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Bullying has been a dominant issue in Australian public schools for many years and has therefore been the
focus of many studies. While bullying takes many forms, cyber bullying has become a leading issue in
today’s society with the rise of technology and social media. Traditionally, bullying was understood to be
physical abuse and violence (Walton, 2005), however social media has provided youth with an alternate
platform to bully their peers. Cyber bullying involves the use of technology to repeatedly cause harm and
stress to an individual and can also occur anonymously and is often abusive and distressing to the victim
(Nicol, 2012). It has been seen that cyber bullying can be just as emotionally damaging to the victim as
physical face-to-face bullying. An article written by Sakellariou, Carroll and Houghton (2012) discusses the
prevalence of cyber bullying in a high school environment and aims to provide statistical and experimental
data on the rates of bullying among teenage males. This article will be contrasted to an article titled
School Students’ written by Hemphill, Tollit, Kotevski, & Heerde (2014). These two articles examine the
prevalence of cyber bullying in schools and present data related to the statistics surrounding bullying.
To conduct their research, Sakellariou, Carroll and Houghton (2012) used a participant pool of 1,530 male
students ranging from year 6 to year 12. These students were selected from three separate schools for boys.
These three schools were selected for their interest in the study out of a pool of nine schools in total. Two of
these schools were based in Queensland while the third was located in New South Wales. These schools
were chosen as they all represent a diverse range of socio-economic backgrounds within that community and
have students of many diverse cultures present. A questionnaire was submitted to all participants who were
asked to answer 33 questions focusing on friendships and bullying. Of these questions, twelve specifically
related to cyber bullying while others addressed bullying on a broader scale. The conditions under which
this questionnaire was answered varied depending on the year level and school, for instance some completed
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it during class time while others during individual time. Primary students took approximately 25 minutes to
The results from this study show that a vast majority of students have access to the internet and social media
forums including email and chat lines. 89% of students confirm that they have access to a mobile phone.
90% of student reported in the study that they have never been bullied via emails, text message, via images
or over the internet, however of the students that did report bullying via these means, bullying via the
internet was the most prevalent method closely followed by emails and text messaging. It was also found
that junior secondary grades experienced cyber bullying more often than primary or senior secondary grades
via text message while the other three platforms did not yield significant results. 28% of cyberbullying
victims that were bullied via email reported as being ‘very upset’ by the incident while 52% stated that they
were only a little upset. Similarly, victims bullied via text message had similar responses. It was found that
30% of students deemed cyber bullying as ‘just as upsetting’ or ‘more upsetting’ than face to face bullying.
It was concluded that cyber bullying is a prevalent issue in today’s schools and victims can be found across
all age groups. While the preference of platforms on which bullying can occur may vary depending on the
age group studied, it is evidently a dominant problem in schools. However this study was seen to have
several limitations which could be improved upon in further research. The first limitation with this study is
the students selected to participate. While male students have been seen to be involved with bullying more
than female students, either by being the bully themselves or the victim, this study does not present statistics
on the female population within the schooling system. Male students are seen to statistically physically bully
others more often than females however the statistics for cyber bullying show females to be the more
common perpetrators (Iossi Silva, Pereira, Mendonça, Nunes, & Oliveira, 2013).
The second limitation seen here is that answers to the proposed questions rely strongly on the participants
answering truthfully. When asked if they have ever bullied someone via the four aforementioned platforms,
between 88-96% of participants stated they have never used these means to bully another person. Very few
students reported being bullies themselves on these platforms however it is unknown whether the answers
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obtained in this study were given truthfully. This study aims to demonstrate the prevalence of cyberbullying
in schools however the data presented here depicts that majority of students reported not having bullied
In a similar study conducted on Cyber bullying and traditional bullying (Hemphill, Tollit, Kotevski, &
Heerde, 2014) secondary students were chosen from year 7 and 9 groups from several high schools located
in Victoria, Australia. This study not only aims to determine the number of children who participated in or
were the victims of bullying, but also aims to isolate risk and protective factors for traditional and cyber
bullying. 673 students were randomly chosen for this study, these students were both male and female and
Students were asked questions such as ‘have you been bullied recently’ and asked to answer on a scale
similar to that which was presented to participants in the first study by Sakellariou, Carroll and Houghton
(2012). Several questions were presented to students regarding traditional and cyber bullying as well as
questions regarding the students’ home life and school engagement. Dishonesty was also addressed in this
study and student answers were excluded if they were considered by the researchers to have given a
dishonest answer. A measure of honestly was calculated based on three questions surrounding potential drug
Surveys were submitted to students over several years. Students who were not longer attending the school at
the time the survey was taken again were surveyed over the phone. However this portion of students was
The results showed that 33% of students reported to be victims of traditional bullying while 17% reported to
have been victims of cyber bullying. 12% of students reported being victims of both types of bullying. The
results also show that cyber bullying was more prevalent in girls compared to boys although traditional
bullying showed no significant differences between the sexes. It was found that several factors can act as
predictive factors for traditional and cyber bullying. These factors include previous victimisation, antisocial
friends and family conflict. These factors were seen to associate strongly with increased chances of cyber
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bullying victimisation. However those students with good emotional control were found to be cyber bullied
less than those with poor emotional control. Emotional control reduced the chances of bullying by 30%. It
was also seen that students bullied in grade 7 held an increased risk in bullying victimisation in grade 9.
The results from the first study report that 90% of student state they have never been cyber bullied by any of
the 4 methods discussed. Conversely the results from the second study, reports that of the 673 students
The second study is taken from a smaller pool of student compared to the first study, however the results
from the second study do not support those from the first. Small differences between the two studies may
attribute to the differences in results. The initial study was conducted using only male students from schools
selected for their interest in participation. Compared to the second study which comprised both male and
female students selected from randomly selected schools. As stated and confirmed in the second study,
female students reported a higher rate of cyber bullying compared to male students. This is also confirmed in
other studies in which female students were found to be the dominant sex in relation to being both victims
and perpetrators of cyber bullying, while male students tend to bully others in the form of physical
aggression such as hitting, punching and kicking (Iossi Silva, Pereira, Mendonça, Nunes, & Oliveira, 2013).
Because of this, the percentage of student that report being victims of cyber bullying is likely to differ
between the two studies. Since females were not sampled in the first study it can be expected that the
percentage of victims would be lower compared to the second study. Bias may also play a role in the results
obtained in the initial study as the schools which participated were willing volunteers rather than randomly
selected. This kind of sample is known as a convenience sample. As researchers are required to ask
permission before entering into a study, participants are able to refuse to answer questions or participate in
the study at their own discretion (Gall, Gall, & Borg, 2015). This kind of biased participation can lead to
skewed results particularly if certain populations are not represented in the study as a result of the selection
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The second study also makes allowances to limit the potential number of dishonest answers that contribute
to the statistics presented in the results. Dishonesty has been found to be a large issue for researchers when
conducting surveys and similar methods of data collection and is often difficult to eliminate however
previous researchers have developed scales to assist with the determination of data validity. One such scale
was used in the second study when determining the accuracy of survey answers (Arthur, Hawkins, Pollard,
Catalano, & Baglioni Jr., 2002). By allowing dishonest answers to be excluded, from the final calculation of
results it is ensured that the results are an accurate representation of the population. The second study
addresses this limitation, however the first study does not account for the dishonesty of students and this
may therefore effect the results presented. Both studies present strong and concise information regarding the
statistics of bullying and both use reliable and reviewed literature evidence to substantiate their claims,
however the second article addresses some of the limitations which were not addressed in the first study.
There are many implications for this research in teaching practice within the classroom. Due to the
prevalence of bullying in schools, studies such as these allow for schools to assess the level of bullying
present and employ appropriate measures to ensure it is reduced as much as possible. As technology is now
a key aspect of all classroom learning, it is important to understand the ways in which students communicate
via technology and how it can be used negatively both inside and outside the classroom. According to
previous studies, assessing the dominance of bullying in a given environment is the first step to eliminating
it (Nickerson, Cornell, Smith, & Furlong, 2013). It also allows for anti-bullying policies to be updated and
changed to include various forms of bullying. This is important to be able to prevent and limit bullying in
the future. It also gives students the opportunity to understand the effects of bullying on others, and gives
In conclusion, research into cyber bullying and the prevalence of bullying in Australian schools is a field in
which research is very useful. Both research articles presented here have provided valuable insight into the
subject of bullying and have provided education systems with information they can use to alter or implement
programs designed to stop bullying. Both articles have presented credible data and, in addition, the second
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article has presented ways to eliminate the limitations seen in the first study. Both articles can be used in the
References
Arthur, M., Hawkins, J., Pollard, J., Catalano, R., & Baglioni Jr., A. (2002). Measuring Risk and Protective
Factors for Substance Use, Delinquency, and Other Adolescent Problem Behaviors: The
Bethlehem, J. (2010). Selection Bias in Web Surveys. International Statistical Review, 78(2), 161-188.
Gall, M., Gall, J., & Borg, W. (2015). Applying educational research (custom edition). [S.l.]: Pearson
Education Austral.
Hemphill, S., Tollit, M., Kotevski, A., & Heerde, J. (2014). Predictors of Traditional and Cyber-Bullying
Iossi Silva, M., Pereira, B., Mendonça, D., Nunes, B., & Oliveira, W. (2013). The Involvement of Girls and
Nickerson, A., Cornell, D., Smith, J., & Furlong, M. (2013). School Anti bullying Efforts: Advice for
Sakellariou, T., Carroll, A., & Houghton, S. (2012). Rates of cyber victimization and bullying among male
Australian primary and high school students. School Psychology International, 33(5), 533-549.