deal with reports of inappropriate use and can remove such material if necessary, but with 30 million users worldwide, it is almost impossible to eliminate all abuses.

Bullying comments removed from a site like Bebo or Facebook just hours after being posted can remain in cyberspace for years if the webpage is cached, or stored, by an internet search engine.

The best way of limiting the abuse of new technologies as bullying tools is to educate parents and teachers. The Department of Education went some way towards this with the introduction of a site — webwise.ie — last year, although Mr Woods suggests there is some irony in using a website to teach people with very little internet knowledge already.

Parents who fear a child is being bullied should contact their school for advice or support. In second-level schools, guidance counsellors offer confidential help, and Mr Mulvihill suggests how parents might recognise a problem.

“The most obvious signs of a young person being bullied are behaviour changes, they might become very quiet or get angry about things, without saying anything is going on,” he said.

Prime Time Investigates, on RTÉ One television at 9.30pm tonight, reports on the extent and the effects of cyber-bullying in Ireland.

lAny young person who has been a victim of bullying can talk anonymously to Childline (www.childline.ie or 1800 66 66 66) or Samaritans (www.samaritangs.org or 1850 60 90 90).