CYBERBULLYING!

Bullying is aggressive behavior that is intentional and involves an imbalance of power or strength. Usually, it is repeated over time. Traditionally, bullying has involved actions such as: hitting or punching (physical bullying), teasing or name-calling (verbal bullying), or intimidation through gestures or social exclusion. In recent years, technology has given children and youth a new means of bullying each other.

Cyberbullying, which is sometimes referred to as online social cruelty or electronic bullying, has been defined as "an aggressive, intentional act carried out by a group or individual, using electronic forms of contact, repeatedly and over time against a victim who cannot easily defend him or herself" (Smith et al., 2008, p. 376).

Cyberbullying can involve:

L       Sending mean, vulgar, or threatening messages or images

L       Posting sensitive, private information and/or lies about another person

L       Pretending to be someone else in order to make that person look bad

L       Intentionally excluding someone from an online group (Willard, 2005)

Children and youth can cyberbully each other through:

L       Emails

L       Instant messaging

L       Text or digital imaging messages sent on cell phones

L       Social networking sites

L       Web pages

L       Blogs

L       Chat rooms or discussion groups

L       Other cyber technologies

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