Bimi Thompson and Megan Goolsby

Mrs. Gaudreau

Peer Connecting- period 3

27 October, 2010 Bullying

Different Kinds of Bullying

1. Physical bullying includes any physical contact that would hurt or injure
a person like hitting, kicking, punching, etc. Taking something that belongs
to someone else and destroying it would also be considered a type of
physical bullying. For example, if someone was walking down the street and
someone came up to them and shoved them to the ground, that would be
physical bullying. In elementary and middle schools, 30.5% of all bullying is
physical.

2. Verbal bullying is name-calling, making offensive remarks, or joking

about a person's religion, gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, or the
way they look. For example, if there was a group of kids who made fun of
another kid because he couldn't run as fast as everyone else, it would be an
example of verbal bullying. 46.5% of all bullying in schools is the verbal
type. Verbal aggression is when a bully teases someone. It can also include
a bully making verbal threats of violence or aggression against someone's
personal property.

3. Indirect bullying includes spreading rumors or stories about someone,

telling others about something that was told to you in private, and excluding
others from groups. An example would be if you started a rumor that a boy
in your class likes playing with dolls, and if the reason that you made up the
story was because you thought it was funny. This would be indirect bullying.
Indirect bullying accounts for 18.5% of all bullying.

4. Social alienation is when a bully excludes someone from a group on

purpose. It also includes a bully spreading rumors, and also making fun of
someone by pointing out their differences.

5. Intimidation is when a bully threatens someone else and frightens that

person enough to make him or her do what the bully wants.

6. Cyberbullying is done by sending messages, pictures, or information

using electronic media, computers (email & instant messages), or cell
phones (text messaging & voicemail). For instance, if you sent a picture of a
snake in an email to a person because you know that they are afraid of
snakes, that would be an example of cyberbullying. According to a survey
done in 2003 only 4% of bullying is listed as "other types" and this would
include cyberbullying. Even though this number seems small, the growth of
this type of bullying is going up fast because of the spread of technology
around the world.

Surveys and statistics

The National Crime Prevention Council reports cyber-bullying is a problem that affects almost
half of all American teens.[9]

In 2007, Debbie Heimowitz, a Stanford University master's student, created Adina's Deck, a film
based on Stanford accredited research. She worked in focus groups for ten weeks in three
different schools to learn about the problem of cyber-bullying in Northern California. The
findings determined that over 60% of students had been cyber-bullied and were victims of cyber-
bullying. The film is now being used in classrooms nationwide as it was designed around
learning goals pertaining to problems students had understanding the topic. The middle school of
Megan Meier is reportedly using the film as a solution to the crisis in their town.

In September 2006, ABC News reported on a survey prepared by I-Safe.Org. This 2004 survey
of 1,500 students between grades 4-8 reported:

• 42% of kids have been bullied while online. One in four have had it happen more than
once.
• 35% of kids have been threatened online. Nearly one in five had had it happen more than
once.
• 21% of kids have received mean or threatening e-mails or other messages.
• 58% of kids admit someone has said mean or hurtful things to them online. More than
four out of ten say it has happened more than once.
• 58% have not told their parents or an adult about something mean or hurtful that
happened to them online.

A 2006 survey by Harris Interactive[10] reported:

• 43% of U.S. teens having experienced some form of cyber-bullying in the past year.

Similarly, a Canadian study found:

• 23% of middle-schoolers surveyed had been bullied by e-mail

• 35% in chat rooms
• 41% by text messages on their cell phones
• Fully 41% did not know the identity of the perpetrators.
The Youth Internet Safety Survey-2, conducted by the Crimes Against Children Research Center
at the University of New Hampshire in 2005, found that 9% of the young people in the survey
had experienced some form of harassment.[11] The survey was a nationally representative
telephone survey of 1,500 youth 10–17 years old. One third reported feeling distressed by the
incident, with distress being more likely for younger respondants and those who were the victims
of aggressive harassment (including being telephoned, sent gifts, or visited at home by the
harasser).[12] Compared to youth not harassed online, victims are more likely to have social
problems. On the other hand, youth who harass others are more likely to have problems with rule
breaking and aggression.[13] Significant overlap is seen — youth who are harassed are
significantly more likely to also harass others.

Hinduja and Patchin completed a study in the summer of 2005 of approximately 1,500 Internet-
using adolescents and found that over one-third of youth reported being victimized online, and
over 16% of respondents admitted to cyber-bullying others. While most of the instances of
cyber-bullying involved relatively minor behavior (41% were disrespected, 19% were called
names), over 12% were physically threatened and about 5% were scared for their safety.
Notably, fewer than 15% of victims told an adult about the incident.[7]

Additional research by Hinduja and Patchin[8] found that youth who report being victims of
cyber-bullying also experience stress or strain that is related to offline problem behaviors such as
running away from home, cheating on a school test, skipping school, or using alcohol or
marijuana. The authors acknowledge that both of these studies provide only preliminary
information about the nature and consequences of online bullying, due to the methodological
challenges associated with an online survey.

According to a 2005 survey by the National Children's Home charity and Tesco Mobile[14] of 770
youth between the ages of 11 and 19, 20% of respondents revealed that they had been bullied via
electronic means. Almost three-quarters (73%) stated that they knew the bully, while 26% stated
that the offender was a stranger. 10% of responders indicated that another person has taken a
picture and/or video of them via a cellular phone camera, consequently making them feel
uncomfortable, embarrassed, or threatened. Many youths are not comfortable telling an authority
figure about their cyber-bullying victimization for fear their access to technology will be taken
from them; while 24% and 14% told a parent or teacher respectively, 28% did not tell anyone
while 41% told a friend.[14]

A survey by the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire
in 2000 found that 6% of the young people in the survey had experienced some form of
harassment including threats and negative rumours and 2% had suffered distressing harassment.
[11]

Reporting on the results from a meta analysis from European Union countries, Hasebrink et al.
(2009)[15] estimated (via median results) that approximately 18% of European young people had
been "bullied/harassed/stalked" via the internet and mobile phones. Cyber-harassment rates for
young people across the EU member states ranged from 10% to 52%.
The nation-wide Australian Covert Bullying Prevalence Survey (Cross et al., 2009)[16] assessed
cyber-bullying experiences among 7,418 students. Rates of cyber-bullying increased with age,
with 4.9% of students in Year 4 reporting cyberbullying compared to 7.9% in year nine. Cross et
al., (2009) reported that rates of bullying and harassing others were lower, but also increased
with age. Only 1.2% of Year 4 students reported cyber-bullying others compared to 5.6% of
Year 9 students.

The reluctance youth have in telling an authority figure about instances of cyber-

bullying has led to fatal outcomes. At least three children between the ages of 12

and 13 have committed suicide due to depression brought on by cyber-bullying,

according to reports by USA Today and the Baltimore Examiner. These would

include the suicide of Ryan Halligan and the suicide of Megan Meier, the latter of

which resulted in United States v. Lori Drew.

\http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/09/27/victims-of-cyber-bullying-face-

depression/18791.html