Young people fear cyber-bullying the most, study finds
One in five of the 122 second-level students who took part in a study by NUI Maynooth’s psychology department were victims of more traditional forms of bullying in the last six months. For almost half of them, it had happened more than once or twice.
More than one in six had been a victim of cyber-bullying, with phone calls made in school and text messages outside school used most often.
The 51 boys and 71 girls were in first, second, fifth and sixth year at two second-level schools and most were from rural areas. All but 12% had internet access, but 71% said their parents did not try to control their use of it and 90% had uncontrolled mobile phone use.
Less than one in 10 said they had engaged in cyber-bullying, either by text message, phone calls, picture or video clips, or by email.
Apart from email, students think cyber-bullying is worse than traditional forms, particularly the use of phone calls and picture/video clips.
For the majority, the difficulty of avoiding cyber-bullying and the potentially large audience were common concerns. Students believed text message and email bullying were much less likely than other methods to be noticed by an adult, as parents and others do not check their phones or have access to their email passwords.
For one-in-four victims, the gender, class, or even the number of people who cyber-bullied them was unknown. But among around 30 who answered relevant questions, one or a small number of girls from the same year group but a different class were the perpetrators more often than any other groups.
Most victims had been at the receiving end of cyber-bullying for a week or two, but four students were the victims for six months up to several years. Of 25 victims who answered about confiding in someone, eight spoke to friends and seven told their parents, but six did not confide in anyone and just four spoke to their class teacher or another adult at school.
In the Irish Journal of Education, researchers Pádraig Cotter and Sinéad McGilloway said the use of phone call and text message bullying was more common than other research has shown.
“Phone-call bullying and, to a greater extent, bullying by means of picture/video clips, were viewed most negatively of all, primarily due to the potential breadth of audience and the difficulty of avoiding exposure to these kinds of bullying.
“The anonymity of the bully is also a potentially compounding factor, in the sense that this might be perceived as more hurtful than a face-to-face situation.”
They say early and preventive intervention is essential because cyber-bullying is likely to worsen with rapid developments in information and communications technology.
Education Minister Ruairi Quinn has established an anti-bullying forum which will produce guidelines for schools, with cyber-bullying to be a key area for attention. Its first public hearing in May heard calls to make reporting bullying easier and for teachers to be trained on handling complaints.
Mr Cotter and Ms McGilloway suggest including a module on cyber-bullying in the junior cycle social, personal and health education curriculum, and in a similar programme being developed for students up to sixth year.
What students said about cyber-bullying:
* “Bullying can damage your self-esteem, no matter what form it is.”
* “… it would be like you couldn’t escape it, even when you’re at home.”
* “The pictures etc can be spread easily and quickly.”
* “I feel there is nothing can be done to prevent this.”
Others are more casual in their attitudes.
* “Some people can’t take a fucking joke — get a life!”
* “… it will go away — it is a fad”
* “I don’t think it is a big deal personally.”
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
