Swearingen the Librarian

Tell a girl she’s beautiful and she will believe it for a minute. Tell a girl she’s ugly and she will believe it for a lifetime…

A quick but informative introduction to cyberbullying according to the article, From the Sandbox to the Inbox: Comparing the Acts, Impacts, and Solutions of Bullying in K-12, Higher Education, and the Workplace:

The classical definition of bullying entails three key features identified by The Sandbox to the Inbox article previously mentioned, which include:

• Repeated aggressive behaviors.
• Intended to cause harm.
• The victim has relatively less power to defend themselves.

Cyberbullying researchers have adapted this definition to incorporate abuse that occurs in various online forums. However, a number of nuances have been drawn in order to articulate what repetition, intent, and power imbalance represent when it comes to cyberbullying. These include:

• Potential for anonymity.
• Detachment.
• Permanent nature of online messages.
• Wider audience.

In the realms of K-12 bullying and cyberbullying research, the youth that have felt an impact report consequences such as:

• Depression
• Poor Self-Esteem
• Concentration Problems
• Anxiety
• Stress
• Academic Problems
• School Avoidance
• Suicidal Ideation
• Psychosomatic Problems (headaches & sleep disturbances)

In K-12 studies, students, teachers, school administrators, and parents agreed that education and awareness are key. This includes parties needing to better understand the nature, extent, and impacts of the problem, and to work collaboratively on creating solutions. Examples of this include:

• Students in particular wished for a system to report the incidents anonymously.
• Creating positive self-esteem in students was seen as important to prevention.
• Modeling appropriate behavior in the home and school.
• Educating students in digital media literacy and digital citizenship.
• Developing curriculum that fosters empathy.

If we are to formally define cyberbullying, we can say it is a “willful and repeated harm inflicted through the use of computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices. (from Bullying Beyond the Schoolyard: Preventing and Responding to Cyberbullying). This particular definition is simple and concise but also comprehensive as it captures the most important elements:

• Willful – The behavior is deliberate.
• Repeated – There is a pattern.
• Harm – The victim perceives that harm was inflicted.
• Computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices – This is what differentiates cyberbullying from traditional bullying.

What does this all mean in today’s society?

When we were growing up, we were sometimes confronted by school yard bullies. Those bullies were often larger than us, and most often of the male persuasion. The persona of the school yard bully meant that if you were female, you were most often the safest individual, as most of the boys picked on the other boys. Cyberbullying is a whole other ballgame. Cyberbullying can be more insidious than the physical bullying of school yard bullies because it follows kids home, away from the playground, away from home, away from the public eye, and can creep into the safe places that children know and love. We also need to be aware that online bullies are now significantly more likely to target girls than boys. According to the Cyberbullying Research Center (2016), almost 38% of adolescent girls have experienced cyberbullying, as compared to 29.5% of boys. When it comes to cyberbullying among teens, girls are not only more likely to be victims than boys are, but they are more at risk for developing emotional problems as a result of cyberbullying.

The world is complicated enough for girls. Fitting in, body image, pressure, academics, friendships, and relationships are all challenging to navigate. Add to this, the potential challenges of technology and social media, and it is not surprising that girls are reporting higher levels of pressure than boys their same age, alongside declining levels of self-confidence.

The Girls’ Index is a first of its kind, large scale, national survey designed to develop a deeper understanding of the thoughts, experiences, perceptions, beliefs, behaviors, and attitudes of girls through the United States. This index gives readers key insights as well as actions that can be taken to help girls during their middle school and high school years.

According to surveys done by researchers involved with the Girls’ Index:

• Most girls report spending 6 or more hours on social media daily.
• 40% surveyed check their social media accounts over 10 times a day.
• 35% of girls report having been bullied or made fun of on social media.
• 19% admit to bullying or making fun of someone via social media.
• 26% admit to posting something they later regret.
• 15% have posted something to make someone else jealous.
• 85% of girls have received friend requests from strangers.
• 44% of girls have accepted friend requests from strangers.

The Girls’ Index makes it clear that girls who spend the most time using technology are five times more likely to say they are sad or depressed nearly every day, and a large portion of it has to do with bullying via social media. The Girls’ Index is a great way to gain insights into the complex world of today’s girls.

Ted Talks are a powerful way to introduce discussions based on cyberbullying:

Girls Health.gov offers articles and activities for girls to learn about cyberbullying including:

• What is Bullying?
• Girls Bullying Girls
• Boys Bullying Girls
• Cliques
• How Does Bullying Hurt?
• Why Do Some Girls Get Bullied?
• Do You Bully?
• Get Help for Bullying
• How to Stop Bullying
• How to Prevent Cyberbullying
• Quizzes
• And Links to More Information

Girls Health says, “Teen girls say meanness lurks on social media. One out of 5 girls ages 14 to 17 say people her age are mostly unkind to each other on social media. And one out of 3 girls ages 12 to 13 thought so too. Ouch!”

Once cyberbullying is introduced into a classroom or school library, Jon Orech gives us one way to incorporate cyberbullying and digital citizenship into the curriculum on a daily basis, in his article. HOW IT’S DONE: Incorporating Digital Citizenship Into Your Everyday Curriculum. This is especially helpful to girls as having a peer mentor can make all the difference.

And remember, as Anna Marie Chavez once said, “Unless and until our society recognizes cyberbullying for what it is, the suffering of thousands of silent victims will continue.” Let’s help give girls the voices they need!